98 days, 8 countries, 38 cities, 25 flights, 4 car rentals & endless amounts of buses/trains rides.
This trip was called the RoverlyFriendshipTour as we indeed met friends along the way in every country minus New Zealand.
My last big trip was Sept-Oct 2019. I am so grateful I was able to do it because no one knew what the following 2.5 years would encompass due to the pandemic. This trip had been in the works for such a long time.
This is the most ambitious and longest trip I have planned extensively. My friend Beverly, who is a teacher, had said to me a few years back “Hey Ro, I don’t know where I’m going but you are coming with me on a big trip one day”. Finally in 2023 it was time.
I had asked Beverly where she wanted to go as this was her once-in-a-lifetime trip and she started naming places – Australia, New Zealand & Japan were top contenders. I normally wouldn’t try to put expensive countries together but for this trip, we sure did. Luckily, with my friend Winnie, who I went to Europe with back in 2019, we had made an extensive alternate itinerary for a potential 3-month Australia & New Zealand trip if we just so happened to catch a flight deal (which we did not hence we went to Europe instead). I used this 3-month itinerary as my starting point.
The only section I didn’t plan was Philippines and Bali, Indonesia.
With semi-budget in mind and comfort as a top priority as well as compromise, this trip was planned and booked. I started working on this itinerary as early as March 2022 with it coming to fruition as of October 2022 when we booked our main one-way flight to Auckland. Lots of trial and errors but hey, we did it.
If you didn’t already know, when I travel, I don’t go away for a laid-back vacation but rather to absorb and experience as much as I can in a reasonable timeframe. This one, was a whirlwind.
To begin with, the countries we went to: (Layover in LA, USA & Nadi, Fiji) New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan & I added on South Korea (my friend Jenn joined for this leg) for myself with a stopover in Vancouver before heading back to Toronto. 81 days for Beverly and 98 days for myself.
I have previously been to New Zealand, Australia & Japan (parts of it) so I wanted to make sure Bev & her partner Eric (who joined for Japan) were able to experience the quintessential things the first timers should experience but also expansive to the things I wanted to see and do that I have been intrigued with and never accomplished in my past travels.
We booked and paid for majority of the trip before we left for the trip. This definitely made it less stressful to not be planning and booking things during our trip. Especially being such an intricate trip with so many countries, it had to be planned ahead of time. Biggest pet peeve is wasting time while travelling trying to figure out what to do during the trip.
Tours
Majority of the tours booked were through Klook. A Hong Kong based online booking platform connecting travellers to local operators. The perks of using Klook is there are usually discount codes floating around so you can purchase your booking cheaper than booking directly sometimes. You also accrue credits for future bookings.
We also used Viator for many of our Tours in Oceania. If you can find the tour companies on your own, you might actually find a better deal directly.
This is a long section but here is info I gathered for each country I went to. I hope this helps your planning!
The itinerary will be below all of this. Good luck.
New Zealand – NZD – NZD$
Visa – Download the NZeTa app and apply for your NZ Visa – cheaper via the app as opposed to applying online. – 17NZD + 35NZD tourism levy
-Credit card over cash but cash is still accepted
-Tipping is not common – Tour guides – 5% or $5 if you do decide to
-Need to go up to the register to pay for meals
-They are all about being more sustainable/eco/green although their garbage system isn’t as advanced in public – we saw general waste or glass bottles but not compost nor paper products.
– Words with wh would be pronounced as f/ph sounds
-Besides downtown Auckland, there weren’t many places where we saw high rises. Basements aren’t a thing there. Insulation doesn’t really exist either as the weather fluctuates a lot but you also don’t want to trap the heat in as the sun is no joke.
-Homes don’t really have “yards” as space is more utilized with homes being built closer together and one in front of the other type of deal.
Driving – Left side of the road.
-Outlets – Type I plugs have three flat pins, with two angled to form an inverted ‘v’ at the top and one running straight down underneath
Australia – AUD – AU$
-Download Australian Eta App – apply for your Visa – 20AUD
-Opal Card – Sydney Transit – but you can also pay with credit card. Perks of Opal card is discount for seniors and it will tell you your transit history. The final total gets adjusted every few weeks.
-Credit Card over cash but cash is still accepted at majority of places.
-Credit card use in Sydney – If you are eating out on a weekend or a public holiday – there is an additional charge. There are also extra surcharges when using credit card.
