This year's big trip for us is Vietnam.
I arrived today in Ho Chi Minh City with Qatar Airways via Doha. Got some cash, got a SIM card and took the bus to the city center. From the bus stop I walked in the humid 33 degrees to MsYangs homestay. Ms Yang was at home and served me with some iced tea. Very warm welcome.
Within an hour I was after my first pho and coconut at a nearby place. Instant gratification for the gums. I ordered them a xe om (motorbike taxi) with Grab, which is a cool app, who took me to the war museum. I insisted trying the xe om so that I can get faster and cheaper from place to place. It's fast because it doesn't get stuck in the traffic, and cheap: a ride in the city center costs around 10000 vnd. The only thing is: you have to get used to it. They drive sometimes against the traffic, they honk all the time, they drive sometimes crazy. But you get a helmet, so no worries.
War museum was a good exhibit of photos about the war and a historical overview about the political and military background of Vietnam war. But it was mainly about what the Americans did to the locals and how the world withstood with Vietnam. It's not easy to see all those photos. It's a totally different narrative to what one is used to hear in the western world.
Then I needed something else, so I went to a market and just meandered around it. Then I bumped into a temple, the Temple of the Goddess Mariamma.
All kind of gods around the hall. People pray, burn sticks. some of these gods have his or her own neon advertising lights. It's a celebration of colors and scents.
Then came the highlight of the day: the dinner. Oc Dao Quan is a popular restaurant with almost only locals in it.
I arrived today in Ho Chi Minh City with Qatar Airways via Doha. Got some cash, got a SIM card and took the bus to the city center. From the bus stop I walked in the humid 33 degrees to MsYangs homestay. Ms Yang was at home and served me with some iced tea. Very warm welcome.
Within an hour I was after my first pho and coconut at a nearby place. Instant gratification for the gums. I ordered them a xe om (motorbike taxi) with Grab, which is a cool app, who took me to the war museum. I insisted trying the xe om so that I can get faster and cheaper from place to place. It's fast because it doesn't get stuck in the traffic, and cheap: a ride in the city center costs around 10000 vnd. The only thing is: you have to get used to it. They drive sometimes against the traffic, they honk all the time, they drive sometimes crazy. But you get a helmet, so no worries.
War museum was a good exhibit of photos about the war and a historical overview about the political and military background of Vietnam war. But it was mainly about what the Americans did to the locals and how the world withstood with Vietnam. It's not easy to see all those photos. It's a totally different narrative to what one is used to hear in the western world.
Then I needed something else, so I went to a market and just meandered around it. Then I bumped into a temple, the Temple of the Goddess Mariamma.
All kind of gods around the hall. People pray, burn sticks. some of these gods have his or her own neon advertising lights. It's a celebration of colors and scents.
Then came the highlight of the day: the dinner. Oc Dao Quan is a popular restaurant with almost only locals in it.
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