This is perhaps my most favorite show on History Channel Asia.  I was so engrossed watching it last time that I live-blogged all the episodes.  

     If in the first season, host Anthony Morse brought us to China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, this season, the locations will be closer to home as it includes the Philippines!  Yay!

     This season, Anthony Morse will take us to more countries, including Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, China's Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, Sumatra, Si Chuan and Chongqing in China, Sarawak and of course, the Philippines.   This just proves that the first season had been a hit with viewers because if it was not, there would have been no need to add a couple more countries to explore. Well, all I can say is, the more the merrier! 

     For the premiere episode, Anthony Morse will travel to Vietnam.  The episode synopsis states:

   

     I was pretty honest when I said before that there was not much planning for our trip to Vietnam. Although we booked tickets way ahead, like more than 2 months before our trip, I just booked our tours quite late; 2 days before we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City.  It was so late that the Sinh Tourist Office had to send me a payment link for the Cu Chi Tunnel tour because it cannot be booked anymore via their website.  Oh well.  The beauty of taking tours - you can just sit back and relax after booking one.

     On the other hand, DIY tours are more flexible when it comes to time management.  You can take all the pictures you want; there's no need to rush, unless your travel companions are impatient.  Heehee.  However, DIY tours are quite taxing; you need to research, research and research.  And despite making all the preparations beforehand, you'll probably still end up asking locals for directions.  For  lazy people like me, DIY tours are a welcome challenge.  But, there are still times that I just get so busy with no time to spare for planning a tour.  And, that is what precisely happened in Vietnam!

     I told my friends that we're probably better off if we do a DIY city tour of Ho Chi Minh.  After all, according to just about everybody who has done a HCMC tour, it's relatively easy, and the attractions are nearby each other.  Yipee!  Hearing that, I was convinced I didn't need to thoroughly research our destinations.  So, I just printed some Google maps and the wikitravel entries for HCMC.  Really, that was all I did and I left everything else to chance.

     We started our tour by taking a taxi to the Saigon Opera House.  It's such a beautiful building, and it was a Sunday so there were not a lot of people and vehicles around.  In fact, we were able to take pictures of one another in the middle of the street.  Not knowing where else to head to, we went to the Caravelle Hotel, well, to use their wash room.  Lol!

     There is a fountain between the Opera House and Caravelle Hotel and it looked so picture perfect.  We took some photos there, even stepping on the grass; there were no signs saying, "Keep off the grass."  Apparently, we were not the only ones who thought that the area is good place for a photo op.  When we got out of Caravelle Hotel, we saw a bride having her wedding photo shoot in the small garden/fountain area.  Naturally, I did what most curious tourist would do; take photos of the bride.  She was so pretty!  But then she caught me from across the street and since my lens were zoomed in, I saw her not-so happy face.  Heh!

      We wanted to go to the HCMC People's Committee Building, but we didn't know how, despite us having a map and all.  It was easier to ask around, and easier to spot some tourist information officers on patrol.  They're in uniform; if I remember correctly, they're wearing green.  We asked one, and then another.  They all know how to speak and understand English.  We just pointed the place on the map and they answered in English.

      So, apparently, the HCMC People's Committee is just on the next block.  Our markers were the circular water fountain and the Rex Hotel.  And, beyond the garden outside Rex Hotel lies the HCMC People's Committee!  Yay!

     We saw a statue of a man with a child, guess he's called Bac Ho, as the brass plate on his statue states.  We were having such fun under the noonday sun in the garden but then again, some caucasian man past his prime shouted rudely at us, telling us to move away from of the statue.  My temper flared and I wanted to shout back at the rude guy.  Who the heck he thinks he is?  The place is public; if he wants to have his picture taken, wait for a turn.  I decided not to engage in a verbal tussle since he was quite at a distance (yes, he was like 15 meters away from us so just imagine how loudly he shouted).  But I really, really hated that impertinent, impatient, rude tourist. There were only a handful of tourists loitering around the area, like, just us, so there's no need to crudely rush the people, us, who got to the statue first.  Yeah, damn that caucasian tourist.

