We take our seats in the emergency row on our flight to Nha Trang and Nicolette says “Is putting two people in the exit row that don’t speak the local language really the move for saving the most people?” And I laugh and say “I was thinking the same thing” shortly before take off as they are going through the safety dialogue a flight attendant comes up to us and hands us the safety info card and says “do you understand this” we both nod our head then she says with very intent eyes “if someone tries to open the door when they are not supposed to you must stop them” (in broken English) again we both nod our head. Understood but Confused by the last statement we look at each other and shrug our shoulders.
Our flight took off 2 hours late so we got to enjoy a massive beer and some Burger King because there was extremely minimal options in the airport. I did my fried chicken sandwich tour rating and the sandwich scored a 2. Could have been a bit higher but at the moment that’s what my mouth told my brain. Due to the delay we got into Nha Trang airport which ended up being 1hr south of the actually city. Nicolette booked a Grab and we walked out into the Parking lot. A guy came up to us grabbed us and whispered this way, baffled by the situation we stopped and said who are you looking for, he whispered from 20yds a away “OSTER” (confused how he knew Nicolette’s maiden name, but then remembered it’s actually under Caitlin’s account, nics sister)we followed him looked at his phone and it showed us. So we got in the car while trying to hide from who knows what… once in the car and driving he mentioned to us that he was hiding from security because Grabs are not allowed to pick up passengers. Relieved we watched the darkness pass the windows. I noticed some massive buildings out mine and realized there were huge resorts (Sheratons, VinPearls, Marriotts lined up along the coast. What through me for a loop was that you could see the resort and the company but there were no hotel lights on in the entire 20-30 story buildings. Come to find out, all these resorts were under construction or just finished when Covid hit and now they are all left vacant. We didn’t arrive to the hotel around midnight and we dropped out bags and I went to the rooftop bar because the owner said the first beer was on him. He told me some wild stories on Nha Trang and how backpackers got stuck in his hostel for months on end when Covid hit.
The next morning Nic wanted to sleep and I was on a mission to find a motorbike so we could drive to Dalat. Supposedly it is a very famous road and an amazing drive. I walked around for about 4 hours and couldn’t find a single motorbike for rent. They were either all rented, the shop was closed down, or they looked at me and didn’t want to rent to the lone white guy on their doorstep. Defeated and grumpy I went back to tell Nicolette. We had to check out in 30min and we had to book a bus to get us to Dalat which left at 230pm so we packed our bags and walked to the beach. We are at the point of our trip where we had to make some major decisions on travel plans so we sat at a coffee shop on the beach for 2 hours and hashed out as many details as we could. Trying to do major bookings from your phone is an extreme hassle but we got some major milestones planned and boogied back to the hostel to take the 3hr bus ride to Dalat.
Not exaggerating I think the bus driver honked his horn 1million times in those 3 hours. The road being a 2 lane extremely curvy road I thought we were in an F1 race, and I’m not sure how we didn’t get into a head on collision because every corner he took the inside, into the other lane, horn full tilt, passing cars in blind corners, it was a work of art that was defying death. As a reminder this isn’t a little 15passenger bus, this was a 40footer with 60+ passengers. I’m just glad no one got sick cause I know he wasnt stopping for anyone. We arrived to Dalat caught a taxi to the hostel and upon check in a bunch of fellow backpackers were all doing family dinner at the hostel. So we sat down enjoyed dinner with the 15 others, then started playing card games having some beers and as a group went to the Crazy Bar. It’s a bar that was designed by the famous person who designed the Crazy House, which I will explain later. The bar is a labyrinth of winding tunnels and rooms and you could be forgiven for thinking that you had wandered into a scene from the Hobbit. We got lost and ended up on the rooftop with an insane view of the city and the cool weather (65deg) that we have desperately missed over the last 6 weeks. We made our way back to the hostel where we danced for a few more hours and called it a night.
The morning we were a bit slow movers but again we were on the prowl to find a motorbike to rent. We stopped at 5 places with no avail, finally after about 3 hours of looking we found a spot with some potential. They spoke minimal English but I could see they had 6 dirt bike xr150 inside so I knew there was light at the end of the tunnel. The young girl called her dad who came and got us all set up, had to change out a battery. And he said it would cost 350k dong($15), which for one day is the most we had paid yet, but I was sick of looking and handed him 500k dong($21), he didn’t write our name down, didn’t ask for passports just gave us the keys and let us go on our way. I didn’t ask any questions, hit the bike into gear and took off like a bat out of hell. One thing I hate more than anything is feeling like I am wasting time especially when in different city/country with so much to see, and the previous 2 days felt like a waste, not being productive.
I let this frustration fester into the afternoon but Nicolette found some amazing things to see on the motorbike which changed my attitude and a feeling of gratitude refueled me.
We stopped and saw the “Niagara Falls” of Vietnam (I just made that up) Pongour Falls, and then to Elephant Falls and Chua Linh An which had a massive Buddha and we climbed the stairs inside all the way to the top and had an amazing view.
