So far 2020 has been pretty interesting - and I'm not referring to COVID-19 (though I suppose we have quarantine to thank for my latest posts). I had my first game of glow-in-the-dark minigolf, made a daytrip to Bonn and, yeah, traveled Southeast Asia for a month, as one does.
On Thursday, the 9th of January, I flew over to Berlin for the night. I stayed with Raul (met in Anaheim) and some other brothers from the church. It was late, so we didn't really get to see anything, but it was a good visit nonetheless. The next day I flew to Singapore and, thanks to the time difference, I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on the 11th.
The first thing I noticed was one of these guys sleeping on his bike. Though, the one I saw was doing this in the middle of traffic!.. Basically, just slightly off to the side. At the hostel I immediately made new friends with whom I spent the afternoon eating pizza and planning the next day. I also had a $15 message - the first of many to come.
The following day, after a two-hour bus ride, we all arrived at the Chu Chi Tunnels. During our visit we learned about the many extreme survival techniques used by the Việt Cộng. First of all, they lived underground in tunnels and ate Tapioca root all day long as their only food source. We tried some, which was actually pretty good, but one can imagine getting tired of it in about a day.
Due to the resulting malnourishment, the Việt Cộng were quite small, which helped them to live in tunnels that, as I discovered, are quite confining... Of course, I'd rather be malnourished than experience the horrible conditions that some of the US troops had to face. Not only did the Việt Cộng find devestating ways to use the weapons of the attacking forces against them, but they were also quite effective in coming up with gruesome traps that would shred and impale the flesh of their victims.
Yeah... I'm pretty glad I wasn't around for that conflict. After visiting the shooting range (overpriced and crowded), we took the bus back to Ho Chi Minh City.
The next couple of days we enjoyed the fantastic free breakfast on the hostel terrace (most hostels offer really good breakfast free of charge), and ate at lots of nice restaurants. Although, most notable was the street food, in particular Banh Mi (very cheap and filling sandwich bursting with spicy flavor!). I spent most of my time with two hostel buddies - a German and a Canadian.
In the last two days, before I left for the Philippines, we checked out the Indepenence Palace, the Central Post Office, and the markets. I bought a good backpack for about 500 thousand dong (about $20) at the Ben Thanh Market (more touristy than the Chợ Bình Tây market, but good luck navigating that mess!) and tried the famous Coconut Iced Coffee at Cong - not bad!
For the days following the wedding, Ayden and Carrie had a lot planned. On Sunday, the 21st of May, we all went to Ba Na Hills to start the first day of sightseeing and activities. Of course, I couldn't start the day without another visit to Anthony's hotel for the breakfast buffet.
We were pretty short on time after eating, and we had been warned that late-comers would be left behind, so I rushed down with Anthony to catch our GrabTaxi. Unfortunately, Anothony... got distracted. We both ended up making it in the end, seeing as the bus driver was willing to wait a bit, but Anthony wasn't happy about having to catch another taxi. We then spent a full day wandering around in the international sensation that is Ba Na Hills. It really did seem like we had left Vietnam behind as almost all of the workers there were tall westerners. In fact, this one guy dressed as a king was probably well over seven feet!
A good portion of the time was spent on the cable cars going up and down this mountain. One might assume that they just like throwing money around but, in such a humid country, I suppose I can see the value in putting your resort up above the clouds on a cool mountaintop.
They definitely spent some money putting this place together though. We saw a lot of hired dancers and costumed performers throughout the day as we walked around taking in the various attractions. The European style buildings, large cultural monuments, and various activities at the sports hall were all clearly meant to give the impression that they had spared no expense.
The main attraction was the toboggan. We probably waited 45 minutes to go on that ride - it was worth it though. I kind of felt like it made up for missing the one at the Great Wall of China.
Later that evening, back in Da Nang, we came together for a pool party at Ayden and Carrie's villa. We had some good local food, shot some pool and, of course, swam in the pool. We also had breakfast there the next morning before heading off to see Lady Buddha.
I had to catch a flight later that evening, so I followed the bus all day on my rental scooter. This was mostly okay except for the ride along the beach at which point I pretty much got sandblasted. We then went to Marble Mountain for a visit to the caves there.