       Anyway, we moved, but only after shooting dagger looks.  We asked a local who was sitting at one of the park benches for directions going to the Notre Dame Cathedral and she gladly helped us out.  Apparently, we only had to go right from the People's Committee until we reach the end of the block, Dong Khoi Street, and from there, we just walk straight the road until we see the cathedral.  Along the way, we saw the Vincom Center and a lot of art galleries.  The roads were almost deserted and our walk had a leisurely feel to it.  It reminded me of walking around the Makati Central Business District.

     The cathedral was beautiful; it was like straight out of a foreign movie about something scary, or about the war bombings because the Blessed Virgin Mary's statue was in a small plaza outside the cathedral.  I was half-expecting Mama Mary to shed tears of blood, and the red bricks just bring out the beauty of the church, and if you're a fan of horror/suspense movies, to its mystery.  And the twin bell towers are so picture-perfect.  Ah, really, churches are such works of art!

 Street view of the Cathedral, Diamond Plaza and the Post Office.

     We walked across going to the Post Office and it was open despite being a Sunday.  There were a lot of westerners here.  I think, I was the only Asian inside, aside from the staff and shopkeepers.  My friends, the other Asians, were outside and didn't come in.  I really did not know why the tourists were concentrated in this building.  I get that the Post Office is structurally beautiful but really, the number of western tourists inside was astonishing.

     There were shops inside, and two-rows of telephone booths reminiscent of the ones I see in the movies, you know, made of dark wood and all.  And, with all the caucasians inside the Post Office, I had the weird feeling that I was in a western country rather than one in the East.

     And oh, the street vendors outside have bloated prices for mineral water and other refreshments.  I wanted to buy a mineral water and I was told it costs VND 20,000. I was like, lady, that's more than thrice the amount for a bigger bottle at that, and the same price for a Coca Cola on a plastic bottle.  Of course, I didn't buy.  I was stingy, and well, so what if I was thirsty?  I mean, she called me out after I left the vendor's area, saying that I could get a discount.  So, she was really just taking advantage of me being a tourist and all.

     Our last destination for the day was the Reunification Palace.  We just took photos outside and just sat at one of the benches in the park adjacent to it.  We didn't have time to go to the malls or something, but we managed to hail and cab going to Ben Tanh Market for some last minute goodies.  We bought some dried fruit and veggie chips and ground coffee, weasel coffee to be precise, to bring back home.

     We went back to the hotel and freshened up.  There were a couple of hours left before our flight so we shopped near the hotel and bought some souvenirs as well as some allegedly factory overruns Crumpler bags at Bagsvina a couple of steps away from the hotel.  We also had some dinner before we finally said goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City.

     Once again, me and my friends took a tour with the Sinh Tourist.  Usually, the tours I get uses a van and there are either just us or some other people on board.  But the Sinh Tourist tours are different.  They use tour buses.

     We arrived at the office just when the bus was about to depart.  Heehee.  We were the last ones to board the bus and we were seated at the very rear because the bus was already packed.  Oh well.

     Honestly, I could not remember much about our trip going to Cai Be.  All I remember is that the ride was long, like around 2 hours, and that I slept for most of the time.  Well, the tour guide made a very good effort to keep us awake by telling us general information about Vietnam and the Mekong River.  He even made a pass about Thailand being number 1 in terms of tourism but that Thailand only shows the beauty spots.  Hmm.  Even though the guide was talkative, just like our guide the previous day, his enthusiasm was not enough for us to stay focused...we fell asleep 30 minutes into our travel.  I think I had a good hour of sleep, more than what I needed for a power nap, but you see, sleeping is such a blessing!  I really love to sleep, a lot!

