Vietnam 2024 – Trip Report 16

Monday 30 September – Saigon

Monday 30 September

Awake at 5.30am.

As too is Saigon.

But I’m not ready.

Waking several more times, my lazy ways are given up at 8.30am.

The week we leave has begun, and while I’m trying not to think about it, I’m finding it difficult not to.

Down to Diagonal Street, and then to the bánh mì baker lady, for breakfast of a 5000 Dong plain bánh mì.

Up to our café and our always happy barista, for our usual cà phê sữa đá (25 000 Dong) and complimentary trà đá.

The coffee is good, the watching of Saigon is good, the bánh mì roll is good enough, and my company is, well, kind of flat.

Lisa’s hit a wall, with my thinking being that my face is plastered all over that wall, and she’s just sick of looking at it.

It has been 30 days, but there’s probably also a bit of missing the kids, too.

I get the 30 days, but I don’t get the other bit.

Viettel sends me a text, and Google tells me it says my sim card will expire tonight.

Yes, I am aware, and was expecting that.

Lucky I also got that Bia Viet hat….

Coffees done, we make our way up to Dien Bien Phu, and then across and into the Viettel shop.

With, mostly, Google Translate, a young guy tells me I can only extend a month, and not a week, before one of the girls comes to his, and my, aid.

Yes, a week extension is possible, and 70 000 Dong, and five minutes later, the job is done.

Back towards the LeBlanc, and the discovery is made that a road that I, and we, have walked past several times to get here, is actually a shorter way than the road we have been walking.

Yep, I’m an idiot.

The, slightly, shorter route is taken, and then into the hems, and along down through the market.

Lisa, who is still struggling on the happiness scale, is left over the road, while I return to the LeBlanc to drop off my passport, which was not needed to extend my sim card.

Job done, and back to retrieve Lisa.

She’s worse, to the point that her eyes are leaking.

I half expected that.

Our loose plan was to walk to the Ho Thi Ky Flower Market, but instead I suggest she just go back to the room to rest.

But no, she still wants to go…..

Off through our hems, and then out the really narrow ‘secret’ hem, eventually reaching the market, which is still going strong, we walked through yesterday.

Into the area we stayed in in 2017, and while the ‘sights’ we’ve seen on this walk are quintessential local Vietnamese ones, not all are terribly easy to see.

It can be a tough life here, proven when we come across an elderly guy, dragging himself along on his bum, centimetre by centimetre.

It’s hard to imagine having to live like that.

We continue on; so many memories and recollections of our time here; and then into hems that we’ve not walked before.  They’re rather rabbit warren-ish, and Google Maps rescues us more than once.

Out onto a main road, and then back to the hems.  We’re here, and despite it now being five years ago, and seeing it in the dark at that time, it all looks rather familiar.

Into the actual flower section, and yeah, there’s flowers.  They’re colourful, and there’s heaps of them.

Lisa’s perked up, and can’t take enough photos, while I can’t help but look at everything else that’s involved in displaying them, to make them look ‘better’.

But, it is interesting.

The item themselves.

Some of the stuff that the items go in.

More walking, more flowers, and then I’m saved, when a traditional food market is found.

It’s hot, and while she’s ‘happier’ now, I know that that won’t last for long, if I don’t find something to help with the heat.

We find a couple doing drinks, so head in, but I feel guilty, as they’re having lunch.

They’re okay about being interrupted, and they set about preparing our cam ép (orange juice).

The girl actually has a fair bit of English, and offers to make us two large ones, no doubt concerned at our heat impacted appearance.

No problem, and with the sign on the wall reading large at 20 000 Dong, and small at 15 000 Dong, it’s not going to break the bank.

They arrive, and yep, they are big.  ‘Bucket like’, big.

But more importantly, they’re cold and wet, and very refreshing.

Drinks finally done, I head over to pay.

I’m a little surprised to find out that the expected bill of 40 000 Dong, is actually 60 000 Dong.

Did we get ‘extra’ large?  Or did we pay a ‘lunch interruption’ fee?

I’m not sure, and suspect that they were in fact bigger than the usual large size.

Back out in the hems, and more of the market, with the view to finding a Uniqlo store, after MsLuLu told Lisa they had a certain bag much cheaper in Vietnam, than at home.

Fortunately, there’s one not too far away, but unfortunately, it appears to be in a rather large shopping centre.

Just love shopping centres…….

Google Maps is used, but used mainly so we can get there using hems for as much of the trip as we can.

Hey, if I’m going to a shopping centre, there has to be something in it for me….

On we go, leaving the market, and finally reaching the outside world of busy streets, along with a busy intersection.