I also wanted to take an elevator to the top but, lo and behold - another broken ATM. This proved to be a pretty big concern as I didn't have money for lunch, and we were running out of time. Thankfully, one the of the waitresses at the restaurant we went to was willing to hop on my bike with me in order to help navigate to an ATM that worked!
Lunch was another interesting meal consisting of some local and international elements if I remember correctly. When we were done eating, most of us had to take off, so we said some quick goodbyes, and I hopped on the scooter for one last ride. On the way back to my hotel I had to make one stop though... I had left my shoes at Anthony's hotel. Most people who know him were unsure I would be able to get my shoes back but, thankfully, with a little prodding from hotel reception, I was able to get him to open up. Overall, an awkward encounter to be sure, but I got my shoes!
Finally, I picked up the rest of my gear and caught a GrabTaxi to the airport. There I managed to get in one last visit with the brothers that I had met with a few days earlier.
As I reached my gate I saw another familiar face - Adam from the wedding. Back in Hong Kong, he introduced me to a little travel indulgence to which I hadn't previously given any thought. It turns out that airport lounges are more than just a quite place to relax. In fact, some of them are right up there with holiday resorts! Adam had a +1 option on the lounge benefits of his credit card, so he got me in for the free shower and buffet. Now, these two things may not sound like a holiday resort experience but, when you consider the contrast of a busy day of travel vs a relaxing shower and a good meal in a comfortable lounge, the feeling is right up there. If you've got the money, or your credit card has this benefit, I'd highly recommend giving yourself enough time to take advantage!
When Ayden invited me to his wedding I thought to myself "I can't even make it to the weddings of people I'm related to so..." On the other hand, I'm not usually working a part time back home where it's easy to just pick up and go. It really was a no brainer; I could visit Chu Sum in Hong Kong, take a $100 flight down to Vietnam, travel around a bit, and stop in for the wedding... why not! So, a couple months later, on Saturday, May 20th, I joined Anthony for breakfast at his hotel.
We then went to the beach where the wedding would be held. Finally, we took advantage of the free messages offered by his hotel before heading back to the beach for Ayden and Carrie's wedding.
They had been worrying about the weather a lot over the last month. I think Carrie had even gotten sick over it. The forecast wasn't good but, in the end, the weather stayed nice for pretty much everything. Of course, it was a bit disconcerting nonetheless when, during the wedding, the clouds cast a shadow over the whole event, and the wind picked up. Still, we even got through most of the banquet before the first drop fell from the sky. I'd call that a win.
After the banquet, I hopped back on my scooter and raced over to the dragon bridge for the fireworks competition. The security guard at my hostel was supposed to be my guide but, because of time, I wasn't able to make it back to the hostel to catch up with him. In any case, it was a pretty good show even from my distant vantage out on the main road.
Mỹ Sơn (pronounced "Me Sun") is an abandoned group of temple buildings from about 400-1400 AD. On Friday, May 19th, I had my free egg rice breakfast that was included in my $5 hostel booking, and then started my ride over to Mỹ Sơn sanctuary. It was during this ride that I saw the most legitimate examples of bad driving that I've ever seen in my life. I had already witnessed some pretty interesting driving in the city - this shirt I bought says it all.
It turns out you can pretty much do whatever you want on the roads in Vietnam. For example, passing into oncoming traffic is routine here, and I can't even tell you how many times I saw people talking on their phones while riding. I even had a chat with Vinny the night before while he was giving me a tour on his scooter, and I couldn't help but notice that he wasn't even looking at the road half the time - even when we were entering an intersection...
Anyway, I thought the temple ruins were interesting but, for me, the ride over was the best part. The rural areas are also really nice in general. The rugged roads and natural beauty of the countryside were really impressive to me. The undeveloped areas give a nice sense of balance between civilization and untamed wilderness. If I had my way, and I know many would disagree, but I would like to see the whole world preserved in such a natural, "uncivilized" state. At least to me, the trade off seems well worth it.
After another few hours ride back to my hotel in Da Nang, I decided to find something to eat. As I was walking around the neighborhood, using my broken Vietnamese to ask about places to eat, a random guy on a scooter rolled up and told me to get on. Now I know what you're thinking, sounds like a scene out of a horror movie, right? Well, I didn't feel like the guy was threatening in any way and, in any case, I was twice his size. Worst case scenario he takes me a few blocks further than expected and I force him to stop.
