The start of my good times in vietnam

Traveling in Vietnam is expensive, especially for a foreigner. Price inflation and rip offs in vietnam is far more ubiquitous than the neighbouring countries.

From Vinh Long(see previous blog) i wanted to head north to a town called Mytho. There are no buses from town going there and the only way is to go onto the highway and flag a bus heading north. After shaking off all the people who were eyeing my wallet more than me, i finally hopped onto a local bus, which i still have to pay a inflated price...-_-" Even so, my limited language ability ensured a very healthy dose of laughter to the locals on board and the bus conductor who is overcharging every single person he picks up.

Upon reach Mytho, i am once again left on the main highway a few kilometers away from the center of town and the only was to take the infamous Xe Om(moto taxi). It is very essential to agree on the price before sitting on the back of the motorcycle and what i was quoted was just plain rip off 50,000VND!!(~$5). The price for these few kilometers is the same as the 2.5hour bus ride i just took!! The old man kept insisting that it was very far and would only lower the price a little. After a few minutes i actually start to believe him that was the fair price. Fortunately there is a young lad who got off together with me and managed to ask him his price before he zooms off in his Xe Om. 20,000VND(~$2)!! Here i was trying to provide fair business to this poor old man and he tried to rip me off more than 2 times the price!!

By the time i got started looking for a place to stay, it was getting late. Most of the lodgings were business hotels and when i finally found one that fitted my budget, i just jumped into it. It turned out to be pretty filthy, I was however feeling too tired, hungry, sticky, shitty to care. I dumped my backpack and went out to search for food.
Famous Hu Tieu in MyTho

As i fish out my wallet to pay for my noodles, i got a shock. I only had 10,000VND(S$0.90) left in my wallet!! I had totally forgot to keep track of how much local currency i have! Fortunately it was a vegetarian and cost just 7000VND($0.70). Phew! With my last 3000VND($0.30), i bought these delicious chopped and skinned sugar cane

Sitting by the river side with my legs dangling over the edge, i chew on my sugar cane, reflecting on how shitty my day had been. It was pretty early(for my standard) and even though i had cable tv in my room, i dreaded the thought of spending more time in that filthy room. So i ended up watching families and couples having fun along the river as Akon's "Lonely" starts to play in my head.

Suddenly a group of people walked past my front and i could clearly hear a Japanese guy speak english. It is the first time i heard english in this town and after staring into space for 10 seconds, i plucked my feet and ran up to them and shouted a loud HI!!!

That was the best decision i made ever! From left: Hue, Kelly, Ming(Hue's sister), Hue and Ming Mom, Lien(Kelly's sister), Lien and Kelly's Mom
And Kosaku! the japanese guy who i heard

Apparantly Kosaku had missed the last bus back to Saigon that day and was literally picked up by Linh who saw him wandering around lost at the bus station. So together we walked around town trying to find a foreign exchange for Kosaku and me and a place for Kosaku to stay. I of course decided to ditch my filthy hotel and shared a room with him. Kosaku is a very interesting person and we ended up chatting about everything from countries to manga to culture to which countries has the best girls HAHA!(Japan was the consensus)

The whole evening was totally unexpected and very enjoyable with fun, a whole lot of laughter and many photos. All of which would not be possible if i had hesistated and not approach them with my signature HI!!!Next morning we went to the market to buy food
Lien and Ming, typical vietnamese girls. Afraid of the sun
Lunch with the family
Finally i get to take a picture with an Ao Dai!!
Kosaku and Mama(as we both call her) dancing cha cha
Mama is very nice, 2 months later, she still text me to ask where i am and how i am doing
Kelly and me on a ride
On her electric bicycle

I actually had plans to head to another neighbouring town the same day. Osaku, Hue and Ming however are going to Saigon. The former to catch his flight, the latter 2 for school. With little persuasion, i decided to change my plans and go with them! Kudos to the spirit of backpacking!!

Even though the bus ride to Saigon was oven hot, it did not kill our spirit. We talked and laughed so hard we were drawing the attention of other passengers on board. Hue the fashion designer to be with my backpack