Down to the left, while waiting to cross the road, I notice the traffic slow.  Two guys, further down, are stretching a rope across the road, with the intention of holding up traffic.

The reason becomes clear, when I look up.

There’s a guy up a very large gum tree on the footpath, and he’s in the process of pruning off a rather large branch, hanging on to it using his arms and his bare feet.

The chainsaw does its thing, the guys below gently lower the now removed branch, and our barefoot tree lopper has managed to remain where he really wanted to remain.

I just love how they do stuff here.

He looks very small way up there!

Down to earth it comes.

Back into more hems, and hems that are quite possibly the friendliest hems we’ve ever been in.

The smiles, acknowledgements and hellos, continued our whole way through.

Back onto the main roads, and the shopping centre is found.  It looks big from the outside, but inside, it’s even bigger.

Uniqlo is located without too much difficulty, and I need to keep reminding myself that we’re still in Vietnam.

I hate shops and shopping centres.

We find the actual bag that Lisa covets, but it’s pretty much the same cost as what she’d pay at home.

Thank you MsLuLu……

Uniqlo aborted, and back out into the shopping centre.

Apparently, seeing as we’re here, we need some sort of moisturiser, so another large shop is found.

We’re unsuccessful, so another store is tried, with this one being like a Vietnamese Aldi.

It’s huge, and they appear, just like Aldi stores in Australia, to sell pretty much everything.

Anyone need a caravan cover?  An outboard boat motor?  Mountain climbing rope?

We walk, hunting for, and eventually finding, all things body beautifying.

But no, the preferred moisturiser type is nowhere to be seen.

Fortunately, the beer and wine section is nearby, and with that particular product range being one of only two that I have interest in; the other being tools and hardware; I take a look.

Cartons, or where I come from, slabs (2 dozen cans / stubbies), of Bia Saigon are checked out.

260 000 Dong.

The slabs of Bia Saigon Special, the ones in the skinny cans, which is the slab I ended up with on the way to Green Village, are then found.

330 000 Dong.

The old woman, along with her Grab mate, charged me 400 000 Dong.

I wonder what his cut was……

Cheap-ish Australian wine, that sells at home for $9 – $10 Australian dollars, is priced here for just shy of $30 AUD.

It’s probably why Lisa drinking wine in Vietnam is a rare thing.

Despite not really wanting to leave the comfort of the air conditioning, I’m shopping centred out.

It really isn’t a fun way to spend time in Vietnam.  Or probably anywhere else, for that matter.

Back out in the heat, a rough idea of the direction we need to go, we begin the walk back to the LeBlanc.

Down the main road, and then off into a hem that takes us back to Dien Bien Phu Street.

Trying to look after the intrepid one is front and centre, and doing that on main roads is difficult.  There’s usually more shade to be found in hems.

I get lucky, when street art painted on a couple of walls, is found.

She’s happy, and I get a brief reprieve, as she stops to take photos.

On to Dien Bien Phu, and then back into the hems at the first opportunity, which are kind of, sort of, our hems.

Into Vuon Chuoi, and down to our bánh mì girl.  She knows about the no pate and mayonnaise, but goes to top it all with chilli.

She is hastily, but very politely, corrected in her ways.

40 000 Dong handed over, we make our way back to the LeBlanc, stopping at the end of the hem to finish off our lunch.

Lisa comes to the rescue of a wheelchair bound lotto seller, by picking up her dropped tickets, while I head into the convenience store for a cold drink.

Bottle of Coke selected, price of 8 500 Dong is rounded up to 9 000 Dong, and the young guy, who actually has pretty good English, asks me if I’d like to ‘upsize’.

I’m not really sure what the deal is, so the question of how much, is asked.

An extra 1000 Dong apparently, and for that my drink will be of the larger variety.

I return to the fridge, and he follows to help.  Perusing and hunting of said fridge ensues, with the end result being that there are no larger bottles of Coke left, anyway.

He’s very apologetic, but really didn’t need to be, and I actually found the whole exercise rather amusing.

Into our hem, the newly laid concrete now having expansion joints cut into it; thankfully that job is being done in daylight hours; and then up to the room around 1.45pm, for a rest and recovery session.

Suitably cooled, I head back out a bit after 3.00pm.  But alone, as Lisa is still having a ‘moment’, that appears to be a day long one.

Another bag of laundry is dealt with (2kg for 30 000 Dong), and with me being solo, as well as having that catch up with Duc at 5.00pm, I reluctantly pass on a fruit drink with Nga, and instead settle on an earlier date with my beer place.

