Over 25 years ago, I left Vietnam by boat with my family. We have endured many unimaginable hardships to get here to America. After over a dozen failed escape-attempts and many imprisonments, we made it to Malaysia. Then eventually we came to America in the 80s. Since then I have been living in America and had never gone back until about 2 months ago. It was first my time ever coming back. I knew it would  be a cultural shock for me coming back to my motherland because I had been gone too long. But I came back well-prepared so that I can blog about the trip. Hopefully, it would help someone like me in the future who is planning to visit Vietnam. Although it’s a rapidly developing country, many parts of Vietnam are still under-developed. Therefore, to survive Vietnam when traveling, one needs to take these steps in consideration: 1) accommodation, 2) transportation, 3) foods, and 4) preventive medications. Because I stayed in Vietnam for over a month, I had a budget and tried to save as much as possible. I didn’t really need to stay in a 4-5 stars hotel.

For accommodation, I stayed in a privately-owned motel in District 3, which is only around 10-20min from District 1. District 1 is the center of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). All the major restaurants, hotels, clubs, and entertainments/attractions are in District 1. I stayed in District 3 is because it’s close to my uncle’s house and it’s much cheaper there. I was able to find a motel, Vin Hotel,  with a fee of only $11 per day. It’s a nice, decent motel in a small street. I actually  think it’s better than most motels in Los Angeles. You can find a lot of good deals on Craigslist (Vietnam) for motels.  For transportation, I took the taxi fron the airport to my motel one time, and I got ripped off because the driver knew that I was not a local and I didn’t know better. The only 2 reputable taxi companies in Saigon are VinaSun and MaiLinh. Don’t use any other companies. They would over-charge you. Beware, there are fake VinaSun & MaiLinh taxi. The best way is to get their phone numbers and call them. They will pick you up in less than 5 min once you place a call. But when it’s raining, it’s busy time for them because everyone wants to get on a taxi. Taxi from the airport to all hotels in District 1 should cost you, at the time of this post’s date, around $5 US or 100,000 VN dong. For me, it was 130,000 Dong since I’m staying in District 3. After staying in Vietnam for about a week, I borrowed my aunt’s scooter/moped and drove everywhere. It’s not that dangerous if you know how to drive a scooter. For female tourists, I wouldn’t recommend driving the scooters, unless you have driven it well before. Traffic in Saigon is very congested so everyone drives slow. Therefore, if driving a scooter you just need to learn to maneuver around people. The locals can be reckless in term of disobeying traffic laws. They would drive on sidewalk, opposite direction, etc…But it’s ok. Just follow the lead and worry about everything in front of you. The people in the back will avoid you. Hahaha. 🙂 I didn’t hit anyone or got hit by anyone while driving around Saigon. For foods, I thought I would get sick. So I packed antibiotic, pain-killer, pepto bismo, and some anti-diarrhea tablets. I didn’t even use any of them. I ate everything even small shops on sidewalks, and drank even ice-teas and I was fine. I guess I have a pretty good immune system. 🙂 Personally, I think the Vietnamese foods in Orange County are much better. The quality of the meat and the portion are bigger. 2 bowls of Pho in Vietnam are equal to 1 large bowl of Pho in Orange County. We, guys, like a lot of  meat in our Pho. Foods are cheap though. A complete meal for one person would run you $5 US if you don’t go to an expensive restaurant. Even with an expensive restaurant, it would cost you around $20 US each. Next, for preventive medication, beside those I’ve already mentioned, you need mosquitos-repellant. Yes, there are mosquitoes in most parts of Vietnam even in hotels and motels. I was like a magnet for mosquitoes. They aimed for my legs. 🙂 Lastly, for entertainment, the clubs in Vietnam are not like the ones in the US. The clubbers come there to drink not to dance like I was. So their dance floor are tiny as compared to American clubs. The clubs are filled mostly with tables for people to drink. They have pretty girls to serve you at each table. But I’m not a drinker. So I didn’t care much. Alright, that’s about it. Let’s get on with the photos. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

Pretty crazy traffic right? You would need a face-mask if driving around on moped in Saigon due to the smog and dusts. This is the neighborhood I was growing up as a child.

Here’s the palace of the former president. This is where the last helicopter lift happened when the Northern Vietnamese troops took control South Vietnam. It was the last stand in Vietnam War. the inside of the Palace.

This is how the markets are in Saigon. Gotta appreciate Von’s & Ralphs when seeing this.

My favorite fruit – Mang cau / Trai Na (soursup). Sweet and juicy…Yummy!

Another great fruits – chomchom (rambutan)

Sidewalk restaurants…lol. Some are actually pretty good. But be really careful you don’t want to get diarrhea or food poisoning. For me, it was ok. I have a strong stomach.

Our boat to Ha Long Bay  – one of seventh natural wonders in the world. Amazing experience.

This one here is a small village, Cat Ba, in Ha Long Bay.Xung Xot (Surprise Cave in Ha Long Bay)Local kids.Kayaking in Ha Long Bay. Just beautiful views.Foods served on our cruise to Ha Long Bay. Fantastic! We swam and kayaked in Ha Long Bay. Calm, warm, and turquoise water. It’s salt-water, but it’s not that salty and it doesn’t sting your eyes.

Next stop is Phu Quoc, a small island in South of Vietnam. It’s like paradise. Soft white sand beaches, and amazing foods.

We stayed at Freedomland in Phu Quoc. An amazing experience. It’s a bungalow type of resort. It is top-rated resort in Phu Quoc by Tripadvisor. Most asian people or the locals don’t stay here. We were like the only asian group staying there. But I love the experience. Road to the resort is very rough, muddy, and it is in the middle of the jungle. It’s about 20 min walk to the beach. The foods here were incredible. Prepared and cooked by Peter, the owner of Freedomland. Fresh whole fish right off the grill. 🙂

These foods below are some of the local restaurants right on the beach. One of the best seafoods I have had. Very fresh!

Well, that’s it for now. There are many parts of Vietnam I didn’t get to see. I heard Hue or Nha Trang, Da Lat, and Sapa are beautiful places to visit. Hopefully one day I will get to visit, and I shall have a second story to tell. I did a fashion photoshoot in Vietnam, if you have time check out this post “Another Time, Another Place” in Fashion. I’m sure there are something worth your while. Check back often. I always have new works to show. 🙂 Ciao..