skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Ok so where was I... Oh yeah, kids. Gah. Moving on
When I got to Ho Chi Minh I was more than happy. Plus really tired. More tired than happy. So this is where I got practically robbed by moto baik drivers. I didn't know the real cost and I was too tired to care so I ended up paying double the prise I should've. Twice. And I got lost. Or not lost, I just didn't have a freaking clue where I should've gone.
I stayed in a proper hotel that night and it was NICE. I got myself a pizza, watched Disney Channel and just tried to collect energy. The bed was soooooooooooo comfy! like, praise the maker of proper beds. Bed God. I'm a believer.
Saigon is a pretty easy city to see. I went through the main sites within a few hours. The most impressive was the war museum. Outside was the graveyar of old war equipment. Inside there were few galleries. The first one was dedicated to the victims of Agent Orange. It was heartbraking to see how the chemicals used during the war were still affecting the daily lives. Some of the victims were born without legs or arms, some were severly disfigured (like teeth growing out of their nose) and some had some weird skin condition, like their skin was turning in to stone. I know a war is a war is a war, but the Americans made some pretty bad decisions back then. I never really knew what a war means but now I understand more. It is never, EVER the solution.
Next I went to Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica. It pleasantly surprised me as they had closed most of it from the tourists. Although I am not religious I understand that prayers want their peace. Also, the fact that they weren't trying to cash tourists, althought they could've, made me really proud of the people. We need to know our boundaries!
I also visited the Ben Thanh market and got some souveniers. The sellers there were really aggressive and they knew how much the tourists had money. Although it was packed with people, the athmosphere was really nice. It was all busy markety -like.
The next morning I said sayonara Vietnam, hello Cambodia. It was really nice to see the famous country, but Cambodia really did it for me. I don't want to be all Angelina Jolie -like but gosh I love that country. More about it later...
I made it. Wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. The ticket lady totally screwed me, I paid the proce for a soft seat, but all I got was a hard seat in the middle of locals. So at least I went about in the local style (which I wonted but with a little bit comfort). And the train ride wasn't 30 hours, but 40. Oh well. After 20 hours I stopped looking at the watch and just focused on my Sherlock Holmes. It What was surprising, that I wasn't able to finish it while on the road.
Although I was sure I wouldn't be able to sleep, I did manage to get enough beauty naps. I think I woke up every five minutes, but I feel alright. And no pains whatsoever. I guess sleeping at the airport on anything has trained my butt muscles for this.
During the trip there are people selling food and they have a Vietnamese TV going almost all the time. It was funny seeing Gone in 60 Seconds with the worst dubbing ever. They all had only one woman's voice, never mind lip synking at all. Sometimes the people spoke whole sentences in English. Funny.
On the way I did meet a girl who spoke a little bit English, so we chatted for few hours. After that Nobody spoke a word except Hello and How are you. So if you want to take the train, bring company or at least learn few survival phrases of Vietnamese. It would've been great to talk with others. So all in all. not a bad trip.
Hmmm what else... Next to me was a family of four adults and three children. They were the noisiest bunch and I officially hate children now. The boys were cute, and all, but cheeeeeesssshhh why do babies cry about everything. EVERYTHING. Plus one of the kids got sick on my shoes just before we got to Ho Chin Minh. Like I wasn't feeling dirty enough. And the parents didn't even apologize, or try to say sorry, in any language. Oh and the parenting system here... When one of the kids started crying his mum was just mocking him. They didn't hit the children per ce, but there was some slapping. The kids seem to be more like dolls, who should behave just the way the parents wanted them to. So yeah, I felt sorry for the poor lil' bastards, but still. Please, please, people. Condoms are sold for a reason.
Ok that's it. Over and Out ->
Hanoi is really hectic town with 3.5 million people in it. Over half of the locals use scooters to get around and the traffic is really something. Not as bad as Cairo, but for example the street lights are there just for a show. Customer service reminds me of Finland, only it's a tad worse.
City itself is really colourfull and lively, the best here is just to sit in a cafe and watch people ging by. There are tourist sights, like the War Mausoleum, but I didn't go to any. To go to the mausoleum, the guests have to wear proper clothes (aka cover shoulders) and I was wearing too little clothing. It reminded me nicely of Penang. Anyways.