Up Vuon Chuoi, and over Dien Bien Phu Street, and with abundant bikes still awaiting the return of their owners, a seat is taken inside.

A beer or two, and a whole lot of world watching, and then my shoe cleaner guy makes an appearance.

He looks absolutely wrecked as he walks in, and he makes a beeline straight to my table, when he notices me.

He takes a seat, and I’m a little concerned about him, as sweat runs down his face.

I ask if he’d like a beer, while pointing to mine, but he shakes his head.

Google Translate is used to see if he’d like something else, but in the end, it’s all a bit difficult, so I simply ask one of the girls for a bottle of water.

It quickly arrives, and he’s very appreciative, acknowledging each sip he takes.

This little relationship I have with him just blows me away, and yet, apart from knowing what he does for a living, I know nothing else about him.

Looking a little more comfortable, he shakes my hand and heads off with his remaining water.

I hadn’t seen him looking as worn out as today, and it was actually hard watching him walk away.

Beers done, the bill at 24 000 Dong each, along with the bottle of water (15 000 Dong), is fixed up, and the Grab App opened.

21 000 Dong is the price, and within a minute, I have a Grab Bike in front of me.

On our way by 5.00pm, and off down Dien Bien Phu, as it begins to rain lightly.

A few minutes later we pull up, outside the familiar sight of the beer place we were at with MsLuLu and Tony the other night.

I probably should have realised……

I’m a little confused as to exactly where I’m supposed to meet Duc, but only for a second, as I hear my name yelled out from across the road.

I’ve never met him, but he’s found me, so I head over.

Introductions done, and we’re quickly seated in a small, and rather narrow, bar.

It immediately becomes clear that he’s an incredibly friendly guy, and he tells me a little about his life, including that he moved down from Hanoi a couple of years ago.

He has a real interest in Vietnamese tourism, which, because of my interest in the same, makes him very easy to talk to indeed.

We sit, chat, drink beer, and the time just flies by.

I start thinking about getting back to Lisa, not because I want to, but because I should, but that thought is put on hold as the sky opens up and begins dropping copious amounts of rain.

The decision is quickly made that this weather is clearly not conducive to an enjoyable Grab Bike ride ‘home’, so another couple of beers are ordered.

The chatting continues, and as that last beer comes to an end, the rain, fortunately, eases enough to make a move.

As it usually is, it was great to catch up and spend a little time with a local, with a strong desire to do it again, next time we find ourselves in the same city.

I bid Duc farewell, but not ‘goodbye’, and find my 21 000 Dong Grab Bike ride.

Back through very wet streets, and then onto the LeBlanc, just after 7.00pm.

No time for a shower, so Lisa is retrieved and we head off to finally have our much anticipated dumpling soup.

Into Diagonal Street, and then up Vuon Chuoi, our guy is found!

A big welcoming smile, seats sorted, and we quickly have our dumpling soup.

The question of beer is asked, and the mum, or mother in law, heads off to a nearby convenience store to deal with our request.

The food, like it has been in the past, is good; our guy now has a mate doing the cooking; but I’m struggling to enjoy it as much as I have, now that I know what we know.

Dinner and beer done, with dinner being 50 000 Dong each, and we’re only charged the ridiculously cheap price of 12 000 Dong for the beer, which is likely what they paid.

As we pay the bill, we use Google Translate to pass on our condolences for his loss, which he seemed to appreciate.

Up to the beer place, seat taken, it’s good to be back.

Well, it is, until the trials and tribulations of Lisa’s pretty average day, kick in to once again impact her, and therefore my, enjoyment of one of life’s simple pleasures.

She sticks it out, declining the offer to go ‘home’, and instead turns her attention to any, and all, nearby cockroaches.

Oh, how she loves cockroaches……

I finally get the opportunity to do something I should have done ages ago, with the end result being that I now know the Cambodian girl’s name is Sona, and the young guy who looks after me so well, is Chien.

Yes, I’m embarrassed that it’s taken me so long.

Beers done, we head off around 9.45pm.  Hai has closed up for the night, so I find another guy further down, whose beers are a whopping 500 Dong cheaper than Hai.

That’s nice, but I won’t be changing.

Back to the LeBlanc, a packet of chips from the convenience store near the hem, and then up to the room.

The shower that was missed earlier is had, and then it’s the usual on the bed.

Kind of a big day tomorrow, but at the same time, we’re not actually doing anything.

And with Lisa the way she was today, well, that may not bode well for the occasion.

What will be will be, with my main, and probably only, focus being to make the most of our last full day in Saigon.  And Vietnam.

Yep, I’m struggling to understand where it’s all gone.

Cheers,

Scott