Thursday, January 12, 2012

19-22 April 2010 - Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam

Early in the morning we took another AirAsia flight, now to Ho Chi Minh, with a transit in … Kuala Lumpur. Third time in Malaysia! Visa and passport control was smooth and quickly (we used "visa upon arrival" with a LOI arranged in advance). Welcome to Vietnam!
I was not particularly enthusiastic about going to Vietnam, and I never thought that Vietnam would become a country I will miss, and where I want to come back to. Now that the trip is over and we have 9 countries behind us, Vietnam is my No.1 in the wishlist of future travels in that part of the world.
The most amazing thing about Vietnam for me is its people. Vietnamese start their day with sunrise (where else you can find a travel agency open at 7 a.m?) and work till late, and even though they work so hard, I can’t remember an instance of seeing someone grumpy or impolite. Vietnamese are strong in spirit. We saw many people physically handicapped: they were selling cards, books, but none of them was begging for alms. I do hope that economy in Vietnam will grow, and so will the standards of living. Vietnamese deserve it.
We arrived in the evening, and I could not help taking a picture of evening Ho Chi Minh: