Saigon - Dalat, Vietnam - 26Apr07

Due to the festive holiday, lodging has became my biggest expenses. So i come out with a solution, "Come on! i am student. I just happend to be here during holiday and i do not come here because it is holiday. Please..." Normally it works and i got less inflated rate.

The journey from Saigon to Dalat was 8 hours. i was tired by the time i arrived, plus the 'begging' for lower rate. It was exhausting. i went to the market though, to buy some fresh fruits. The old lady at the market refused to give me change of 1000D. When i think about, well, it is even less than ten cent USD. So i just waived it off and went away.

i think a lot of time may travelers think they were kind of 'cheated' is greatly because of people don't use to this kind of big figure currency. When we talk about a few cent, we simply just don't bother. But when we talk about thousand, then a lot of time we just forgot and think, "Wow! This is a lot of money!" Kind of amusing, but i guess i will get used.



One the way from Saigon to Dalat. Up mountain.



The road goes spirally up hill.



Dalat town central.

MONEY MATTER:
1.)Accommodation: USD 8
- Hotel 171. Bathroom+toilet paper+hot shower+satelite TV+mosquito net. No window, no towel and no air-con (the temperature is around 24 Degree celcius in day time, even colder at night. So nobody need an air-con).
2.)Food: USD 64000 D
3.)Transport: 20000 D

Saigon, Vietnam - 25 Apr 07

Chinatown

There will be a 5 days holiday in Vietnam, so everything is double the price. Bumper...

i went to almost all temples and pagoda in the Chinatown or Cholon area. The temples here worship all kind of Chinese deities and mostly is the mixture of buddhism and taoism. Almost all Chinese clan owned one specific temple. The cantonese owned the Tian Hao Temple or that kind. Normally, there is a Chinese school beside of the temple too.

While visiting my 5th or 6th temple, a local Chinese student approached me and talked to me in Chinese. Most Chinese over here don't speak Chinese already. Even if they do, they don't really have a very good command on it. It was kind of interesting to talk to a young student. He attended to the school in the afternoon, school time from 1.30pm until 4.30pm. Pretty short, but it will be 6 times per week. He said he wanted to practise his English too, so i exchanged email with him so that he could write to me in English.

The different between the temples in Vietnam and those i found in Malaysia in Singapore are: 1.) Temples here normally have courtyard, built as per the old chinese mansion. 2.) The temples here are highly decorated with my delicate and beautiful wood and ceramic sculptures. i found that, eventhough many chinese don't understand the language anymore, but in terms of following to the Chinese cultural things, they do it in a more thorough way than us in Malaysia.

i visited a beautiful historical church as well. The church member even opened the locked shrine hall for me. So out of 'courtesy', i pretended to pray and spend probably 20 minutes in the shrine hall reading book.



One of the many temples i visited at Cholon or Chinatown area. There are many Chinese words in the temple but Vietnamese Chinese hardly read Chinese now.



A shop selling herbs used in traditional chinese medicine.



Cha Tam Church. The church is an atractive white and pastel-yellow structure.



Street scene.


MONEY MATTER:
1.) Accommodation: USD 4
2.) Transport: 205000 D
3.) Food: 41000 D
4.) Others: Shopping - 10000 D

Saigon, Vietnam - 24Apr07

Amusing Historical Museum, Stunning War Museum

Retyped after the IE at the internet cafe hang! $^&()^%%$$

i have come to realise that, air-con is a luxury at this region. Unless you go the the high end restaurant or hotel, which mean you are going to pay for the standard as per in Singpaore, then don't expect a working air-con at some decent restaurants or hotels.

i changed to a cheaper room today. Decided to bear with the heat and spend 2 more days here. i was not willing to pay for the not really work aircon now.

i finally tried the Vietnamese pho, noodle soup. Yes, in the vege restaurant. Quite nice, but i did not like the MSG they put. i did not like Vietnamese tea too. It got some kind of 'burnt' smell.

i shopped at Bien Theint market, got some T shirts and small sourvenirs. i think i got a bit too much compassionate that when i think about the average income of people here is just 100 USD per month, then i felt really bad to bargain for things i bought and for the transportation. The highlight of the day was the War Musuem. i was weeping when i saw the war photos. May be my past life was died in this region that i felt so much over here. Not matter what, i think i got quite a good rebirth in this life though. :) Gratitude.

The Reunification Palace gave me a deeper understandings of the history of Vietnam. Although i couldn't feel the hatred of Vietnamese towards the American now, but obviously the American involvement in the Vietnam War is considered as an invasion and cruelity over here.

The Historical Musuem was funny. There was a furniture shop right in the compound of the musuem. I mistaken the museum as a furniture shop selling antique style furniture in the first place. i did not expect to see a mummy in the museum. i was really surprised to see a 'corpse' lying in the glass.

i took the xe om (moto taxi) to the business area, dong Khai and caught a drink over the juice bar. It was a bit expensive (for the standard here) but they got fresh wheat grass juice and very delicious begel. The environment was good too and there was people opened the door for me, so it worthed every cents. :)

i met with Viet Ha, a Vietnamese girl from Hanoi for dinner. She is just 23 years old and currently doing her internship in her own country. Well, she has been studing in Canada for quite a while, so she speaks excellent English. i am glad to find someone who i can speak in a 'complicated' way. By visiting this region, i think i realised that, i speak 'excellent' English! ;p

She asked whether my long trip is a kind of soul searching or?? i seriously don't know. May be i am looking for something? someone? i only know that, i enjoy meeting different kind of people and seeing different kind of life.



Reunification Palace. This building was once the symbol of the south Vietnamese government.



War Remnants Museum. This is a powerful place. Many shed tears for seeing the pictures of suffering people during American War.



A beautiful Cathedral situated by the road junction.



The modern part of Saigon, air-conditioned shopping centre.

MONEY MATTER:
1.) Food: 142000 Dong
2.) Accommodation: USD 4 (squeezy , simple fan room with two single beds and attached bath room)
3.) Tranportation: 10000 Dong
4.) Shopping: 92000 Dong