Our excursion began in July, which feels like another life ago. This past month (!) has been a crazy adventure and has brought many opportunities. Also, as with any bit of extended travel, it has also brought a lot of plans falling through, exhaustion, and logistical stress. But the good REALLY outweighs the bad - isn't that a lesson for life? With that in mind it's been fun to have a month to rose-color the insanity of Asian travel and laugh about the stressful moments so that they better compliment the amazing ones. So here's the first leg of our journey!
The day we left Korea, we ran a couple of errands, and had a small cry over the fact that we were actually leaving Korea, and then we hopped on the bus from our apartment. We shipped our last box to the post office (an ordeal in and of itself) and then transferred to the subway to head towards the airport. An hour and some and one more transfer later, we arrived at ICN airport to learn that our flight had been delayed by an hour due to connecting flight mishaps. So we then had three hours until our flight left, which we spent getting through security easily. We went to Taco Bell, which was awesome and gross and about what you’d expect it to be in Korea. But the tacos all come with Mexican fries…? We also took a few pictures of the crazy amounts of spiders there were hanging from invisible webs all over the outside of the big pane windows in the airport. They had egg sacks placed in many of the window corners, and they even had caught a giant dragonfly.
Subway selfie!!!
The Incheon airport is one of the #1 ranked airports in the world... maybe 'cause it's so nice to you...?
Our "we're-leaving-Korea-and-heading-into-the-unknown-and-this-is-how-we-feel-about-it" selfie
TACO BELL! And a world map in Hangeul
Bye Korea!
It was actually cheaper to transfer through Kuala Lumpur and then head to Vietnam, but it would mean a long travel session. But we love to save money, because we're cheap!!! So we took the long way. Our flight to Kuala Lumpur was fine - we tried their in-flight meal (more like in-flight snack) of Malaysian cuisine and Taggart busted through about a million Sudoku puzzles. I tried to sleep, though I was also productive at some points. The flight got us into KUL at midnight, so every decent food option was closed… we settled for Popeye’s and got us some fried chicken and biscuits. This was actually the first time I’d ever been to a Popeye’s before, it’s not too shabby!
Then we searched for a nook to sleep in for the next 6 hours. This was also another first for me, as I have never spent the night in the airport. We did pretty well on the floor, partly because we were so tired, and partly because we’ve had a year of practice on a crappy Korean mattress to get us in shape. :P I will say, the flights and the airport were all FREEZING! It really surprised us that we had to pull out our jackets and seriously bundle up, the air con was pumping… It also really dried us out, so we were chugging water. In Kuala Lumpur, you have to go through security twice, even for a connecting flight. Your water bottles all have to be unopened and then those have to be sealed in an airport bag to get through security – though they don’t checked your 100mL liquids… Hmm.
So finally after about 17 hours of travel, we made it to HCM city in the morning. The humidity there is only about 70% compared to Seoul’s 98% of death. We finished our visas, brushed our teeth, freshened up in the bathroom, and hopped on a bus that would take us to the city centre, where one of the bus terminals is. We knew that we’d want to get tickets for our bus trip into Cambodia soon so that we could guarantee a trip. The bus ride from the airport cost us 10,000 dong each, which totals USD $1.00 for about a half hour ride for the both of us. It gave us a chance to check out the insanity that is Vietnamese traffic (and we thought Seoul was bad!). It was ridiculous, the motorists are kind of like ants, and the roundabouts here basically mean you just do what you want and honk your way through. Jaywalking is the norm here, but after our experience today, I’m impressed by the fearlessness of the locals. They just weave through rushing streets unfazed, past mopeds and truck and buses that don’t even slow down or swerve to miss them. It’s seriously like what I imagine the inside of an anthill is like. Here's some street shots:
Look, Lotteria! Also, I love the guy in his sewing shop...
We found the bus agency and bought our tickets, and luckily our hotel was on the same street, just a few blocks down (I mean, I totally planned that…). We got some lunch at a little bakery that had pizza and garlic bread and huge bottles of water, all for about $4.00 USD, and then checked in. Our hotel is situated in a little alley off the main road with about a dozen other hotels like it. The owner is really nice and her kids run around barefoot in the tiny lobby and out into the street, unsupervised and totally happy. The room was small and basic, but it was quiet and safe and there were a lot of foreigner families there. It also only cost us like 15 bucks a night! We took cold showers to get unstickified from the heat and took like a 4 hour nap upon arrival.
The ABC Bakery:
After a rest, we got up and headed out to explore the streets of the city. We ended up at a nice restaurant in a kind of crappy Hipster bar neighborhood:
We got amazing dinner at a small restaurant appropriately called Miss Saigon, and were introduced to the amazing Vietnamese cuisine. The spring rolls in Vietnam are UNREAL, as is any of the chili lemongrass stir fry.
We also inadvertently got our fill of motorcross at dinner.
I thought this picture summed up the typical backpacker's fashion. In many Asian societies, even scantily clad women often are more dressed than tourists, and they stick out like sore thumbs here. You can always tell the "holiday" travelers from the long-term or more acclimated foreigners by the amount of clothing they're wearing. Hint; if you look like you just hopped on a plane after coming straight from Coachella, you MIGHT be a tourist.
I thought this picture summed up the typical backpacker's fashion. In many Asian societies, even scantily clad women often are more dressed than tourists, and they stick out like sore thumbs here. You can always tell the "holiday" travelers from the long-term or more acclimated foreigners by the amount of clothing they're wearing. Hint; if you look like you just hopped on a plane after coming straight from Coachella, you MIGHT be a tourist.