This area is extremely popular area to Grow Coffee beans due to the elevation and rich soil, so Nicolette found one and upon pulling up, it being at the top of the hill I found the road to take us to the top, had to get the xr150 into first gear to make it (and to be honest was a bit worried we weren’t going to make it) and we got near the top got off the bike and checked out another great view. Shortly after a guy came running up to us and said we were not allowed to ride motorbikes up there and had to buy a ticket to be up there. So we straddled the motorbike and went back down the steep hill and decided we didn’t need to pay for the view since we already got it, lol. Nicolette did find another coffee spot and the road to it dwindled to a single dirt path. Unable to turn around we kept going before finally coming to a small shack and a group of people. They were doing a class on how to test the acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness. They pushed us into testing the different kinds of coffee that were all cultivated from the same plant but at different days. Me not being a coffee drinker couldn’t really tell the difference but Nicolette said she could tell there was a variance but barely. We then went on a tour around the coffee plantation and they explained the different coffee strains, and how they grow and make their coffee the best. One of their coffee trees produce such a desirable coffee bean that it sells for $2,000/kg. Seems like a lot to me… they even explained The correct mix of coffee to water, 15g coffee 225g water @85-90degC and that everything needs to be precisely measured to get the perfect flavor. After the tour we stopped at their brick and mortar shop to have another taste of the coffee served like wine.
As stated before in other posts I mentioned how much I love the traffic and it’s chaotic poetry of perfection, I wanted to drive around the city for a bit and really get Into the thick of it. With a few lakes and mountains surrounding Dalat nothing is flat or straight which makes the roads get extremely congested. Swerving cars, motorbikes, and massive busses I couldn’t stop smiling about how absurd it really is. At one point I was even up on the sidewalk following the locals on a little shortcut. No rules, no lanes, no direction or flow, just find a gap and go. I think I could do it forever, and like I said earlier I think that’s what my heaven will be like. We stopped at the Dalat Opera House that over looked the lake and had thousands of people enjoying the pleasant evening. Unique building designs and all sorts of street vendors lend its hand into an experience of a lifetime. Sun Light dwindling we thought it best to park the motorbike before dark so we twisted our way through traffic to park it for the evening.
Just outside of our hostel is a few market stalls and street food vendors. We were on the hunt for the best goodies. We looked at the lines at the vendor and how many people are sitting around them. This method proved itself and we had our two best meals since we arrived into Vietnam. We had a Bahn Mi and a noodle soup dish I think called Mi that we had no idea what it is but it was delicious! Everyone was laughing around us because when I was sitting on the chair my knees were higher then the table. I looked out of place, but felt right at home.
Only a few hours left in Dalat we woke up early and packed up all of our goodies then took the moped to another lake. It was pouring rain out so it wasnt the most ideal conditions but the lake was beautiful and reminded us of home. We tried to see a few more waterfalls but they all were tourist traps and cost money to get in so we just drove by.
The last place on our list to visit was Crazy House Dalat. One of the quirkiest attractions in Da Lat is known by its nickname Crazy House although its real name is the Hang Nga Guest House and Art Gallery. The reason for its name is that the house is built to resemble a tree and was designed in 1990 by Dang Viet Nga who is a famous Vietnamese architect. There are around a dozen rooms here which are all designed with a different theme in mind (and you can stay in them)and you will find tunnels and ladders leading to all the nooks and crannies of the property. This same architect did the Crazy Bar which we visited a few nights prior. It still drizzling out we made our way back to get some of the delicious food we had the night before, although it wasn’t as good the second time it still was very good. Checked out of our hostel, returned the motorbike(after getting lost for a bit) and caught a cab to the bus station, for our last stop in Vietnam.
The bus ride was just as wild as the previous and it poured rain the entire time. No bathroom on the bus so we stopped every 2 hours to use the bathroom. The bathroom stops include like a full service restaurant/bar, snack shop. So it’s easy to find everything you need and want. A pour little girl got sick and puked under us(luckily we were on the top bunk) and of course the bus driver didn’t stop but Nicolette gave her some dramamine so she didn’t get sick any more. The parents didn’t speak a lick of English so I’m not sure what they thought Nic was feeding there daughter… very trusting if you ask me. We didn’t arrive to Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon) until 9pm and luckily the bus dropped us only like 5 blocks to our hostel. They drop us off in the most random places I swear. In the short walk to our hostel we did get to witness two people shooting needles into their arms, which really made us feel comfortable about the area we were about to stay at for the next 3 nights.
We decided to take an early tour to the Cu Chi tunnels the next morning. On the way we stopped at a place where disabled Vietnamese make art work out of egg shells and then sell, it was very sad and cool and intricate art. The Cu Chi tunnels are just north of Saigon and started being used in the 1940’s for locals to talk to their nieighbors during the French occupation. Eventually the tunnel network grew to more then 250km that were in use all the way through the Vietnam War. In the 40’s they were used to enjoy time with your neighbor, in the 60’s it was used to infiltrate and kill the American forces. The tunnels average size was approximately 2ft x 2ft and they would crawl underground to get to different areas without the above soldiers knowing where or what they were doing. While taking a tour of the site that included crawling through the tunnels (that they enlarged for tourists), looking at weapons used during the war, seeing the different traps used against the US, and even a shooting range so you could shoot the M16’s and AK47’s used during the war, there was a US marines veteran there that was touring it for his last time. He had visited the site 3 times (he is now 80) and told us dramatic and in-depth war stories about his fallen soldiers and his friends that were lost during the war. In his 180 person unit, 33 lost their life at war and 110 were injured including him. He also explained that there are only 5 left of the 180, and they have a bottle of champagne for the last 2 guys surviving to drink together. It was an experience that left many with wet eyes.