As we rounded the corner, we came to a stop at a dirty little garage. I wasn't sure what to make of the place until a lady came out with a plate. Turns out he had taken me to a neighborhood restaurant! This was technically what I was looking for, so I sat down and had a look at the strange egg she had brought out. I peaked into the opening on top and quickly realized what I was looking at... this was no ordinary egg... this was Balut.
If you don't already know what Balut is; it's a boiled duck egg. The only thing is that this duck egg is fertilized... meaning that the bird inside is half-formed. I started peeling away the shell and eating the yoke (which was actually on the outside) when the guy put down his cigarette, took my egg and shoved his thumbs inside. I was then greeted with the lovely sight of internal organs, veins, beak, eyes and the beginnings of feathers. Still, I thought to myself, "how bad can it be?"
It's pretty bad. I've eaten a lot of weird stuff: Durian in Singapore, scorpions in Beijing, intestines as well as stinky tofu in Hong Kong, Haggis in Scotland, Kangaroo burger in London (imported from Australia of course), Possum in New Zealand, Dog Soup in South Korea, etc. But this... this was not an easy one to stomach. After eating most of one, along with lots of spicy greens, I had had enough... then they brought out another one. I didn't want to be rude, so I started eating the yoke on that one, but then realized I had a good excuse to stop - I was full. So, I did the appropriate gestures to show that I couldn't eat anymore - I had realized by this point that the Vietnamese that I had learned over the last month on Duolingo was pretty much incomprehensible to locals. I then got my host to finish it for me. Talk about dodging a bullet! Or, at least, to an extent. I'll never forget the texture of the innards, beak and eyes of that first egg that I actually had intended to fully consume.
I figured this was enough adventure for the day, but it seems my new friend had other plans. We hopped back on the scooter on our way to some random backwater street where we stopped at a bar. Before I had a chance to say anything (it was actually getting close to time for me to go meet my friends who I would be joining for a wedding the following day), he ordered the strangest drinks for us. I had a go at it - it was some kind of coffee liquor. Not my favorite. Then, as I had been dreading since having seen the drinks, we got back on the bike. Mind you - we had no helmets. My driver insisted that he would be careful (at least that's the message I got), so we slowly began our short trip back to his "restaurant". Slowly at first, but then he got it up to a reasonably uncomfortable speed as he swerved drunkenly along the road. Thankfully, we made it back safely. I walked the rest of the way to my hotel grateful that I wouldn't be later be telling the story of some horrible accident experienced on this, what I would call, an otherwise worthwhile, unique and exciting adventure.
Later that evening, I met up with the wedding party at a popular local restaurant scene called Tran Food. It was kind of cool because they gave us all of the stuff for making spring rolls in which we were free to put whatever we wanted - a welcome change from eating duck fetus surprise!
Good evening, Vietnam! On Wednesday, May 17th, I arrived in Vietnam where I began my search for a functioning ATM. After ordering a GrabTaxi (similar to Uber), I went to the first ATM I could find at the airport only to find that it was not even plugged in. When the GrabTaxi arrived, I explained my situation and asked to stop at an ATM on the way to my hotel. The driver seemed to be okay with this idea... unfortunately, this was because he didn't understand. As we approached the hotel, I found myself awkwardly explaining why I didn't have money for him. Eventually, I found that pronouncing ATM with Latin pronunciation (Ah-Tay-Em) got my message across - this actually makes sense because of the French colonial influence in Vietnam. So, we found an ATM... but this one didn't accept cards with the security chip. Who knew that more security could be the cause of the problem? Visibly exasperated, the driver took me to another ATM where I had to wait in a line. When I finally got to the front, I found that this one was not working very well either. Fortunately, it was just a matter of mashing the buttons really hard.
Back at the hotel, I gave the driver twice the fare - $10. This would have been reasonable even if he hadn't driven me across town. The bargains didn't stop there - my $10 room had air conditioning, queen-size bed and a balcony! I would later discover that this was just the beginning of my budgeting dream come true.
