My Travels – Ho Chih Minh City - Part 1 : Getting Ready

The thought of travel excites me. I love learning about a country's rich history, their language, about their people, prominent landmarks, food, etc.  
I didn't start travelling frequently until late 2012. From then on, I made a promise to myself. The only way to open myself to the world – is to travel! Travel far and travel frequently.

From 2012 right up to 2014, it had been a fantastic year of travels for me. It was an eye-opener, especially when I travelled on my own. You will get to read about my adventures in my upcoming posts. For now, you're stuck with my recent trip to Vietnam, Ho Chih Minh City to be precise. 

I need more time to compile the rest of my travel adventures. I have been procrastinating for a while to write about them. Don't we all have those moments? 
In truth, I get my inspirations with constant idle and it has given me plenty of light-bulb moments.  

Now coming back to my story...

Let me tell you how it all began. I had no plans for a holiday that year, which was quite depressing. Why? I was due to start my degree program in April and was in the midst of changing jobs. Amidst all of that, my brother was getting married! Busy right? 
Believe me, I thrive in such situations. 

And so, I resigned to my fate and told myself: " Oh well, at least I'll save money!"

Then something happened! I had a chance to leave my last job early. It wasn't much, just four days early. I start my new job the following week. I had three days to kill...yippeeee!! You see!! Miracles do happen! 

I jumped on this beautiful chance, booked my flight and accommodation and was all set for my holiday! The icing on the cake was when my partner in crime, Uma decided to join me for the trip. I was ecstatic, to the extent of doing cartwheels in the air.  

Ho Chih Minh here I come......

For a person for loves beach holidays more than anything. You can ask why Ho Chih Minh? Well, it reminded me a lot about “Old Singapore”. I’m a sentimentalist at heart and a sucker for nostalgia. That wasn’t the only reason. I had to see Notre Dame Cathedral! 

For the longest time, I‘ve been dreaming about visiting Notre Dame Cathedral in Marseille, the second largest city after Paris in France. I’m quite certain; I’ll get my chance.

By now, I was high with excitement. I had so many thoughts running in my head. I had to research where to go, what to eat - Oh Food, glorious food! 

Research - Knowing and Getting around

I drove myself crazy reading everything about the city; their history must-try delicacies, people, value of 'Dong' and how much to bring, possible dangers, mode of transportation, language, weather, time difference, etc.

Knowing is one, but the key ingredient to having an awesome holiday is not to over-think and be spontaneous. Besides that, knowing your bearings is equally important, to me at least. Believe me, for someone who gets lost in Singapore. This is rather crucial for me! I spent a good amount of time studying their road maps. Thank goodness for Google maps.  Their roads seemed closely connected and I didn’t foresee any issue getting around.

It's also good to get a second opinion. And who better to ask then my soul mate –LG! He travels frequently to Vietnam and I felt he was the best person to ask. His advice was rather simple - Refrain from signing up with tour agencies, they are a rip-off! I could easily get charged USD 800 just for three days of sightseeing. Damn! I was so close to signing up for one.

All the tourist attractions were nearby. When lost, all I had to do was seek assistance from the locals for directions or find the nearest tourist centre for help. Not that difficult! I can manage that.

Language & Travel Reviews

Whenever you visit a new country, it’s always nice to learn their language. So what do you think I did next? I bought myself a pocket Vietnamese dictionary, which now collects dust on my bookshelf.  Learning their language is no easy task; it was a struggle to pronounce their words. And here I thought Tamil was challenging!

That wasn’t enough for me; I read several travel reviews from websites like Trip-advisor, Lonely Planet and many more. The not so surprising truth about such reviews; they can be at times opinionated. Truth be told, none of those mattered to me. I am a strong advocate for “Seeing is Believing”.

Flight & Accommodation

I booked my flight with Tiger Airways. Given that I booked so last minute, they offered a reasonable price for the flight tickets. 

For accommodation, I stayed in a cosy, two-star hotel called Thanh Long Tan. When you google about the hotel, it may seem like a dodgy place. But believe me, It's safe! There's another reason why I chose this hotel- it was located right smack in the middle of most tourist attractions. Plus, the room prices were going at a steal and I had to grab it. In total, I spent less than SGD 300 for four days, three nights on flight and accommodation. Can you believe that? My lucky stars were really shining on me!

The hotel was pretty efficient in sending my booking details. Although, airport transfer had to be arranged personally with them. The call to the hotel was one of the longest I had. It made me realize what I was up against – the language barrier. I felt doomed! But then, me being me - I didn’t give up! I managed to find someone who could understand English and my airport transfer was arranged soon after. 

Once all formalities were sorted, I was ready to go...youhouuuu!!!

Alright, I've come to the end of the first part.  I'm tired and should head to bed. Tune in to my next post for more. Until then...Good night! Bisous :)