-Tipping is not common
-Need to go up to the register to pay for meal
-You can scuba dive however it is called a Discovery Dive
-Driving – Left side of the road. you can go 5-10KM over speed limit but that’s about it. If driving on the highways, there are cameras that will calculate your average speed from point A & B so be careful and don’t speed!
– Insulation doesn’t really exist (double brick build with no insulation + metal roofs – great advantage to have solar panels) as the weather fluctuates a lot but you also don’t want to trap the heat in as the sun is no joke. You also won’t find basements here.
-Perth was a dry heat but no humidity.
-Hobart was cooler than I thought it would be but ranged from 8-25C.
-Sydney came in hot with humidity and high rises in the city.
-Outlets – Type I plugs have three flat pins, with two angled to form an inverted ‘v’ at the top and one running straight down underneath
Singapore – SGD – S$
–SGArrivalCard – free and can apply online 72 hours before arriving to Singapore.
-EZ Card – Metro card – max a day for rides is 2-3SGD – top up at convenience stores but only with CASH
-No Uber in Singapore – Download Grab or Gojek
-Credit card over cash (BUT cash for smaller food stalls/local vendors especially hawker stalls)
-Tipping is not common as (10% service charge + 7% GST is automatically included)
-Cheers! – Yum Seng!
-Outlets – Type G has three rectangular pins in a triangular pattern
Philippines – PHP – ₱
-Cash over card – credit card can be used in certain places but the infrastructure isn’t the best for it.
-Tipping – If you do decide to, between 50-100 pesos; high end – 200 pesos. If you are tipping a specific service provider, tip directly. 10% to Taxi drivers, restaurants (check if SC appears; if it does service charge is added), tour guides.
-Cheers! – Mabuhay!
-2 Prong outlets
Indonesia – IDR
-Visa – On arrival – $35USD
Use this QR code for faster customs
-Download Grab and/or Gojek – scooter rides will be cheaper and faster to get around if you are in a rush.
-Cash over card in smaller areas (local vendors/food stalls); in more touristy areas card is better.
-If bringing cash to do currency exchange with, USD & AUD will get you the best exchange rate. Trying to exchange smaller bills like $1-5, they will charge you a lower rate.
-Stay away from Semenyak as it’s over run by foreigners. Canggu (Chang-goo) is still the “hidden” spot and great surf spot. Ubud (oo-bood) is more central in the island and where yoga enthusiasts can retreat to.
-Outlets – Type C & Type F – 2 round pin prongs
-Use bottle water to drink and wash your teeth with as
Taiwan – TWD – NT$
-Easy Card – you can order online via Klook for Airport pick-up – you can add TWD on it as well, TWD400 for a week is a good start to gauge – must pick up before 11PM!
-Easy Card – Can also purchase card from any convenience stores but top up only with CASH. If you re using it strictly for transportation, 500TWD goes a long way. You can use your Easy Card to purchase things as well
-Uber is available
-You can also purchase via Klook a Train ticket from TPE Airport to Taipei Main Station for a discounted price – you can purchase one way or round trip – You will receive a purple plastic chip as your token to tap for the train – Must pick up before 11PM
-Bring cash – especially for many of the food establishments or LINE Pay or wechat
-Cash is still pretty necessary especially buying smaller items at stalls/ shops.
-Easy to withdraw money from ATM’s – we found we didn’t get charged foreign exchange fees. Take out money from local banks rather than international banks like the companies you have back home for a cheaper rate.
-Tipping is not common. Tour Guides – 10%.
-Cheers! 乾杯! (kan poe/pe!) 呼乾啦! (ho͘ ta là!)
-3 prong outlets
-Mix of squat and western toilets
-toilet paper goes into bins not the toilet
-Cars drive on the Right side of the road
-There are mosquitoes
Japan – JPN – Yen – ¥
-2 prong outlets
-Travel – Customs – When flight attendants are handing out papers on the plane, grab it. Ours were waving them very nonchalantly and then when we arrived, we had to go find them and fill it out on paper. There are QR codes but you might need to download the app. I had registered online before arriving however the website wouldn’t load at the airport.
-Haneda Airport is closer to the city than Narita. From the airport you can take the JR train into the city which is the cheaper option.
