Vietnam: Lots of Dongs, Busy Streets, Chopsticks and Beautiful Nature

After 5 weeks of intense training and lots of great experiences in Phuket, Thailand, I made my way to Ho-Chi-Minh-City (also known as Saigon). After receiving my luggage I went to the ATM to get Vietnamese money. Fun fact: The Vietnamese Dong is the weakest currency in the world. 1 Euro equals about 25.000 VND. At this point I was getting used to pay in Thai Money (1 Euro is about 35 THB). So having literally Millions of Vietnamese Dong in my pocket was pretty confusing and on top of that I didn’t know how expensive or inexpensive things were in this country. It was extremely hot, I was tired, had stomach issues, no clue what my money can do here and everything was so hectic. Right at the exit of the airport I made my first mistake: On my way to the official taxi stand I got asked if I need a taxi. My answer was „Of course!“. I knew better than that but I think after a long day of traveling my ability to think straight and make logical decisions was limited. I got in the car and gave the driver the address of my hotel for the night. I knew it was going to be a over 1 hour drive, so I expected to pay a decent amount of money to get to my sleeping place. Right in the beginning of the ride the driver asked me to give him the money 750k VND and said he needed the money right away for the toll. I agreed, proceeded to give him my Dong and looked at the insane traffic of this city! This was even more insane than Bangkok or anything else if have seen before! Hundreds or maybe even thousands of motorcycles, scooters, cars and walking people sharing the same road which isn’t that big to honest. I have never heard as many honks as here. It was so loud! Even my driver was just punching is horn over and over again, but seemed calm the entire time. Motorcycles are driving on the wrong side of the road and coming right at us. Motorcycles are behind us. More scooters next to us navigating in between the cars and the other scooters. It was madness. The scooters are everywhere and I am right in the middle of it. I really enjoyed it. I was just wondering how it was possible to move on the streets without having an accident. The traffic lights are more of a suggestion than an obligation. Most of the times the traffic lights felt more like they dare you to cross that intersection. The amazing thing is, it somehow works! I don’t know how but these people figured out the system of having no system.

Then when passing the toll station I saw the price of the toll: 10.000 VND. It was at this moment I realized that I was getting ripped of and I just thought to myself „Damn, they’re really good at this! I can’t believe I fell for this this easily!“. Later I found out I paid almost three times as much money as I should have. Lesson learned. I hope.

The same evening I was just strolling around the city, eating amazing vegan Phō and trying to figure out how to safely cross the streets. It took me a couple tries but then I understood. You just cross it. If you wait for the traffic to stop for you you are going to have a bad time in this part of the world. Just go. Make eye contact with the oncoming traffic, walk and have faith that the truck that is heading directly towards you will slow down at least a little bit. This tactic has worked pretty well, considering I am still able to write about this experience.

Then after spending two days alone in the city, I met the group of people I will join for a 2 week tour through Vietnam. The tour started in Saigon and ended in Hanoi. After getting humiliated by the waiter who tried to teach me to eat with chopsticks and giving up on it right away, I challenged myself to master the skill of using chopsticks. After watching a YouTube Tutorial I am glad to be able to say that my chopstick game has elevated so much within these 2 weeks! I don’t know if my technique is correct, but the food lands in my mouth without making a mess. Most of the times at least.

We made so many cool memories and experiences on this trip, it is way too much to share everything with you but there are couple of things I just need to tell you. The first thing that comes to mind is the night train. I didn’t know what to expect from a vietnamese train with bunk beds instead of seats. To be honest I didn’t expect much. I thought it was going to be super dirty, uncomfortable and loud. And I was completely right. I hated everything about this damn train, except the fact that it allows me to see other places in this beautiful country. I am pretty sure the toilet on this thing was a violation against every single law of human rights. To be fair: Sam the mad man from England washed his grapes with the tap water from this dirty train and survived without any issues. I don’t know how and more importantly why he did it but I am impressed that he still with us.

We saw beautiful beaches, caves, temples and just stunning landscapes. My favorite places in Vietnam which I am blessed enough to be able to experience were Hanoi, Hoi An and also Saigon. Each of these cities is unique in its own way. Ho-Minh-City is just massive and a little overwhelming (in a fun way), Hanoi is great for walking around, sightseeing, shopping and food, while Hoi An is a beautiful small city which famous for the beautiful houses and many lanterns in the streets. There are so many things I didn’t get to see, but I am grateful for every moment I had in Vietnam. I will be back for sure!

Next Stop: Bangkok.