I am leaving Hanoi in 2 hours by the train. This means that I am going to sit on my ass for 40 hours. I was really excited until the second I bought the ticket. What the hell was I thinking!? This train trip better be worth all the hype in ze Internetz. There was no beds vacant so I got a seater with aircon. Total price was 650 000 dong and my nerves. Ok I'm just winding myself up again. If nothing else, at least it is going to be an experience . Good practice for the Siperia train trip. God.
Still homesick. I'm just calculating the time till I get back home. It's really annoying. Takes away all my enthusiasm.
You can do it in an easy way. Take a flight to Kuola Lumpur and from there fly to Hanoi. OR1. Take a night bus from Bus Terminal. Leave early. If the bus schedule says the trip takes takes 4 hours, it is going to take 5. So for example 10 pm bus works fine. And remember that we are living malaysian time, so the bus might leave a bit late (half an hour or so)2. Arrive to Kuola Lumpur at 4 and take taxi to bus terminal. There is two different busses going to LCCT (KL airport), aerobus and flyair. The fair is 8 RM and 9 RM. The later one is official, but second works just fine. They leave every hour.3. The flight to Ho Chi Minh leaves at seven so you might be a bit early. No worries. It's nappy time! (use AirAsia)4. It takes about an hour to reach Vietnam. If you are staying less than 15 days and are Finnish, you don't need a special visa to get in. BUT remember to print your ticket itibary back and forward. This is important, otherwise the guy might get upset5. Bring your itinary for Vietnam airline and check in. Itinary is once again, kinda important. Atleast remember what time your flight leaves. 6. Meet nice people in the aircraft and find out what to do and where to do it. Also rip all the free maps from magazines. Nobody is going to need them anyways.7. Arrive to the airport, take a taxi (250 000 Dong) and go search for a hostel. It helps if you ask random people. Hanoi Backbackers is good, it's close to Hoan Kiem Lake, on a small street behind Joseph's Church (7,5 dollars per night)Tadah! You're all set now
I arrived Kota Kinabalu at one a clock and walked to the hostel straight away. The walk to the hostel (BeacHouse) is really fast, just turn left from the lights and walk two minutes. The hostel itself is kinda basic, nothing too fancy. That is the reason why it has a nice relaxed athmosphere. The personel there is really nice and helpful so I definetly would recomend it to anybody.
On the first day I met up with Jamie, whom I knew from Langkawi. We were supposed to meet up with Mike too, but unfortunately he had to go back to KL before we arrived. After organizing our stuff we went to the city and later played ultimate with other people from the hostel (the hostel has organized some activities for the guests, like ultimate on the beach on the weekend and BBQ on thursday).
On Saturday we tried to plan a trip to Sandakan, but decided to stay in KK the whole time. Too bad, there are a lot of things to see near Sandakan, even more than in KK. It just would've been too much hassle to go there and back, so never mind. We ended up on a tour to see the Phosporus monkey, also known as dick head monkey. They were pretty cool, and we were lucky enough to see some water buffalos on the way. The tour started from this psychedelic cafe, which was in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere, but still really neat and managed to look like a English teahouse. After the tour we were supposed to be able to see fireflys, but almost none showed up. Oh, and I ended up buying the funciest bag in the world: a coconut bag.
The next day we went to the Sunday Market. They close down a steet and let the locals sell stuff without taking a fee during Sunday morning, which is kinda cool. They sold everything there, junk, bags, kites, cats, turtles, ect... I felt so sorry for the animals, because they had to stay in small smelly cages and not so few of them were obviously very ill.
Anyways after that we didn't do much. There was Ultimate again, but I was too lazy to play.
Monday we went to Mari Mari Cultural Village. We were able to see five different tribe houses and taste their food and wine. It was a blast. They also let us try the old school tampoline, use a blow pipe, make food and try their traditional rice wine. The whole trip was 150 RM and totally worth every penny. At the end of the tour they had few performances and we were able to try out the bamboo dance. It was great, the band was jamming with their gongs and whatnots, and the whole show just had a good wibe in it. It was exelente.
Jamie got sick during the trip so the last activity of KK was a trip to the local clinic. He got some pills (3 differend kind of tablets, some powder and liquid) so hopefully he'll start feeling better soon. The best part of the trip was a discovery of a new band (actually I think I've heard their name mentioned before but only now I actually heard their music): Architecture in Helsinki. I only have two words for it: controlled chaos. Brilliant