     I think I finally woke up 30 minutes before we reached our drop-off point in Cai Be.  Probably, if only Vietnam looked a little more exotic, then perhaps, I would have been awake our whole travel.  But all I saw were the same rice fields, animals, kinds of houses and structures.  It was as if I was travelling on board a provincial bus headed to anywhere in the Philippines.  The only difference were the signs, in Vietnamese of course.  And there seems to be tombs of some sorts in the middle of the rice fields and farm lands, something which is new to me.

     So, we went straight into a small community which was very much like your typical rural village in the Philippines.  I swear.  Everything was almost alike.  Heehee.  It seemed as if I never left the Philippines.  Anyway, we hopped into a fairly big boat, capable of ferrying around 20 to 30 passengers and we traversed the waters of the Mekong River.

     The river was huge!  It was really, really huge!  And in fairness, the water was clean.  There were villages on the riverbanks and we were able to see the people's daily lives.  It was not much different than the daily life back home, only that there was a floating market of some sorts in the river selling food products.  But really, I was expecting to see a floating market reminiscent of the floating market I saw in Thailand.  The one in Cai Be, though, was entirely different.  It was not touristy at all and the boats carrying the goods are huge!  And since it was already around 10 a.m., the market's busy activities had already died down when we reached the market place.  So, we were only able to see a couple of boats selling watermelons and tapioca.

 We rode a similar boat like these.

  I told you, the Mekong River is huge!

     Some of the boats we passed by doubles as a house for some.  Also, we saw a couple of small businesses along the riverbanks: a boat repair shop, general merchandise store (sari-sari store), and the likes.

     Villagers' daily life by the Mekong River.

     After some 30 minutes plying the river, and soaking up life at the riverbanks, the tour guide told us that we're going back on land to go to a village for a taste of village life.  We docked our  boat at a quaint village which reminded me so much of the provinces back home: sleepy, tranquil and serene.

     First, the tour guide led us to a restaurant of some sorts where we were allowed to hold up a block of honeybee comb with live bees for picture taking and for some information about royal jelly which the village produces and sells.  We had a taste of their tea and some candied delicacies, similar with the candied delicacies we have back home.  I didn't buy the royal jelly, although I was tempted to.  I should have bought one just for the sake of having bought one.  Besides, its good for the body.  Perhaps, next time.

     Second, the tour guide brought us to a similar shop were a snake wine can be bought, tried and tested.  Nope, didn't try it!  Not ever.  My friend did, though.

     Third, we went to another place and this time, we saw how the rice paper's made.  Rice paper's the one used in wrapping those yummy spring rolls.  Again, the process reminds me of how the Philippines' version, the lumpia wrapper, is made.  We also had a look at how a dried coconut is stripped-off it's skin until only the shell is exposed.  Well, sorry if I say this once more: it is something that is also being done in our country.  In fact, the lumpia wrapper making and the coconut husk stripping can be seen in public markets in the Philippines, even in the city.  Yup. 

     Our last stop in that village is for the making of rice crispies.  Yup!  I've eaten rice crispies as a kid, and we have it either in round balls or in rectangular strips.  It's very local in the Philippines, although I haven't seen one lately.  But it's my first time to see how it's done so there's something new that I learned.  Apparently, the rice's put into a big wok or something with black sand.  Then, the rice will pop while they get swirled in the wok.  Then, they'll be put in a big strainer to separate the sand from the rice, then it's done!  The rice pop, as they call it, will be ready for processing into a snack.

     What I enjoyed most about our village experience were the little kids who were calling to us, saying, "Hello!"  So cute.  Teehee.

     Then, we boarded the boat again, and the tour guide told us that we'd be going next to the restaurant to have our lunch and that it'll take about an hour by boat to get there.  Wow, so we had an hour just sitting on the boat.

     I was sitting by the window, and it was hot but bearable.  My arm was exposed to the sun light; it was nicely warm.  Sunlight was hitting my legs directly, so I put my cap over my legs then I forgot about my exposed arm and dozed off.  When I came to my senses, we're in nowhere.  And, my exposed arm was burned crisp red.  You'd think I had some allergic reactions.  Hehehe.

