Exploring Vietnam 2019

Months ahead of time, my aunties informed me about our Vietnam trip and from then on, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This is the first time that we traveled on a really tight schedule. If you’re interested to know more about how we explored Vietnam, read more!

Vietnam was not part of my bucket list before. I’ve always thought of it very similar to our country, the Philippines. I’ve thought of it as something too similar and not worth splurging to travel to. However, it surprised me in many ways. Vietnam is very rich in culture and who couldn’t resist a good Pho anyway?! 

Our flight was scheduled for the 31st of October 2019 at 9:45PM. We headed to the airport 9 hours ahead of time expecting a lot of passengers, but surprisingly, NAIA Terminal 3 wasn’t crowded yet. At 4pm, we had our luggage checked in and proceeded to immigration. 

We landed in Vietnam at 1AM. Our body is really tired and just want to curl up in bed. Luckily, Grab is very accessible and cheap in Vietnam. Our hotel is located in Saigon and trust me, as a fan of Lea Salonga, my heart has been singing “The Heat is On Saigon”.

For our first day in Vietnam, we woke up a little late and then headed on to Buy Vien Walking Street which is very close to our hotel. We had our first meal at Saigon Style Home Cooking.
 

After getting our energy boosted, we went to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Saigon. Unfortunately, it was under renovation, so we can only take a photo outside. Nonetheless, it was still such a beaut.
 

With a short walk, we visited the Independence Palace.

Right after visiting the Independence Palace, we went straight to my favorite, the War Remnants Museum. I’ve been to different museums, but this one just melted my heart. It was really touching to witness what the Vietnamese went through during the war.

Can I just tell you how good Vietnamese coffee is! Oh gosh. I had 3 “Venti”-sized coffee every day and I swear, It’s sooo good. As someone who loves coffee so much, it was a great experience to try out different versions of their coffee.

We also went to the Benh Thanh Market, which is very cheap and it is the perfect place to buy pasalubong! 

When the evening came, we went to Saigon Skydeck to view amazing city lights and have the Heineken tour.

The next day, we woke up early to catch our bus to visit the Mekong Dalta. It was a 2 to 3 hour trip from our hotel, and I was feeling under the weather from having so much caffeine. 

Hold on, this is just their bus stop! Yes, too beautiful for a bus stop.

Okay, here we go. We arrived, and what welcomed us are a bunch of amazing traditional Vietnamese musicians. 

After listening to their music, what left our mind is this song: Vietnam Ho Chi Minh. We just can’t stop singing it during the whole trip.

We then rowed along the Mekong river to eat our lunch. 

We went back to our bus and went to the temple. At this point, it started showering and too bad, we could stay for at most 15 minutes to enjoy the place.

The next day, we woke up really early to go to Cu Chi Tunnel. It’s my second favorite place next to the War Remnants Museum. If you’re going to visit Vietnam, I suggest going to Cu Chi Tunnel first and proceed to the War Remnants Museum right away. 

At the Cu Chi Tunnel, I’ve seen how amazing the Vietnamese soldiers were. The tunnels that they’ve built, the weapons and armor, and their unique traps. They were really strategic and it was a nice experience to visit the same site where the war took place. 

Here’s me trying to cross the tunnel. I’m a small person, and yet, I find it so hard to crouch and just cross the tunnel. It was so hard, but fun. 

At night, we went to the Starlight Bridge. This is the scariest part of the trip. Why? Because we got lost. We booked our Grab from our hotel to the Bridge, and I don’t know, but it’s really hard to locate this bridge even if it’s pinned on the map. This bridge gave me time to appreciate my trip in Vietnam. It made me reflect on how small, yet full of adventure, this trip was. 

For our dinner, we headed back to our hotel and walked a few blocks to eat Pho and just have a feast, as it will be our last full day in Vietnam. 

The next day, we packed and get our luggage ready for our flight back to Manila. We had lunch at their Jollibee, and it was regretful. It was so different from ours, so I suggest going to another place instead.

With my contented heart, we flew back to Manila and headed home at 4am. I wasn’t able to attend my class, but it’s definitely worth missing out.

During our whole trip in Vietnam, we bought VietTel, which is their SIM card and it’s really fast and worth the money. So if you’re going to Vietnam, you should buy one, instead of renting wifi. 

Our whole trip to Vietnam was full of different experiences. It’s an amazing place to shop and eat because of how affordable the foods were. Aside from the food, I was amazed at how colorful their culture is. 

If you don’t believe me, go visit Vietnam and try it out for yourselves.

This trip brought me joy. It’s nice to travel once a year and chill. One day, I can’t wait to travel to more places. 

Vietnam, Ho Chi Minch, YOU ARE AMAZING.

All the love,