The streets in Ho Chi Minh were just as crazy at night, if not more so because of the darkness. We've kept HCMC as a constant to compare other cities to because it was so vividly different from Korea. We saw rats run across the street EVERY night we were there, which gave me uber heebie-jeebies that I've now long-since grown accustomed to (I saw a cockroach yesterday on the road and didn't even flinch... outwardly, anyway...). The smells were conflicting and overwhelming at times, and hawkers were EVERYwhere, and they were really pushy in Vietnam. Hawkers, I've since learned, are vendors, taxi drivers, etc. who try to solicit your business. They will literally put things into your hands or follow you down the street, even if you firmly say no. It really bothered us at first since we have to be almost rude to them in our eyes to get them to leave us alone. We've since realized it's just a part of the culture and you have to be firm and polite no matter what.
The next morning, we headed into the city to do some exploring. We made our way through a beautiful park and took some photos of the lush greenery that has surrounded us for the past month.
I love how Beethoven is spelled "Betthoven"... who's in charge of proofreading!?
This older woman really checked us out as we walked by, so we returned the favor. It's strange, after living as a minority for a year, I've actually been more aware of it in the southern countries more than in Korea.
Can you find him?
Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum, but on the way there we got TOTALLY soaked in what would be our only encounter with the SE Asian monsoon season. The rain came on in an instant and just dumped water down for about three hours. We took refuge in a small cafe, but after about 40 minutes decided that we didn't want to waste our day. (Of course the ponchos we brought were stupidly in our hotel...) We braved the two block ish distance to the museum. 5 seconds into the downpour, it felt like I had jumped in a pool. It was crazy! We were sopping wet by the time we got there. The museum itself was very interesting, but was really biased against the U.S. With phrases like "murderous Kennedy regime" and "puppet state" sprinkled throughout the exhibits, it was interesting and difficult at times to get through. But well worth the trip.
After the museum, we went to get some lunch at a small restaurant across the street from the museum. I THOUGHT I ordered a chicken dish, but the waitress kept saying "hot meat", and eventually I was served this mystery meat (?) dish with loads of raw turmeric. It was VERY strong, and the meat was strangely textured. We think it was intestine, but I KNOW it was not my favorite.
After that, we made our way to the Reunification Palace, which was nestled in a lovely park amidst the chaos of the rest of the city. It was so quiet it felt quite forgotten and untouched compared to everywhere else.
On the way there, some random guy came up selling coconuts, and he decided it would be hilarious for Taggart to carry his stuff. He generally thought anything we did or said was hilarious too, but at the end when he hacked off the tops of two coconuts and "gave" them to us, then awkwardly waited, we realized it had all been a ploy... So we paid him the couple bucks for coconuts and left. Now I'd like to think we are much smarter and would recognize someone like him beforehand, but hey, it still makes for a great picture.
After sitting in the park across the street because we suddenly had two coconuts to finish, we finally made it to the Reunification Palace. This palace was the site of the end of the Vietnam war when a group of North Vietnamese soldiers famously crashed a tank through the front gates. This is where several party leaders and presidents have lived, dating back to the late 1800s (the palace has been rebuilt several times). It was an interesting look into the history of Vietnam.
(Don't mind the random kid running through my shot...)
The palace's 1975 renovation and subsequent preservation kept all of the rooms intact, like they had been locked in a time capsule. Some of the decor was SO 70s! The big rooms at the front were used to house conferences or host international party events, etc. The back of the palace was used for more private things, and included the apartments, etc.
One of our favorite rooms was this game room. The decor is awesome!!
These were the giant film projectors used for the movie theatre, pictured above. Below is the view from the rooftop "meditation area" that the last president converted to a party terrace...
One of the coolest parts, though, was the underground bunker that housed all the president's top secret communications technology, strategic maps, and offices for his staff to collect and interpret code during the war. It was REALLY interesting to go investigate the bunker tunnels.
Last, but not least, the kitchens and a shooting range.
We finished off the palace with a short museum about the history of the building.
Quick side note: There have been plumeria trees ALL over SE Asia. They are my absolute favorite flower, ever since my mom and I went to Hawaii when I was 14. They smell heavenly, and i think they are just beautiful. I first saw the trees after we came out of the palace, so I made Taggart snap several photos. He did these pretty little flowers enough justice, I think!
We were pretty tired at this point! But we kept on truckin', and made our way to another hub of the city. This was where we found the Notre Dame Cathedral, a HUGE cathedral in the middle of town.
I love these two pictures. first, because I managed to get ZERO motorbikes in the shot, which is saying something, since they are everywhere; and second, I love the names on the bricks all along the walls of peoples names with hearts or good wishes.
We had just missed the window for tours, which was a bummer, and evening mass had started. But it was beautiful anyway! we think it's approximately 6 Taggarts tall (picture for reference).
Across the street from the cathedral was a really cool looking building, which turned out to be the central post office. It was so cool inside! It looked like a classic train station.
Finally, we made it to the opera house. I really wanted to go inside, but they sadly don't open it up unless there's a show going on, and the next one was really expensive (and wasn't even opera, it was a dance troupe something or other...). :/
We walked back to our hotel the long way and checked out the riverfront on the way. I love the juxtaposition of the church next to the HUGE Heineken billboard.
The next day we bummed around our hotel neighborhood and had dessert atop the Bitexco building, which was pretty cool, though slightly expensive, especially compared to the insane cheapness of most Vietnamese food.
Taggart in the elevator going 50-ish floors up...
The view from the top was hazy, but still pretty cool!
We also stopped by the Ben Thanh market, though with how pushy and in-your-face the hawkers there are, we quickly decided to leave. I can't believe how obnoxious some vendors are!!!
After that we headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready to go to Hoi An by bus! Ho Chi Minh, I will miss your food and fun, but not your motorists, smells, or pushiness.
(More coming soon!)
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