     So, the ride was all water, of course, with just some strips of land here and there.  Then, we came nearer our destination. And mind you, it looked more provincial than the village but what we saw up close was like a mini paradise!  It was so beautiful!  The garden was so sublime!  Really!  There's even a dragon-vine-shrub whatever plant structure and a whole lot more!  God, this place was beckoning me to take a rest and enjoy the nature. 

 The restaurant was located somewhere near here.

 I'll post some more pictures of the restaurant once I get it from my phone.

      So, finally, we had a lunch at a banquet hall, a traditional lunch, they say.  We had a fried spring rolls of some sort which we had to dip into fish sauce...As you know, patis is very salty so I dipped my roll very gently into the saucer.  Then we had rice, yummy veggies, some soup that I could not eat because it had some shellfish, and the main course, a river fish called, Elephant Eared Fish.  Everything was delish!

     Sharing our table was an older lady from Sweden, and a very kawaii, gakkoi college-aged guy from Japan.  His frame is so tiny!  He's really polite and well-mannered and I want to have him as a brother.  Ah, it'll be nice to have an otouto like that.  Apparently, he lived in the Philippines for 3 years and his parents were expats so he knew right away that we're Filipinos.  He said he'd be heading back to Tokyo that night, with everything that's been going on with their country and all.  I mean, it was just a week since the Great Tohoku earthquake, and the young guy said that he needed to go back home.

     Later after lunch, I saw him talking to group of Japanese girls his age.  He now found someone he could relate to more, and hung out with the girls who sat with him on the boat ride going to our next destination, Vinh Long.  If it wasn't Vinh Long, then, my bad for not listening to the guide.  Heehee.  Oh, I thought the Japanese guy would stick with the girls but we guessed that he got scared because one of the girls was staying too close to him.  Hahaha.  Think he got an admirer there.  Later on, we saw the guy saying goodbye to the girls and roamed the streets on his own.  Heh.

     So, what was there to see over at Vinh Long?  Nothing much, just your regular market, the ones very similar to the markets here in Manila.  But at least I saw green mangoes as big as my face, but then again, I've seen and eaten one last year, so it was not novel at all.  We did get to drink our favored iced coffee from a small restaurant.  It was refreshing and cool, plus, it's really cheap!  Just don't stir well if you don't want the sweet taste of condensed milk.

    We only had some 30 minutes in Vinh Long and we were hauled back into the bus to return to Ho Chi Minh.  And oh, we passed by this wonderful bridge donated by the Australians to the people of Vietnam.  It was really pretty seeing it in the horizon.

     Well, I didn't have pictures to post yet of the Vinh Long leg of our tour as I ran out of battery for my camera.  I had a couple of pictures in my phone but I have yet to retrieve them.  I'll put them up sometime this week.

     For the two hour ride back to the City, I slept again.  Heehee.

     

     From the Cu Chi Tunnels, we came straight back to the Sinh Tourist office.  By then, we were already famished.  It was past 1:00 p.m. already.  We just picked out a place to eat near the area.  We would have wanted to have some Vietnamese food but we have not yet scoured the area, and all we saw were those western-styled restaurants since we're in the backpackers' area.  We picked the Buffalo, and dined al fresco.  Prices were reasonable considering the taste.  I got a lasagna, because I'm Garfield and I love lasagna, and my friends got some subway-like sandwich, similar to the ones sold by the street vendors in Ho Chi Minh, and some steak.  My lasagna was really yummy; the sauce was made of real tomatoes and it was served in a clay pot. Very cute.  It cost around VND 110,000 and I ordered some Vietnamese iced tea (iced loose leaf tea sans sugar), and paid 10% service charge.

    Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to rest for a while before we head out to Saigon Square.  But the bed was so inviting that I slept from 2pm to 7pm.  No kidding!  Half of my day was gone!

