This morning we were sleep deprived as we had to get up early to catch the bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon (HCM). But the sky was already bright by 6am and the city was ready for another busy day. Chieat and friends too shortened their sleep to fetch us to King Angkor Guesthouse to board the bus which will take us to the bus station. It was so nice of them. We couldn’t have thanked them enough. The journey will take more than 5 hours, so we packed in more water and some bread for breakfast. The bus left for Saigon at 7am. The assistant in the bus spoke good English and made sure the passengers were alright throughout the journey and was always updating us about the goings-on such as the need to fill in health declaration form and passport matters.

The bus stopped for 15 minutes at a restaurant near the border for refreshment. When we reached the immigration, we got our passport chopped, bag scanned, etc and finally went over to the other side. A health officer checked each and everyone’s temperature. Everyone cleared the check and off we went into the biggest city in Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh or better known as Saigon.

The view around Saigon was just like in Phnom Penh – paddy fields everywhere and plenty of vehicles on the road. But Saigon has more cars than in Phnom Penh but not necessarily lesser motorbikes. However, the motorists wore helmets here, and only two were allowed on one bike. We reached around lunch time and waited for Quynh for further aid, ignoring other taxi drivers. They do not have tuk tuk here in Vietnam. She arrived shortly on motorbike and directed us to our guesthouse. The guesthouse that she recommended charged $15 for a room per two persons. To save the trouble of looking at other places, we agreed anyhow, and so we paid $30 for two rooms. We put our luggage and took a taxi, under Quynh’s direction, to a nice place for lunch. The ambiance was very nice and the premise clean. Quynh said many tourists come here because it was convenient as all the traditional Vietnamese food is available there with reasonable price. She suggested some food and drinks and left to see her father in the hospital who was admitted due to lung inflammation, probably caused by excessive smoking. I hope he is fine now. We looked around and ordered some more food using sign language. The noodle was delicious and the rest was okay. True enough the price was reasonable.

Going around in HCM weren’t that difficult if you had a map. The buildings and roads were pretty organized. It was raining slightly that time when we proceeded to our first place of interest by foot – the Presidential Palace (entrance fee was RM 3). RM1 = 5,000 VND; $1=18,000 VND. It was pretty cheap but then again, the place was a bit disappointing as there weren’t many things to see. We were expecting something like the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, at least I was. It was only like a modern administration building with plenty of meeting rooms, all cordoned off. One was only allowed to see from the outside but pictures were permitted. We went around quickly and took more pictures outside with the plants, tanker and jet plane.

We were lucky that it did not rain heavily. Using the map, we walked to the Cathedral situated only about 15 minutes away. It was something quite unique and different from all surrounding buildings. Then we walked to the water puppet show place. Quynh was unable to join us, and so we bought 4 tickets for the evening show (RM16 each). Since we had some time left, we went scouting for shoes and attire in some sports shops just around the bend. The prices were again negotiatable. Kelvin and I bought some t-shirt each for about RM17 apiece.

The water puppet show was the highlight of the day. If you were in Saigon, this is a must-watch show although it was quite expensive. The stage was beautifully decorated with a pool in front. At both sides, instrumentalists played the sounds and made the dialogues for the puppets. The colourful puppets’ movement, the music and sound were all well synchronized. It was really quite enjoyable even though the dialogues and singing were in local dialect but it wasn’t hard to understand what was going on. At the end of the 45-minutes show, the puppet masters emerged from the water in traditional costume (and soaking wet) to wave at the crowd. Everyone applauded acquiescently for the great performance.

Quynh came over to bring us to dinner – to eat ‘labi-labi’ or ’sui yue’ in Cantonese. I don’t know what it is called in English but they look like tortoise (see picture). The place was a bit further from the town. We were quite anxious, so we ordered only two instead of the recommended three for our number. We did not drink the blood which, according to Quynh was supposed to be good for men. The first dish that came was the vege cooked with the internals and eggs. The eggs were okay, tasted like chicken hard-boiled egg yolk. Then came the fried ‘labi labi’. The shell was hard but edible after much teeth grinding action. ‘Labi labi’ really doesn’t have much meat in them. The last dish was the spicy version. We ate all with plain noodles. All in all, it was a good experience (cost about RM 70). I still missed Cambodian food at this point of time.

We took the taxi to another modern part of Saigon. The population here alone is about 20 million – that explains the congestion. This place seemed similar to KL – brightly lit buildings, uptown malls complete with prestigious hotels to boast. The five of us walked to the night market for some shopping. Here, I got my birthday present on the spot – a bag, for a very good bargain (approx. $8). Thanks guys! I love it. Chunaki bought one huge bag that I believe can fit me in. Jesse bought one like mine but orange in colour. We left satisfied because they were all really good bargain, somehow had something to do with Quynh’s powerful presence. We walked for a while more before going back to our guesthouse. Appreciation goes to Quynh for showing us around and for taking care of our transportation. Even tough your father was unwell, you still came to be with us. Thanks.