Four days in Saigon - Part one
Day 1-
Got to the airport in Shanghai and had plenty of time, so I was in no rush. Good thing, too. The airline I flew, Spring Airlines (not recommended) didn’t have a check in counter in the International terminal, so I had to hoof it to Term 2 and check in. Only to find out that my carry on was too big to fit their tiny specifications and then there was the ridiculous weight limit. 3.5kg! SERIOUSLY! They had me check my laptop bag as well and good thing I did that first, because after I pulled some items out of my now, checked bag, that wouldn’t have fit either. I mean, are you kidding me. So, I paid, but the flight and hotel were covered by rewards points, so who cares if it’s now a $20 trip.
Once I hoofed it BACK to the International Terminal, I needed to go to the expanded terminal G for the flight. That meant a train ride. Thank goodness I got to the airport early. I finally got to where I needed to be and what I thought would be a 3ish hour wait turned into a 58 minute wait. I got a coffee and sandwich to kill the time.
The flight was…. Interesting. On top of being cramped (I’m small and my knees were up against the seat in front of me) everything was paid. Water…. Nope, you’re paying for it. Soda… gotta pay. Meals, snacks, etc etc… All gotta pay. To top that off and make the flight even more fun, 3 times an hour on the 4 hour flight, they advertised at us to buy snacks, drinks, food, crap from the in flight store, et al. Thank god for noise canceling AirPods!
We landed about 15 minutes early, so that was a perk. Kind of. One thing I will say about the airport at HCMC is they need to figure out Passport control. It is a mess. A free for all. Foreigners and domestic all queue in the same lines, so nothing is fast tracked for domestic folks and that makes things even slower for foreign folks. China is rigid in how it handles passport control, but I will give them this… It’s efficient and orderly. Quick also. That took 90 minutes. Oh, and it’s minimally AC’d, mostly at the back of the room and fans blowing in towards the front. The level below, with baggage claim is also AC’d, with fans blowing up. So, the middle of the room, with the most people, it was maybe 100 THOUSAND degrees.
I got through it and all was well. I got my bag as it was rounding the corner of the baggage mover and headed out. Got a SIM card in 1 minute and it was easy. Ordered a Grab (Think Uber) and walked past the 100 people offering rides; “cheap than Grab, very fast, I make deal you, not have pay airport fee, my ride good good” until they long haul you, inflate the price, or pull another scam. Oh, and Grab doesn’t pay the airport toll either, it’s a flat rate built into the fee out. So, when I ordered the Grab, it was all in 215,000 VND. That’s 8 bucks. Easy. And the wait times… about 4 minutes. No muss, no fuss.
Checked in and then wanted to stretch my legs… and eat. So, I headed out, picked left, and walked. Tons of stuff right there, but don’t do that. Walk a bit. Turned a corner and walked another 3 blocks. Suddenly, the Pho went from 100k to 38k. Sure, I was sitting outside and on a plastic stool, but if Tony Bourdain taught me anything it’s that this is where you get the good stuff. And good it was. I walked a bit more, just getting lost a bit in the city, but not too far gone. Found a little beer spot and stopped for a Tiger over ice. Yes, ICE! Get here, you’ll understand. However, temps were great and I was comfy. After 2 beers and 30k, I paid and ordered a Grab Bike back to hotel. I had wandered 1.3km. Sure, I could have spent 20 minutes walking it back, but I opted to spend the 8k VND. 80k VND for dinner, two beers, and a ride back… Hell, that’s the price of a candy bar in The States these days.
Day 2
Had breakfast at the hotel since it was offered. Bread and fruit and a poached egg. Sweet. The coffee was generic and half burnt, but good enough to slug down with breakfast and get me moving. After that, I headed out and found a cafe. Time to get an Egg Coffee. More on this in another post. The day was hot, but not overly bad, and it was overcast, so that helped. Breezy too. So, more wandering. Window shopping. Taking it easy. I found a place for lunch that Grilled Chicken Banh Mi and I went for it. Mhhhhh. The chicken was a little fatty, I assumed they would use breast or really cook the fat out of the thigh, but it was the worst of both worlds. Fatty thighs! Also, holy bean sprouts! About 15kg of those crammed in there as well. Overall, it made the bread soggy and just was a poor representation of a normally good sandwich. Oh well. I picked the fat off the chicken and the thighs were tasty. Grilled and smoky. Once I reassembled the sandwich, it was passable. For 26k, I’ll deal with a bad lunch.
The rain came around 1pm. I hung out at the hotel and chilled. Had a beer at the rooftop lounge and watched it rain. Chilled. Had a nap. Then, around 3, the rain calmed and I headed back out. An afternoon coffee, plus I needed to grab a little bottle of Lisrterine. And some lotion for my head and face. I packed a small umbrella, so I grabbed that and the kindle and headed out. It started to rain while I was out, but umbrella for the win. Stopped and got a small bowl of pho around 4:30, since lunch had been small. Headed back to chill and plan my night.
Facetimed with the girls at 7pm and then headed to 7 Bridges Brewery. J and I discovered it in Da Nang last time we were there and loved their beers, so I’d have a pint there. Before that, however, Book Street. I was told there is a night market there. It was drizzling when I headed out at 7:40, but the rain was supposed to cut off by 8pm or so. I didn’t bring the umbrella and didn’t need it. My shoulders were maybe damp, as was my hat. So, it was kind of more misty for a few minutes. Got to Bookstreet and found a good Banh Mi, so yup. Noshed that and looked for the night market. Either the rain kept it away or it’s small. About 4 little stalls at the far end. Nothing thrilling. Oh well. Beer!
Day 3
Woke up and the walking and flight and life were taking a toll. I went to the desk and enquired about a Thai Massage. I was told that no, but Vietnamese massage is nice. No. I’ve had. It’s kind of acupressure mixed with Swedish oil massage. I wanted to get worked! A girl came who worked there then came over and she got involved. She told me “Oh no, sir. Thai massage VERY painful.” Yeah, I lived there for 3 years, in BKK, I know what Thai Massage is and that’s what I’m wanting. “OH!” She wrote an address on a post it and made a call. Come to find out, she’s half Thai, half Viet. She knows a spot. Would I like ASAP or later. Why not now. I’d had breakfast so I was free. She booked it and told me 10:30am. That was 90 minutes. I had a shower and all that and then headed out. Easy drive to the place and it was near a good spot for Egg Coffee, thanks to my old buddy Ngoc Ming.
The massage was…. Painful. The old Auntie didn’t hold back and worked me out! However, the stiffness and pain were gone, replaced by a deep ache that settles in after a good Thai Massage. A nap would fix that. Or a shower. Or a good walk. I walked to the cafe Ngoc suggested and it was a delightful coffee. Got a chocolate croissant to go with it. Lunch! Got a car back and then took that shower and nap. No more pain. As I write this, I’m finishing an afternoon coffee, before I will head to another Ngoc recommended place for dinner. Let’s see how that goes. Then, I’ll head back to the Brew Pub and nibble some Tapas and have a beer or two. Tonight will be an early night, as tomorrow I fly and get tattooed before I go. It’s been a great few days and I wish I could be here another month, but I do miss the Kiddo and J a ton! Friday I’ll be back to them, full of kisses and love, but for now, I’m off to explore, enjoy, and be in my happy place in Saigon.
Until next time.
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