Later that evening I took a GrabTaxi to a friend's place across town where I met with some fellowship contacts. Quang is a local in Da Nang and Chas comes from LA. We spent some time talking, reading, and eating some interesting local snacks, then I headed back to my hotel for the night.
The next day I found my next bargain - a scooter rental for $5/day! And here I thought the GrabTaxi couldn't be beat. I then began my journey down the coast on my way to Hoi An. My first stop along the way was a gas station. I think that was about $3 to fill up... and they even do it for you. As I was continuing down the coast, I came across Marble Mountain. This was actually one of the stops on my itinerary, but planned for another day. Nevertheless, I ended up making an unplanned stop. As I was riding along, another scooter pulled up next to mine and its' driver decided to start a conversation with me! The lady on the other bike asked me if I'd been to Marble Mountain and, when I told her that I had plans to see it, she insisted on showing me where to go.
I followed this lady up to her shop and we parked there. She then gave me a ride to the entrance at which point I explained that I was actually planning to come back with friends on another day. So, she took me back to the shop and started her pitch. Well, in retrospect, her pitch started back on the main road. This was all an elaborate scheme to get customers into her store and price gouge them. Feeling guilty that I had wasted so much of her time, I offered to buy a couple little items. I assumed that the prices would be Vietnamese prices... naturally, I was wrong. I chose a few small marble figures thinking that it would be no more than a couple bucks. She then went on to quote me over $100! Well, I had already agreed to buy something so I offered to buy one cheap one. She went on with all of the funny lines, like "you're on holiday - live a little!" or something like that. She clearly had assumed I was one of the average tourists with a bit of extra cash. Well, after repeatedly assuring her that I was not, she agreed to let a small figurine and a bracelet go for $25 USD... you can imagine my sense of buyer's regret after I left that place. Even after talking her down to a fraction of what she was asking, I had still gotten completely and utterly ripped off. I would later see these same items on the street for spare change.
Oh well! I continued my ride down the beautiful coastal road to Hoi An - a traditional Vietnamese village packed with tailors. I had taken the advice of a guy I met while wandering around on Hong Kong Island a few days before, and plotted my route to a place called Yaly Couture. Apparently, this place uses state-of-the-art technology to produce super high-quality suits at unbeatable prices. I later found out that, not only did the store I went to not use the high tech computer scanning tech, but that they actually give a pretty average rate for that part of the world. A few months later I would learn of $50 suits in Thailand - 1/3 of what I paid! In any case, I got measured twice that day and had a pretty darn nice suit delivered to my hotel that evening.
Meanwhile, I went to lunch and practiced my Vietnamese with a local named Vinny... Actually, his name was Vĩnh Trần, but I suggested what I thought was a fitting English name and he seem to like it. So, after I got to know Vinny over lunch, he offered to show me around his village. He had to work for a few hours though, so I went for a message at a place recommended by my hostel, called Su Bi. It was actually a lot different than previous messages I'd had. It started out with a tea based foot soak during which they gave me some really tasty sweet coconut to eat - this indeed was quite good, especially when you consider that I usually hate coconut! After that we went upstairs for a really nice full body message. I was surprised there as well because I usually don't enjoy the whole message - it's usually a bit too aggressive. At one point the lady was doing something that made a clacking sound as it hit my back. It was nice but I honestly couldn't tell you what the heck it was. Overall, my hour message was a pretty good deal at $10 (about 230,000 Vietnamese Dong).
Later on I met up with Vinny for some really awesome local Vietnamese food. First he took me for some street food (only like $1 - 20k VND) followed by a restaurant where I got clay pot steamed rice with chicken and a drink for probably about $2. Finally, we headed over to the street market to see the famous Hoi An lights, more street food (including the most delicious lemonade-type drink I've ever had), and souvenirs - which some guy promptly tried to steal from me as we were walking through a crowd. The cheeky little sneak tried to grab my stuff right out of my bag that was in my hand! You can imagine how shocked he was when he realized I was actually paying attention. Off he ran.
That evening back at the hostel, I met my only roommate and we had a good chat before bed. Backpackers in this part of the world are always on the coolest adventures. Thanks to the low cost of travel here, most people you meet are on a long-term journey - anywhere from a few weeks to several months... even years! It's hard to imagine living this way in most any other part of the world. Southeast Asia really is the backpacker capitol of the world.