     Oh well.  Guess we were dead tired for not getting enough sleep during the previous day with our late flight to Vietnam and all.  So, we just went to Ben Tanh Market to get some dinner.  According to the hotel staff, the night market is open till midnight or so.  We asked for directions and the competent staff gave us their version of a map where all the places of interest are pointed out.  The hotel staff told us that we could walk to Ben Tanh Market from our hotel.  We finally decided to check out the market and pick up some souvenirs; after all, we only had 3 days to spend in Ho Chi Minh.  Also, we'd be out for the whole day the next day for our Cai Be, Vinh Long, and Mekong Tour.

     Since Ben Tanh Market is just walking distance from the hotel, we really walked all the way there!  It was not far away and the hotel staff made us walk the busy streets, not the dimly-lit ones, where there are a lot of people and vehicles passing by. So, even if it was night time already, we felt completely safe.  But still, crossing the street going to Ben Tanh was a challenge; there was no stop light.  Haha!  But the motorists were kind enough to let us pass through, or at the very least, they tried not to hit us.  Heehee.

     Well, the night market is not a huge place; just a couple of short streets on both sides of the Ben Tanh Market.  The items on sale are touristy, with some bags, shirts and home decor and paintings thrown into the mix.  Naturally, we bought the usual Vietnam key chains, bookmarks and souvenir shirts from the night market stalls.  Some of the storekeepers were willing to accept USD and Philippine peso in lieu of Vietnamese dong, since we said we didn't have VND with us while shopping.  Some will tell you that they have not yet made a sale and will plead for you to buy, and some will not let you leave the stall without buying anything.  Apparently, if you leave without buying, people will think that their prices are expensive.  Some will get angry with you if you just ask without buying anything.  The sellers at the market employ all marketing tricks to entice the buyers, especially the foreigners, to part with their money, in whatever currency it may be.

     Apart from buying all those touristy trinkets to bring back home, we also had our dinner at Ben Tahn.  There were a couple of similar-looking makeshift outdoor eateries, the ones with the plastic seats and/or stools.  All were serving Vietnamese food and we just picked one of those eateries and we were quite happy with our choice.  I had some noodles and they gave us plateful of green, leafy veggies, including fresh mint.  It was a treat, really, to eat fresh veggies with our noodles.  The food are priced cheaply, very affordable and the taste is great!  Very satisfying.

   
     I think we just stayed there for less than 3 hours and then we returned back to our hotel, well, to sleep again.  We need to leave the hotel very early in the morning for our Mekong river tour the following day.

     My friends were surprised when I told them that we had to wake up early for our Cu Chi Tunnels 1/2 day trip with the Sinh Tourist.  "How early?"  They asked me. I told them we needed to be at the Sinh Tourist office around 7:45 a.m.  Their faces just went blank.  After all, we just checked-in and it was 2 a.m. already.  We only had a couple of hours to sleep, and well, good luck to us.  

     Luckily, we all woke up on time, and we were even able to have our light breakfast at the hotel lobby.  I only researched where the eff is the Sinh Tourist office before we went down for breakfast.  I was banking on the computer and free internet inside our room.  As it turned out, the Sinh Tourist office is just less than a 5-minute walk away from our hotel.  In fact, the distance is less than 100 meters, as per Google maps.  

     I got our voucher from the Sinh Tourist office and we waited for 15 more minutes.  The bus was scheduled to depart at 8:15 a.m. Even thought it was so early in the morning, the Sinh Tourist was buzzing with activity; people were everywhere.  Some were fortunate to have seats inside the airconditioned office; others were standing outside.  Most of the clients of the tour office were caucasians.  There were only a handful of Asians, and there were some folks which I presume were Filipinos.  They were eating breakfast inside the office.  

     I took the time to browse through the shelves of tourist pamphlets.  I was most interested with their Saigon-Phomn Penh-Siem Reap-Saigon package.  I'd like to go back to Ho Cho Minh for that trip sometime.  Perhaps next year, around January or February when it is not that hot.