Seen in the below photo is nicolette who was the first volunteer to go into the hiding tunnel. A hole that barely fit her.
We got dropped off at the War Remnants museum that showed the horrific crimes that happened during the war and the lasting effects it has had on the Vietnamese people especially those affected by agent orange the chemical that Americans dropped throughout Vietnam. The negative septemism towards Americans in the museum made it very hard to walk through as an American. I would be interested if there is any bias and if that same museum in the USA would depict the same ideologies.
With minimal time in Saigon we left the war museum grabbed a Bahn Mi and walked to Notre Dame Cathedral built in the 1800’s, that was closed due to construction, and across the street was which was the Saigon Post Office that was completed in 1891 and designed by Gustav Eiffel (Eiffel Tower Guy in France). We noticed a long promenade that went from a Governement building all the way to the river so we walked down it and enjoyed people watching while soaking up the sites of the new city. Enroute back to the hostel for free beer hour we passed the Ban Thanh market which had every high end brand of purses, shoes, coffee, and perfume that you could ever want to buy. Christian Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Nike, Jordan’s, you name it and you could own it for under $20. The long travel days and early morning had us craving a coconut coffee so we finally found one(after stopping at like 10 shops) and sucked it down and was rejuvenated!
That night we went to the “party” street of Saigon with a bunch of friends that we had met earlier in Vietnam. Always fun to hear about each persons plans and their debacles throughout their travels.
Seen below is a girl that must be right around $3 trying to sell lottery tickets to people on the street. This party street was full of kids between 3-13 trying to sell or perform acts for money. Most of these kids work or are owned by kingpins of the area
The next day we only had a few sites to see and lots of Bahn Mi’s to try. We had a lazy and enjoyable day walking around Saigon and reminiscing on the last 3+ weeks in Vietnam. The Jade Emporer Pagoda which had large catfish in the entry, A couple breweries oh and we stopped at a coffee shop. Nic NEEDS coffee in the morning so when we stopped they had a deal with every coffee purchase you get a free tea. Great deal I will get something also. We order, Pay, Sit down, and everything shuts off, the building loses power. We wait about 5min and get the teas, and then another 5 and we ask and she says we have no power so I cannot make you the coffee. Nic in her brilliance says can we just come back later and get our coffee? So she writes on our receipt (we couldn’t read it cause it was in Vietnamese) and tells us to show this later when we come back. So on our way back to the hostel we remember about the coffees, we are no where near the coffees but we start walking in that direction, randomly we see the same coffee shop, just a different location, and we look at each other and say let’s go see if we can get them here. We walk in hand them the receipt, they read it with extremely confused looks and then look back at us and say “ok give us one second to make them” 2mins later we are walking out of the coffee shop with smiles on our faces. Our last evening in Vietnam was spent sitting on a rooftop patio drinking wine talking story to Kim and Linda our two friends we met in Sapa 2 weeks earlier. We chatted for a good 2-3hours and we can’t wait for them to come visit us someday in South Dakota.
A flight to Cambodia at noon we woke up around 8 packed up our bags and left at around 915. We had checked google earlier and it was meant to take about 20min to get to the airport, with no major interstate or highway to the airport in Saigon it took us over 45min so we were running a little bit behind the the original 2hr prior to flight plan. We had to check in at the counter due to it being an international flight, the line took another 40min and when we got to the counter the lady mentioned that we over stayed our visa per our stamp so we need to go to immigration. Extremely confused and running low on time we found immigration we handed them our passports and they took them in the back. About 20 min later they pulled us into a back room of the airport and started speaking sternly that we had over stayed the visa. I did my best to explain my side of the story but they just kept saying and pointing that we had made a mistake. I said ok, our flight is in about 25min how do we make our flight. He said “because you over stay it’s 2 million Dong per person” I tried to hand him my credit card, he states “cash only Atm downstairs” so I run downstairs and pull out 4million Dong run back up go into the immigration office and hand him the cash. He makes us sign a document that we cannot read and when we ask what it is, he nearly breaks his finger pointing at the sheet and yells “sign here sign here”. Running low on time we sign the document go out and back to the checkin counter, then through passport check, through security and make it to our gate with 5min to spare. Sweat on our brows and fear seeping out of our pours we are thankful we made the gate and are leaving without a more serious fine. Nic said “I thought for sure we were going to jail” I said “that’s like worse case scenario” she responds “that’s right where my mind went” I guess that’s why we are so great for each other because we level each other out, her on the extreme side and me on the moderate side. (Pending who you ask:)))))
The final question, did that document state that we are banned from Vietnam for life? Guess we may never know, atleast not till we attempt to return someday in the future.
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