I am a solo-female traveler with an extremely minimal budget and limited days. So, I am eager to inspire females to travel and want to help with all sorts of information from my experience to make it easier for you. This time I will be writing about my solo trip to Vietnam. If you have any questions, do feel free to ask.
The very first experience in Vietnam made me remember one of my favourite cinemas "Midnight in Paris" and so, that experience was my alternative of that, Midnight in Ho Chi Minh!
Lonely neighbourhood!
It was perhaps 4 in the morning, when I was roaming around all alone in an absolutely foreign country's neighborhood where I was supposed to stay at a hostel but they did not receive me.
Not a single soul to be found, quite, only my footsteps can be heard, with dim neon-lamp posts, barely lightening the roads, which gave the whole neighborhood a spooky, surreal vibes!
I was walking around, with a backpack and suitcase, followed by my only shadow, running out of my phone's charge, 100 miles away from home with not having a single acquaintance around.
Having zero clue of where I am going, I found a small tea-shop of an old lady that is barely open and some old gentlemen around chit-chatting.
With an absolute failure of linguistic communication, we went back to the primitive communication system of sign and gestural indications to communicate with each other.
She took my phone, took it inside her home to charge, and made me a cold tea, which spread warmth to my heart regardless of its cold nature. The men were trying to tell me a lot of things in Vietnamese even though they know I cannot understand a thing! So, I waited to charge my phone and use google translator to use it to communicate with them. Until then, I enjoyed the moment of finally relaxing even though not knowing where I should go next and being exhausted after a long journey! The old lady also made me a hot traditional Vietnamese tea, which is rather bitter but refreshing!
And the first burden of kindness I felt when she said the teas are free of charge, no need to pay as long as I enjoyed it!
Then I used google translator to ask them about nearby hotels or hostels, which are not expensive. One of the old gentlemen even went out of his way to take me to the hotel with his bikes and dropped to a hotel nearby. Though the hotel was closed at that time, he showed me a café nearby, which was open (and stays open 24/7) to wait there until morning.
And there is where I found my first friend, my first home in Vietnam!
The Vufarmcoffee Café, which will last one of the best cherishable memories of Vietnam.
When I arrived at Saigon (Ho chi minh city) airport, it was midnight.
The very first glance of Ho Chi Minh! The midnight landscape was magnificent!
The immigration did not take long. When I came out of the airport, around 3.30 AM, I found lots of taxis and drivers offering rides. Though everyone in a foreign country tends to believe, if you are there in the country as a tourist/traveler, you are definitely loaded with money, and tries to be extra expensive in regard to everything. First surprise was that the drivers here are not too eagerly waiting to deceive and grab a higher price than the normal just because you are a foreigner.
Tip-1: Get your sim-cards right after arrival at the airport, which is probably 15$. I got mine actually from Kolkata airport during my layover with 12 RS and was a good deal actually, cheaper than the Vietnam airport.
Tip-2: As for choosing a sim-card, Viettel has probably the best networks. Though there will be free internet calling and somewhat unlimited internet but for direct calls you have to recharge. I was in trouble at first not knowing why I couldn't call, and the cab driver found out that I had no phone balance. You can probably talk for 70-80 minutes with 100,000 recharges. (I might be wrong, but I was satisfied everywhere I went with the network services.)
Tip-3: Download Gojek, Grab apps for bike, taxi, food and open an account after you get your sim card. Sometimes Gojek offers cheaper prices than Grab, sometimes otherwise. If you are too worried, spend an extra 30 seconds to wave your fare in both apps, check for discounts and all.
Taxis/bikes are always available at the airport regardless of the hour. Though, in the booking.com, where I booked my hostel, mentioned the hostel is open 12AM to 12 PM, they did not open the gate for me. When I called them, they said they will not open the gate until 11 AM, certainly where I spend the previous 6/7 hours is none of their concern, which eventually led me to that tea-shop mentioned above!
When the uncle dropped me to the Vufarmcoffee café, there were two young fellas (one of them works their) sitting in front of the café. They welcomed me and said to grab a sit and I asked for a beer as they did not have anything hot to drink!
I don't really like beer honestly, but if there is nothing then it is just better than nothing!
One of them, the teen-girl, Tram, speaks communicable English and was very interested in this new face! So, I told her what happened since I have landed in this land and informed that I am looking for a cheap stay if they have any clue. The other person was her boyfriend, Sin, who does not speak English but was amazingly friendly like her. She then said, hotels around here are expensive and she does not know much about those, so offered to stay with her in her apartment, or the room beside the café where her boyfriend lives!
The sweetest couple 💜 She was hesitant as she thinks both places are rather crampy and small, not appropriate for a guest!
A complete stranger might have picked some interest in their youth but going out of their way to let me stay...I was at a loss for words.
I convinced them that anything where I can save money is a heaven for me, I will only be sleeping at night there anyway, so a place to lie down is just fine and very much alright to stay in either place if that is not a trouble. They insisted it is not trouble as long as I can stay in those small places!
On the first night, we went to Trams place, all 3 of us, when Sin, her boyfriend, finished his shift in the morning at the café.
way to sleep! I took a shower, went straight to bed and all 3 of us were tired for different reasons, so we slept right away!
Though I wanted to wake up early and go roam around the city, in that cozy place I went on sleeping, turning off the alarm and only woke up at late noon!
All the contents are mine until mentioned otherwise