Sojourn in a Foreign Land --- The Viet Nam Experience

Tan Son Nhat International Airport

SOJOURN  noun \ˈsō-ˌjərn, sō-ˈ\ a temporary stay (a definition from Merriam Webster). 

Beautiful Saigon III Hotel

Saigon Opera House

Notre Dame Cathedral

Reunification Palace

The year 2011 is almost about to unfold and in the next few days we are sure to welcome with a glee heart the year 2012. As I reminisce the things/events that has happened over the past couple of months, I am for certain that this year has been its fair share of ups and downs but in the end I still think that GOD has been abundant in giving me multitude of blessings for 2011. One of the many blessings I've received from him is a generous gift indeed. Imagine, ME going out of the country for a visit? You must me kidding me right? I thought my out-of-the-country trips will resume by February of 2012 wherein I will be wandering thru the streets of Singapore and enjoy the myriad of mouth-watering dishes in Malaysia. However, because of God's countless and unending blessings, he allowed me to visit Viet Nam. At first, I was a bit hesitant. If I can vividly recall my Geography classes way back in college, I've come to know Viet Nam as a war-torn country having the infamous American-Viet Nam war back in circa 50's-70's. However, as the date of our flight draws nearer, I was ecstatic to experience a culture marred with violence and ingenuity. And so the journey begins.

Ben Than Market

Building Edifice in Ho Chi Minh

We arrived at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport on December 9, 2011 at 20 minutes past the hour of 12, 10 minutes earlier than our scheduled arrival. Surprisingly, the airport offers free wireless internet connection, way better than NAIA (I don't exactly know why travelers are required to pay the Travel Tax with a whooping amount of PHP 1620 and a Terminal Fee worth 750 when in fact the airport is even considered one of the worst in the world--- Hell yeah, Talk about corruption even in the airport facility). Sadly though, the first day of our trip didn't go well as planned. The hotel lost our reservation for the Airport pick up and we had to take a taxi to the hotel. And to add to the horror we experienced that night, we can't seem to find the hotel we we're supposed to stay in and had to be contented with a -A class hotel to spend the night with. Later the following day, we ushered ourselves to the sight of Beautiful Saigon. We started taking pictures and then rest for a bit then off to see the sights of the whole Ho Chi Minh City.

Traditional Vietnamese Bike with Strawberries

After what seemed to be like an endless journey thru the streets of Ho Chi Minh, we arrived at the hotel around 5pm. At that moment, I felt like all the blood in my legs were drained out. Feet were sored badly. Because we were too lazy to go out we tried the restaurant at the hotel and was amazed by how sumptuous a feast it could be unlike the Pho Noodles we had earlier during the day. We tried on Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Rice) and were satisfied to our heart's content.

Fishermen in Vung Tau

Bridge along Saigon River

Calachuchi Flowers

Temple in Vung Tau

Buddha

Day 2 was another day spent walking and trudging along the quiet life of the province...Sure, I'm not complaining because it was a sweat breaking adventure---Vung Tau, an island province in Viet Nam offered a mixture of culture, arts, religion and nature. We took the hydrofoil ferry from Saigon to Vung Tau. Clueless where the Statute of Jesus was (they call it Jesu in Vietnamese), we wandered around the streets of Vung Tau...We happened to stumble on a Buddhist Monk Temple (all monks there were women)...While we were busy taking snapshots of the Temple, a Vietnamese lady offered us memorabilia of the province...10 pieces of Ref Magnet for 100, 000 dong was not bad...So we bought some of our "pasalubongs" there. Afterwards, we took a taxi to Mount Nho where we are about to hurdle the insurmountable 1,000 steps up the sky and have a view of the entire province. At first, we thought it was a short walk up the mountains but truth to be told, it was not a "so-so" walk...Arduous, as I may describe it, we took at least 5 to 6 stops before we eventually emerged at the top of the mountain. We arrived there on top roughly around lunch time so we were unfortunate enough to enter the insides of the statue and climb the 120-130 steps up on its peak... We cooled down with a bottle of refreshment and took a half an hour of rest before we decided to go down and have a late lunch... We were scheduled to be back in Saigon at around quarter before six so we killed time by having the famous Vietnamese Coffee (well-ground coffee beans and you have to press it down so you can extract the juice and enjoy its dark flavor). When we arrived at the hotel, we just took a quick freshen up and walked the busy streets of Saigon to shop for pasalubongs. We ended the night at around 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning and hoping a 4 hour sleep will rejuvenate us in time for a more adventure-filled day at the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Day 3 was what I call "Crunch Time, Crawling Time Baby" We had a hearty breakfast at the hotel (Freshly Baked French Bread, Sunny Side up Eggs, Fresh fruits and Coffee/Orange Juice). I had to chunk in all the food served since Day 3 requires strength to surpass the day's activity. We boarded the coaster bus en route to the Temples of Cao Dai. We arrived there shortly before they start their mid-day routinary service in honor of their Gods. What we witnessed there was a fusion of three different religions - Buddhism, Catholicism, and Confucianism (correct me if I'm wrong---hindi kasi ako masyado nakinig sa Tour Guide) After wrapping it up at the temple, we went on to have lunch and a short break. At around past 1 in the afternoon we headed to the infamous Cu Chi Tunnels where we were presented with the ingenuity and bravery of the Viet Congs. In there, we saw the many traps they used during the war with the Americans; we also get to experience what it's like to be inside the tunnel...I thought at first we had to crawl our way out --- but crawling seemed not to be the right word to use...We had to trudge the 20 meter tunnel and had to walk like a duck to experience what life is inside...It was probably one of the best experience I had in relation to culture. Right after emerging from the tunnels, we went on to have a taste of tapioca and tea (their tea is made up of dried calachuchi and tapioca is "balanghoy" in Bisaya)... On the way home, I had to take a power nap as I was hopelessly longing for a decent sleep... We had dinner at the hotel restaurant again before heading back to the airport...

In summation, the experience I had while in Viet Nam was a re-awakening --- Viet Nam is nonetheless one of the most culturally rich countries in Southeast Asia ; a country bordered by neighboring Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; a country where you can be a Millionaire for three days... If I am given the chance, I will definitely be coming back but this time I will fly to Hanoi and be enthralled and awed by the beauty of the Halong Bay...

Cảm ơn bạn và cho đến khi thời gian tới (Thank you and Till Next Time).