-You need your Passport on you if you are using the JR Pass OR at least a photocopy / digital copy including your visitor visa stamp
-Keeping your Passport on you while in Japan is great for Tourist discounts. Spending $50CAD or over for tax free.
-When purchasing items, it will show you the price before tax but also in brackets price with tax included.
-There are tons of smoking rooms/areas as people still smoke cigarettes.
-Garbages are hard to find – should not eat and walk around.
-It is rainy season in June & September – try to avoid these times to visit
-¥2000 isn’t taken in many machines outside of Okinawa
-Japan Travel by Navitime – Use the app to figure out train times although I found Google Maps to work better overall for navigation.
-JR Pass – If you are planning on purchasing a JR Pass, you should purchase before leaving your home country – maximum 3 months prior to your trip. It can only be purchased by non-Japanese citizens. You can purchase 7, 14 or 21 day passes. it takes a bit a time to get the passes delivered and must be activated within the 3 months. You can calculate the fares per trip and figure it out if the JR Pass is worth it for your travels. There are 2 versions of the JR Pass – Ordinary & Green Class Premium. Purchasing in Toronto, for pick-up or delivery – JTB & Kintetsu. I found Klook to the be the cheapest option. *As of October 2023 the price of the JR Pass will increase 77%*.
-Reserving JR Shinkansen seats – individual/group. You can reserve one of your tickets at the desk where you got it activated. Otherwise, you can goto the Shinkansen ticket machines and reserve seats there if you want to reserve. You will need to know your passport number every time you reserve a ticket. At the machine, press english then bottom left will say JR Pass Rail. Then it will ask how many ppl you are travelling with. Click how many – this saves you time from individually trying to book the same train if booking for multiple people. Just make sure you know your departure location and arrival location – it will try to auto fill. Choose a timeframe and search. Many options will appear. Choose your timeframe then you can choose the car type and even see the seat map if you are reserving. You can book in advanced as well.
-To use the JR lines/Shinkansen, you will need to insert your JR Pass into the gate. If you have reserved a seat, when you go through, put both your ticket and JR pass in together. The ticket for the ride will disappear after the ride is complete. REMEMBER TO GRAB YOUR JR PASS after going through the gate.
-If you do decide to take the shinkansen bullet trains, those are the only trains you can technically eat on. make sure to leave some time to explore the station and grab an ekiben (meals that you can take onto the train to eat and they are usually made to highlight local regional ingredients.
-There are plenty of luggage lockers at the train stations to store your luggage for the day or a few hours. Comes in S, M & L sizes.
-Suica / Pasmo Card – Can be used for transportation but also used to pay for other things – luggage lockers, convenience stores – top up with CASH only
-Public Transit – If you are buying individual tickets, look at the big map above the ticket machines and wherever the stop is that you want, there will be a number with it and that is the cost to get there
-Each station in Tokyo will have a letter and number indicated the stop. the number under it when you are on the train if you see 2,4,6 is the amount of time it will take to get to it. A plus is that the trains announce each stop in Japanese and English and sometimes Mandarin.
-Drive on the left side of car and road
-Can flush toilet paper
South Korea – KRW – WON – ₩
-Credit card can be used in majority of places however cash is key for markets and smaller food establishments as well as topping up your metro card
-Google Maps doesn’t really work in Korea – You will need to use/download Naver Maps
-Uber doesn’t really exist in Korea however you can download Kakao T.
-Cars drive on the right side
-Outlets are the 2 round prong
-Korea’s transportation system is good and offer fee Wi-Fi. The Metro system is the fastest and most affordable way to get around Seoul. Subway fares start at W1350/ride and rates go up after the first 9.97KM. You are allowed up to 4 transfer to another subway line or a bus for free within 30 minutes.
-T-Money card – W2500 and can add W1000, W5000 or W10,000 – can be used for trains & buses but also used for taxis across Korea. – If you don’t want to keep your T-Money card, you can get refunded for your card at Incheon International Airport when you leave the country. Top up at convenience stores/Metro stations but only with CASH
-Tipping is not common
-Cheers! – 건배 [乾杯] (geonbae)
Congrats, you’ve made it all the way to the itinerary. If you thought that info above was a lot then hold on to your seats as I’ve been told my actual itinerary is very overwhelming to look at.
