Ho Chi Minh City - City of Scooters

I start this entry about 12 MILLION meters high above the clouds.

According to Tatti, this is exactly the altitude at which airplanes fly.

Anyone who would now vehemently protest against this statement can pat themselves on the left shoulder.

Everyone else should think again and be a little ashamed. ;)

However, my 'intengent' travel buddy was so sure that he bet 50 euros against me (and of course lost).

We are flying right now from the south of Vietnam all the way up to the north.

Our connecting flight to Laos was actually supposed to go there.

And actually we would have had almost 4 hours to wait for our luggage and check in again.

Actually enough time.

Actually, absolutely nothing could have gone wrong.

Actually.

But it looks unrealistic that this connecting flight will start with 2 empty seats.

A delay of almost 3 hours is not that easy to make up for and a miracle will have to happen if we want to change country today.

But I take dit really relatively easy.

I have no idea where the relaxation in me comes from. Otherwise all of this would have stressed me out a lot more.

But we can't really influence it anyway. So I might as well create a plan B for the worst case scenario.

Somehow the end in this city also fits the beginning.

The blog you are currently reading will, as the title probably suggests, be about Ho Chi Minh City.

Many people know this city by its old name, which is SAIGON.

9 million inhabitants, making it the largest city in Vietnam and our home for the next few days.

After just under a week, the crazy life by the sea was over.

The 3 island monkeys set out to visit one of the most exciting places on this planet.

Ho Chi Minh City

The city that never sleeps...a city that pulsates.

Do you remember what I told you about the mentality of the Vietnamese?

About the fact that I am absolutely thrilled by the helpfulness and warmth?

Well, things were actually a little different in the big city and I can no longer sing the praises of this culture.

But it doesn't matter.

Because there are exceptions in both directions.

When we arrived at the airport...phew...the heat hit you from the first second.

Don't get me wrong, I really like this.

But it was like hitting a wall.

So first check out the driver who will take us to the hotel.

Outside, the various providers were already competing.

'Taxi Taxi' shouts from every corner.

Everyone wanted to be the loudest.

Elbows out and somehow shake off all rivals.

At some point a guy stood in front of us.

'385000 dong okay?'

You have to know that for 1 euro you get around 26,000 dong in Vietnam.

So you'll quickly become a millionaire here and you have to really concentrate, especially at the beginning, so as not to get confused.

The three of us looked at each other.

It was absolutely clear to us that at 385,000 dong he had already included a bit of a tip.

However, we didn't feel like discussing it.

We don't want to approach another driver and compare.

We justified our 'laziness' by saying that by Berlin standards it was still a fool's errand.

So we just said 'Okay' and got in.

The traffic in this crazy city.

What can I say.

It's insane!

Just insane

It's not normal what's going on.

It feels like there are 3 scooters for every single resident.

The whole city is full of them.

And if there were such things as rules, we didn't understand them.

I mean, apparently they have a traffic code, otherwise more accidents would happen, but it really is a phenomenon.

In Germany we drive on the right and everything is somehow regulated.

There are traffic lights.

We have intersections with clearly prescribed right-of-way laws.

In Vietnam and especially Saigon it is a different world.

Yes, they also drive on the right, but that's the only thing they have in common.

There are also traffic lights here from time to time. And even something like zebra crossings.

But that's nothing but decoration!!

Sometimes there are 10-12 scooters riding side by side. Hundreds. Thousands.

Scooters come from the left.

Scooters are coming from the right.

From the front.

There are scooters everywhere.

Then this constant honking.

This is actually the Vietnamese's favorite pastime.

Honk.

The different ways in which road users honk their horns have at least ten different meanings. As I said, we don't understand the system, but there is one. Certainly.

You have the feeling there's something like a scooter demo somewhere.

And that the amount of vehicles will soon decrease.

But it's not a demo.

And nothing lets up.

When we wanted to cross the street for the first time that evening, it took us a few moments to dare.

And even if it doesn't look like this:

It's actually quite simple.

You just have to go!!

Don't wait for a gap.

Because it won't come.

And no one will let you in if they see you standing there lost on the side of the road.

Run!

For heaven’s sake, don’t stop and maintain eye contact with the drivers.

If you stop in the middle of the road, things can get 'complicated'.

If you do it right, nothing will happen.

They actually just slow down a little bit and kind of drive around you.

But really keep your pace.

Otherwise your visit to Ho Chi Minh might end up a bit unpleasant. ;)

It probably won't surprise some of you, but this really slightly disturbed part of me kept wanting to go to the busiest road to get my adrenaline fix.

The other two didn't share my preference, but:

Imprisoned, imprisoned. ;))

Back to the taxi ride:

It took a lot longer than the old lying Google Maps showed, but after a little eternity we were actually standing in front of our accommodation.

A hotel employee was right at the start and ended up arguing loudly with the taxi driver when he noticed how much money he was taking from us.

The porter really gave his all, but unfortunately he couldn't prevent us from having to pay a lot of money.

That was probably something like a fake taxi.

Classic scam and we fell for it.

Oh well.

As already mentioned at the beginning: the price was still bearable for German conditions...

The hotel was then again first class.

Someone once called me the booking queen.

And what can I say except: the person is right. ;)

We had no explicit plans that day and so we just let this metropolis swallow us up.

It feels like 40 degrees and the humidity is second to none.

Imagine putting a slice of cheese on your bread and before you even take a bite of it, it's already baked.

That was so hot!!

_________________________________________

We ended up at McDonald's.

We wanted to eat something other than just rice with shit.

And it's also really exciting to try out fast food chains in other countries.

