On a whim

Last December in 2016, I decided, on practically a whim, to buy a ticket to Vietnam. I didn’t have any idea or plan on what to do there. I hit up workaway.info, looking for some place I can crash in exchange for my menial services. An English language center contacted me and I was like, “Sure, I can teach English!”

It was supposed to be in Haiphong but I was flying into Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, as many locals seem to prefer. They won’t make a big deal out of you calling it Ho Chi Minh City though, so no worries. I bought another domestic flight from Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh to Cat Bi Airport in Haiphong to fly 3 days after I arrive in Saigon.

I have had plenty of experience travelling and exploring countries all over South East Asia with my friends on holidays and volunteer trips, but this was essentially my first time alone abroad. I was quite unsure of what to expect.

Arriving in Ho Chi Minh

Street in Ho Chi Minh

It was hot and humid. The immediate vicinity outside the airport reminded me of Jakarta. A man from the hostel I booked waited for me as I had requested for an airport transfer. Thinking back, I shouldn’t have done this as Uber and Grab were very common. I ended up using Grab bikes to travel everywhere. Never spent more than $1.50 on a bike ride.

I can’t mention Grab bikes without talking about Vietnamese traffic. That was the first shocking experience arriving in Ho Chi Minh. Traffic is borderline insane. There were motorbikes everywhere going in every direction at once. I learned that as a pedestrian, you should just walk into the traffic without looking and caring. The motorists will move around you and avoid you if you walk in a consistent and predictable manner. Fight the urge to just run across, as that could prove to be deadly.

I stayed at the Himalaya Phoenix Saigon Hostel in downtown Ho Chi Minh. It was very cozy and homely. For its central location the rates were amazing at $12/night in a 6 bed dorm. I was able to explore Ben Thanh market which was a 20 minute walk from my hostel.

I met a pair of cool students from Hong Kong who just graduated and are traveling together. They had no plans as it was their second last night and so did I as it was my first, and we ended up taking a tour to the Mekong delta. It was a chill day trip, exploring the various temples and farms along the river.

The few days in Ho Chi Minh went by like a blur as I moved from hostel to hostel, couch to couch. One of the more memorable experiences was couchsurfing with a local who stayed on the outskirts of the city where they were developing new estates. When I arrived, she was teaching English in the back of a pharmacy she was working at. I met and had a nice chat with her students.

My last day in Ho Chi Minh was spent exploring the vicinity of the Saigon Central Mosque, where there was plenty of halal food and Muslim travelers around. It was a good experience as a first timer solo traveler.

Off to Haiphong

After just 3 days in Ho Chi Minh, it was time to move to my actual destination. I contacted a workaway host in Haiphong offering a place to stay in exchange for English lessons. When I arrived, I didn’t realise that Haiphong was going to be quite cold. It was winter and I exited the airport wearing three quarters and a dri-fit shirt. The motorcycle ride to the home was not pleasant at all.

Arriving at the house, I was greeted by a German girl with her Canadian partner, a Filipino teacher as well as several Vietnamese students. The students were studying at the nearby Vietnamese Maritime University.

One of my students

I spent most of my days in the house doing my assignments from school as well as skyping with my friends for our group projects. The workaway agreement was that I’d spend about half a day teaching English, and the rest of the time off, in exchange for accommodation and food. However, I came during the winter when there were fewer students. Disappointingly, I only had 2 classes to teach each week. I did however managed to get some French practice in as I sat in for a French class taught by another traveler.

While Haiphong is actually the 3rd largest city in Vietnam, with 2 million residents, the area I lived in felt quite secluded and quiet. I enjoyed the morning walks by the main road when there was less traffic. I spent most of my time with the university students and my housemates.

Nice dinner with my housemates and some folks from the college.

My housemates organised a Christmas party, and they invited many people from the area. We had some fun enjoying each others company. We also explored the nearby lighting displays at a church. I wasn’t into all that but meeting and knowing new people is always a fun experience.

Checking out Hanoi

Seeing that I was going to have free time during the week, as my classes were on Monday and Friday, I decided to take a bus to Hanoi. It was a quick 3 hour or so ride to the city center from Haiphong. There I stayed at the Central Backpackers, which is quite an established hostel. They have many events and parties every night, which made me kind of regret coming. I need my sleep.

A rare sight in Vietnam. Most Muslims reside in Ho Chi Minh.

I did however enjoy exploring the old quarters and Hoàn Kiếm Lake. I met a few students from the nearby Hanoi University, and they showed me around. We visited the Maison Centrale in Hanoi, a former prison used by the French and then the Vietnamese during the war. We checked out a bookshop, drank egg coffee, ate ice cream.

Going home

Of course, all my experiences in the 16 days I spent in Vietnam couldn’t be covered in a single blog post. Many awesome things happened, and I met many awesome people. Seen awesome things and ate awesome food. I have caught the solo travel bug, and I am convinced that I’d like to travel as much as possible in my life.

My next trip was in March 2017, when I visited my friends in Cairo and Istanbul. Until that post comes out, thanks for reading!