     Finally, at exactly 8:15 a.m. (9:15 on my watch), the bus arrived.  What do you know?  It was on time.  Yay for us.  We quickly climbed aboard the bus and we had seat assignments.  We were seated a few seats in front of the middle section.  My friends and I were excited...to sleep on the bus, lol!  It was not hard to do, really.  First, the bus was cruising at a very slow pace, coupled with the congested streets.  It was a Friday, a workday, at rush hour, so what do we expect?  But I think I fell asleep after we passed by a Jollibee branch somewhere.

     I think we travelled for at least 2 hours, and I woke up some 20 minute before we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels.  Before I forgot, we shelled out VND 80,000.00 each for the entrance.  

     So, what happened over at Cu Chi tunnels?  Not so much, really.  The place is a forested area, and we were shown the ingenious booby traps laid by the guerilla against the American forces during the war.  There were some demonstrations, and we we shown some of the tunnels used by the guerilla.  The original entrance to the tunnels was too tiny; almost just the size of a shoe box, but the Vietnamese, being slender and light on their foot, easily fits into the tunnel.  I could never fit inside those entrance, but some were dug out to accommodate tourists, like us.

 Apparently, this is a bomb crater.

     The last trip I had, before Ho Chi Minh City, was in Beijing, China, last November 2010.  I am quite fortunate to have been able to embark on another Asian travel four months after.  It also means, again, that I am running low in savings.  I think that I haven't hit the penniless stage just yet, so, for now, I am indulging in trips abroad and I have upcoming trips to Taiwan next month and to Singapore in July. 

     That being said, I swore that I would not spend too much money in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).  I wanted to save some dollars for my Taiwan trip; after all, I had this belief that I would be spending less in HCMC because I had friends who'd be travelling with me and with whom I could share the hotel cost.

     So, my friends and I booked a cheap hotel at the backpackers' area in HCMC, in Bui Vien Street.  I received a hotel voucher from our chosen hotel and we were billed for USD 47 per night, or USD 141 for our 3-night stay.  Our room was for triple sharing and with light breakfast included, so, we paid USD 47 each (around Php 2,200).  Our room was big with a computer and free wired and wi-fi internet inside the hotel, and a bath tub.  The reviews are great over at Trip Advisor, and we don't have to pay upfront, not even a deposit; payment may be made upon check-out.  Not a bad deal.  The hotel we booked is called Beautiful Saigon Hotel.

     For our tours, I just booked with The Sinh Tourist and paid the price online.  I chose Cu Chi Tunnels and Cai Be Mekong Delta tours, and we paid VND 334,000 (more than USD 5) and USD 40.27, respectively.  Both tours were for 3 persons.  

    We have booked a cheap hotel and cheap tours, so me and my friends were all set to go.

    We went to the NAIA Terminal 3 to catch our flight.  Again, I was amused by the thermal receipts issued to us by Cebu Pacific as boarding pass.  We didn't buy seats for our flight so I urged my friends to be at the airport at least 3 hours before our flight.  Cebu Pacific already has its online check-in system in operation but it seems that you need to buy seats in order to avail of the service.  I thought people would most likely make use of this option considering that you wouldn't need to be at the airport 2 hours before your flight if you check-in online but I was wrong.  Well, as always, I asked the ground staff to give us seats in front, and what do you know, we were given seats on the 3rd row, D, E and F.  But when I checked the seat selector option earlier in the day, seat 3D is occupied.  Amazing, right? 

     The National Bookstore inside the terminal was even more amazing; now bigger and with more books inside.  We bought a magazine and a book, because a bookstore is too hard to resist, plus pens because I forgot to bring one.

     Then, it was time for our 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City which happens to be not the capital of Vietnam (it's Hanoi, actually).  I slept all the time during our flight which was not hard to do considering we departed at 11:00 p.m.  Philippine time is an hour ahead of Vietnam time, so even if we flew for 2 and 1/2 hours, we arrived at 12:30 a.m., in Vietnam.  I turned back time! Yipee!