There are a few classics, but otherwise there is always a completely different selection.

And that Spicy Chicken Burger I had.

Oof.

He was really nice. 😋

In Berlin I saw a lot of vlogs from other travelers beforehand.

So I had a few things in mind that I wanted to check out.

My travel buddies agreed and so we were standing in front of the 'café apartments' a few minutes after eating.

It's basically a huge building, but instead of apartments it houses dozens of cafes.

And they couldn't be more different.

We actually had to pay money to take the elevator there, but otherwise the visit was really worth it.

We spent the rest of the day sipping cocktails on the rooftop by the pool.

In the evening Tatti and I had a foot massage and I have to honestly say that was the worst I've ever had.

(Oh yes, everything is better in Thailand.)🥲

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye the next day.

Work called and Anna had to leave us.

Before that, however, we all got ourselves a souvenir for eternity.

One that will forever connect us to Vietnam and each other.

The next day we had a lot to do and finally we went to the Củ Chi tunnels, which I really wanted to see.

About 70 kilometers from Saigon.

It is/was a huge 250 km long tunnel system that the Viet Cong used during the Vietnam War.

It extends over 3 levels and contributed significantly to the fact that the Vietnam War simply could not be won for the USA.

It was quite impressive what people had already achieved using the simplest of means.

The entrances were extremely well hidden.

Small pockets in the ground that were covered with leaves or grass.

The entrances were also secured with traps, such as bamboo skewers.

Guys, we've seen these traps!

They were recreated there.

I just say OUCH.

The tunnels are super narrow and run through the earth like a labyrinth, only the main passages were a little larger, namely 60-70 cm wide and up to 1.50 m high.

The other tunnel passages were no wider than 50cm.

And just too tight for the western body type.

This was definitely more than just a secret passage to get from A to B undetected. Google says entire schools, housing units, hospitals and even isolated kitchens (including a solution to the exhaust fumes) were housed underground. The hideouts also served as command centers and both for coordinating resistance and carrying out actions.

It was so crazy and absolutely crazy to see it all.

We were even able to crawl more than a hundred meters through some of the tunnels.

Mega dark and pretty tight, I can tell you that.

And for someone with agoraphobia, that must be hell.

But we were just curious and apart from very dirty clothes, dirt on our faces and hair completely wet with sweat because it was absolutely stuffy, none of us got hurt.

At the end of this trip we went to a shooting range and were actually able to shoot a real, fairly old Kalashnikov for a lot of money.

This rifle is considered the most reliable in the history of weapons. And yes, it was a special experience shooting it.

It's not every day you have a machine gun in your hand.

Not that I'm particularly fond of weapons.

Actually, not at all.

But I like experiencing new things.

And on that day I and we really learned a lot.

In the evening, back in the city, I even learned that the Korean magic potion that I mentioned in the last blog can no longer bring a very tired Pippi to life.

However, I wanted to overwrite the bad experience of the foot massage with a better one, so Tatti and I went for a walk around the area around our hotel and found another massage studio.

Spoiler: this massage was even worse than the previous one and I just sat there with my face contorted in pain, tried to turn my face into a smile so as not to show anything and just hoped that the 40 minutes would go by quickly.

Maybe you're thinking now:

'yo, but why didn't you say anything'

You know, it's like going to the hairdresser.

Everyone knows it.

You sit there, get your hair cut.

And after just a few seconds you notice that this is going in a completely wrong direction.

The hairdresser says:

'And that's a good thing?'

And you idiot answer:

'Yo, perfect. That's exactly how I want it.'

Because you'd rather be ugly than rude.

And that's why I preferred to have my feet abused rather than admit that she was doing everything wrong that could possibly be done wrong.

To recover from this experience, we ventured through 'Joy Street'.

Everywhere you can buy women in strange costumes like schoolgirl uniforms or other strange clothes.

Most of them ignored us, probably because we aren't three-legged friends, although a few didn't either.

With piercing looks they waved and said 'hello' in MY direction (yes only in MY direction, Tatti was ignored).

I could already imagine what they wanted and I'm actually curious how something like that would work, but only theoretically.

In fact, I wouldn't go there for anything in the world.

I so:

'I am shy'

The one giggling like this:

'yeah me too'

However, even as she said that, she came closer and closer and tried to appear lascivious.

We found it a bit funny and a bit interesting, but quickly ran away.

I was just dead that night.

I can only repeat myself:

Simply a different world in this Ho Chi Minh.

And at this point I put n point.

Oh no, one more thing:

For anyone who was paying attention and is now wondering whether we actually got our flight to Laos:

Yes indeed.

It was actually like a miracle and I didn't believe in it anymore.

But I spoke to an airport employee in Ho Chi Minh and told them about our dilemma.

The thing was, they were separate flights.

And a completely different airline.

We should first wait for our luggage in Hanoi, change the terminal, check in again and then go through the security check.

That was simply not possible in less than an hour that we had left after arriving in Hanoi.

In the end we were picked up directly at the gate after landing.

We didn't have to pick up our luggage ourselves; it was brought to us and we were taken in a small bus from the domestic flight terminal to the one for the international flights.

All in all it was so close and we had to jostle to get stamped out faster by the Vietnamese visa office, run a bit (in the wrong direction) to the gate and until the end we had no idea whether we would actually make it, but we were done and ready After all, we were finally on the plane to Laos. A country that is still completely unknown to me.

I'll tell you about that next time though.

Because we were in between

somewhere else, as you know.

And you probably still have my penchant for chronology in mind. ;)

Thanks for following the shit here.

I'm finally going to take my well-deserved sunbath.

Ciao for now.