Ho Chi Minh City Trip - Mekong River Tour

The next day after p Cu Chi tunnel, kitorg p Mekong river pulak..We booked with the same travel agency through Gia Huy hotel..Kena bayar VND273,000 per person all-in..kalau mcm Cu Chi, had to pay the transportation and ticket separately..Mekong trip pulak bayar sekali harung..bwk duit utk berbelanja je..nak belanja apa kat Mekong river? keep reading...

Kali ni, tour guide sudah bertukar to Mr Fu..Masa Cu Chi trip he was the one on the first bus that we took..English dia better than Mr Tung, tapi aku lg suka Mr Tung sebab dia byk buat soundtrack yg best2..hehehe..

Mekong river ni took 2 hours bus ride..mmg jauh lagi drp Cu Chi..n the bus took a highway to go there..so, before departing, make sure perut tu x meragam n apa2 yg patut dh dibuang..it took about an hour for the bus to stop at the first destination which is a lacquerware factory (again, but different place)..lepas dpt pegang ular, kitorg gerak ke tempat buat coconut candy.....yg tu lain entry la..to be continued...

group pic!

Ho Chi Minh City Trip - Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

Dah masuk dlm bas, Mr Tung sambung lagi cerita pasal kampung dia kat Cu Chi..and some stories of his family..along the way, the bus stopped for a while kat some random place coz Mr Tung nak beli snacks since dia dah lapar..He bought some fried bananas bersalut tepung pulut..nampak besar2 jugak for each piece..sama je mcm pisang goreng, tapi this one was a bit nipis..quite greasy tapi sedap..Mr Tung beli byk then he sold them to the people inside our bus..VND10,000 for 2 pieces..sringgit lebih je tu..so, eisha n i bought and have one piece each..gambar x amik pulak sebab syok sgt bila layan makan..then Mr Tung mintak VND80,000 each for Cu Chi tunnel entrance fee..

before sampai Cu Chi, lalu kat kawasan kampung..rumah2 kat sini besar2 n nampak la rumah2 lot yg x akan kelihatan kat tgh2 bandar HCM..kubur2 pun bersepah2 kat kawasan rumah, estate or sawah..aku xtau la pulak pasal significance kubur2 diletak kat kawasan2 camtu..kalau sesiapa tau, habaq mai la ye..

dah sampai Cu Chi tunnel, kitorg diberi 5 mins utk p toilet near the entrance..no worry, toilet kat sini bersih n ade air utk mencuci..so, xde la rasa kurang selesa kalau nak membuang..lepas Mr Tung membayar entrance fees, kitorg pun jalan la masuk...

ticketing booth

Ho Chi Minh City Trip - Cu Chi Tunnel Tour - laquerware place

In HCM, you can find a lot of travel agencies that offer Cu Chi Tunnel tour..You can try survey around the city to get the best price, or if you want the easiest way, just ask the receptionist of your hotel. For transportation, the price would be between USD9 and USD14. Kat Gia Huy Hotel tu, ade jugak this tour. The transportation is USD13..Tapi receptionist tu ckp abg dia ada organize such tour for USD9..so, kitorg pun amik la dgn receptionist tu..reading at some blogs, ada yg aku baca bas dia air-cond rosak or maybe xde air-cond..so, dlm hati takut2 jugak coz the fee sgt murah..tapi kitorg book je..we paid in VND for 168,000.. booked a night before, and the next morning kena tunggu kat lobby between 7.45-8.15am..Someone would come and take us to the bus..


The next morning, lepas breakfast we waited at the lobby..Ade org dtg asking for us 5 girls..we followed him to the bus..and unexpectedly the bus looked new and with air-cond..memang selesa..i think our bus is the only bus with shocking yellow color and somewhat looked new; coz bila dia stop kat kilang lacquer, bila tgk deretan buses, nampak agak obvious..maybe travel agency tu baru lagi kot..At first, the bus stopped from a place to another around the city area to pick up other people..Then we were dropped at a place to move to another bus..Coz the first bus was going to Mekong river..

Ho Chi Minh City Trip - Arrival n Gia Huy Hotel

Dah lama x update blog. So, since baru je balik from Vietnam vacation, terasa nak share about the trip. Trip kali ni pergi 5 girls: me, eisha, sureen, tim n nadirah..kitorg beli ticket dah lama, i think around end of 2011 masa air asia buat RM0 promotion. So, the ticket was really cheap RM146 for return..I think the original price is about RM300+..We pre-booked our hotel from agoda.com, a superior room with one extra bed (for 3 ppl) RM250 per person for 4 nights..

This was my first time visiting a country which has way too many numbers for their currency with a rate of RM1=VND6452..Got me a headache coz I didn't know how much I should expect to spend for a 4-day trip..So, I brought VND5,000,000(whoaa a millionaire!) and USD30 for the trip..


Arrived HCM at night, around 9pm..Took a cab that could fit 6 ppl from Saigon airport to Gia Huy hotel (15-20mins journey)..The cab drivers in HCM don't speak or understand English much..It's advisable to prepare the address of your destination (with their spelling) and show it to them..Along the way, sgt culture shock coz the traffic was crazy! The road was packed with motorbikes and mmg tak sah kalau tak ada bunyi hon..cab kitorg naik tu pun sentiasa hon2 kat motors or other cars..Kena charged VND200,000 even though kat meter dia cuma 139,000..Tapi xpe la, since it's just approximately usd2 per person..x igt cab ape yg kitorg naik..but it's advisable to take Vinasun cab..diorg x tipu n x charge lebih..harga sebenar tgk kat meter je..

So, sampai2 hotel, masing2 kagum coz bila tgk dari luar, nampak slim sgt, tapi kat dlm rupa2nya agak luas..Kalau tgk kat gambar bwh ni, satu column tingkap tu la the whole hotel..Ada 9 tingkat overall, with  4 rooms for each floor..

the front view of Gia Huy Hotel