     When I woke up after we landed, I asked my friends if we were given arrival cards and they said there weren't any.  There's no arrival card, another yay for Vietnam. Less hassle.

     So, we finally got inside the Tan Son Nhat International Airport and it looks almost the same as our very own Terminal 3.  I promise.  Even the vicinity of the luggage conveyor looks creepily like Terminal 3.  As in.  I really felt as if I was in the Philippines instead of in Vietnam.  To check the facilities, flight schedules, etc., of Tan Son Nhat International Airport, this is their website: http://tsnairport.com/cms/en/home.

     Honestly, I didn't research much about HCMC so I just printed out the travel wiki guide for HCMC and some tips I got from the internet about a DIY city tour.  I knew that we were supposed to hire only Vinasun and Mai Linh taxis but where to find those at the airport was another matter.  But since the area immediately in front of the exit doors were littered with cars picking up their guests, we ended up waiting at the far left side.  We were wondering how to get a taxi when I noticed that the guys who were sitting beside us, chilling, were working for Vinasun and Mai Linh and some other taxi service.  The Vinasun guy, in long sleeves and tie, the color of which I forgot, got us a cab after we asked how do we get one.  He told us that a cab will arrive in 4 minutes, and indeed, a cab arrived not long thereafter.  The other ones like him from the other cab companies were sporting similar attires: long sleeved dress shirt and tie in the heat of the night.



      We got inside the taxi, and the driver promptly pressed the meter and we started our journey, a very slow journey, to our hotel in Bui Vien.  For one reason or the other, the cab driver was driving very slowly...40 kph, max.  I swear.  I was staring at the speedometer the whole time because I was so bored with his driving.  I wouldn't mind a slow drive during the day where there are a lot of cars, buses and motorcycles around, but in the dead of the night?  Are you kidding me?  Well, perhaps, the cabbie was thinking about our safety, so I was still thankful.  Our fare from airport to hotel was VND 120,000.

     Now, for the best part.  I emailed the hotel that we would be arriving in HCMC at 12:30 a.m., so they knew we were coming.  When the cab driver dropped us in front of our supposed hotel, we were confused, standing in the sidewalk like crazy people.  We were searching for the hotel but we could not find it.  But the place was right.  From the pictures, the hotel is supposed to be several steps away from Buffalo, a bar where backpackers frequent, and which was still buzzing with activity when we got there.  A little more effort in scanning the area and we saw the hotel.  It was in front of us, the same place where the cab dropped us off.  But it was closed.  The lights were off and the aluminum/stainless gate (the one used by mall shops) was down.  There was a 6-inch clearance left and we were literally on our knees peeping inside the closed hotel.  Then one of us saw a doorbell.  It was so high we needed to use something to push it.  Five minutes more had passed and someone turned on the lights. Thank god; we were waiting for at least 15 minutes already. The front-desk officer, not a security guard, woke up from her sleep, in her decent sleepwear, on a folding bed, beside the reception area.  She quickly found our room keys because she was expecting us, and we checked-in and went up to our room.  We were trying to suppress our laughters because this incident is one for the ages.

     In fairness, we were pleasantly surprised with our room.  It was decent sized, with a twin bed and a queen-sized bed, plus there was a fruit basket, with many fruits.  There were macopa, mangoes, bananas and others plus an assortment of tea and coffee.  N free bottled drinks, though.  It looked exactly as the pictures we saw in the hotel's website.  The beds were clean and comfy, the sheets were crisp and there were sparkling white rubber slippers.  And there's really a computer with wired internet inside the room and wi-fi internet.  Most important of all, the bathroom was super clean, just like what they said in their website.  Were we happy with our choice of hotel?  Of course, even if it we waited for the someone to open the doors for us.

     I think this is all for now.  My next post will be about our half-day tour to Cu Chi Tunnels.  Till then!