Monday, October 24, 2011

Ho Chi Minh City Arrival at Night

vietnam, cambodia and laos 11th solo backpacking tour
august 24 - september 1, 2011 wednesday to thursday


objective: to visit the best tourist spot that fits to my budget at limited amount of time.
additional tasks: lost half of my pocket-money in day 1... show must go on for the planned itinerary no matter how it takes

DAY ZERO:
HO CHI MINH CITY (VIETNAM) ARRIVAL AT NIGHT

I arrived in NAIA terminal 3 past 2100H and paid php1,620 for travel tax and php750 for terminal fee, a whooping php2,370 everytime any single filipino travel abroad, what a budget mess! in regards to immigration officer, they asked questions in local words every filipino's should be attentively replied.
- when will you come back (kelan ang balik mo)?
- what are you going to do there (anong gagawin mo dun)?
- what is your work (anong trabaho mo)?

NAIA terminal 3 check-in

Tan Son Nhat International Airport

touchdown in vietnam airport at 20 mins earlier than scheduled. on my way to walkalator, i was approached by a filipino couple asking for possible ways how to go to downtown and ended-up joining together on taxi for 150,000 vnd divided by 3 = php100 for my share. after less than 30 minutes, we arrived to pham ngu lao road, district 1. if i did not met this people, my initial plan was to rent a motorbike ride (habal-habal in filipino term) for at least 50,000 vnd (php100). airport shuttle bus is available only on 0530H to 1800H, which has the cheaper fare of 10,000vnd (php20).

Tan Son Nhat International Airport immigration lane

along the alley of pham ngu lao road

stroll around the pham ngu lao area for the cheapest accommodation to stay for short period due we have to book a bus ticket going to siem reap. we went to an alley and found this hotel for $6 stay on dormitory-type with free breakfast. it is standard procedure to any hotel here in ho chi minh that a tourist must surrender his/her passport upon checking-in and may claim it after checking-out and paid the bill.

ho chi minh city district 1 at night

ho chi minh city district 1 food trip at night

ho chi minh city district 1 food trip at night

after leaving our backpacks in our dorm-room, we went outside for some food-tripping at night. we were in-searched for pho (vietnamese local noodle soup) but we found exotic sea foods and beef balls with reasonable prices. we ate beside the sidewalk and after 30 mins decided to go back to our hotel and have a sleep. by 0630H, we have to wake-up.

day 0 expenses: (@ php43/usd & 0.002/vnd)
* NAIA terminal 3 tax/fee = php2,370
* vietnam airport taxi fare = 150,000vnd/3 = php100
* hotel dorm-type = $6 = php258
* 3 sticks of beef balls = 15,000vnd = php30
TOTAL : php2,758


day 1: ho chi minh to siem reap bus trip
go back to main post


1 comment:

  1. sorry, please disregard previous question. i found the link for your post on the guesthouses you stayed in. thanks

    ReplyDelete

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