Week 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6-7Week 8Week 9Week 10Week 11Week 12Week 13Week 14-158 Countries in 98 days
Woke up early yet again but this morning woke up to rain which sucks. We packed up and went down to the second floor for breakfast buffet before getting picked up by Sun Legend Tour to take us on our journey to Ha Long Bay. We booked the 2 day and 1 night tour for $143.45USD/pp.
4 hour car ride. First van shuttle to have free WIFI. One other couple – Wendy & Vincent from Malaysia joined the sticky rice crew. Luckily the weather turned out to be spectacular outside of Hanoi. Our tour guide is Kien who also runs a Hanoi biking tour with Sun Legend and is the poster boy for it. Driving here is crazy but makes sense. Some highways are two lanes with 60km/hr but people float on the lanes and just honk when they want to pass to let them know. Gasoline is expensive over here for them at 84 cents per litre.
We arrived in Tuan Chau a little early so we had a stop at a pearl store. Then we began our adventures to the cruise ship. They had civet coffee (weasel poo coffee) but it was almost $100 USD. We gathered our belongings and took to the dingy which brought us aboard our ship. I being the odd one out got my own room with a double memory foam bed. We got settled in and off we sailed into the pinnacle of Ha Long Bay. These giant islands are made of limestone and look like they just separated and kind of remind me of the 12 Apostles or Loch Ard Gorge in Australia.
We had lunch then went on our way to kayak Luon cave. Once again odd number, I got my own two person kayak and I killed the kayaking on my own. Cool experience gliding through a tunnel into a safe haven surrounded by the limestone with monkeys everywhere; very serene. The next best thing was that on this pier, there were guys playing their version of volleyball on the pier! Asian volleyball at it’s finest which Amy and myself joined for a point or two before we had to go back to the ship.
Next event was Ti Top Island with a lookout point which was named after the Russian man who gave Vietnam their first airplane which was a great thing but no one in Vietnam knew how to fly it. It was about 500 steps to reach the top of this island and it was steep enough to make all of us breathe hard. We were all glistening by the time we reached the top but the view was definitely worth it. We rushed back down and practically jumped into the water at the beach and of course there was a volleyball net so we were obligated to play but that ball was heavy and the court not on even grounds. 4×4 with sort of shooting method of play but obviously Adam owned it. One of the guys was trying to block him but he kept OT-ing him so he switched spots with me. We got back to the boat just in time for sunset and had happy hour time then dinner and squid fishing and karaoke.
Some information about Hanoi from Kien:
–7 million in Hanoi.
-Oldest bridge was built in 1901 but had to rebuild part of it due to the war.
-People don’t move out of Hanoi but tons of people come for university and never leave. They expanded to the other side of the red river to accommodate more people. The north is definitely had more wealth than the south from what I’ve seen. The people seem friendly here and not as judgy just a little.
-The old buildings with green and yellow colouring are old French buildings. I really love the architecture here even when it’s dingy looking but also quite clean and I absolutely love the marble flooring in some of the homes I’ve seen.
-The king moved the capital to Hanoi with 36 items and wanted to make it easier for everyone to purchase products such as copper to one street called copper street.
-Lifestyle – very flexible in terms of life, way of working, way of driving, way of eating etc. I the people here especially in Hanoi are hard working folk who may take their time like I’m sure I would in this kind of climate but nonetheless, working hard at their craft especially agriculturally. People’s homes are a combination home and shop front which makes it very homie everywhere.
-For beer – International Bia Hoi corner. The tour guide likes to go there as local girls don’t drink beer at any other beer halls except there because it’s a mix of locals and foreigners there.
-People aren’t suppose to occupy the pavement as that breaks the law and only use it for walking so a coffee shop owner would need to goto the police officer and ask for space on the pavement and the police are flexible and bribe them with free coffee and money. They can bargain.
-54 ethnicities but 80% Vietnamese.
Some knowledge of coffee for Hanoi & Vietnam:
-Coffee here is very strong; stronger than the south.
-For different seasons in Hanoi. So they automatically offer you coffee with ice there but have options in Hanoi for hot coffee and coffee with ice. People drink coffee for new ideas. Coffee for the inspiration.
-Coffee with yogurt
-Coffee with egg
-Trung Nguyen is the most popular brands.
Rainy morning in Hanoi
Hustling
Enroute through Hai Phong to Tuan Chau
Ha Long Bay
My room for the night
Kayaking Luon Hang Caves
Want to come Ha Long for a ride Bay?
Volleyball on the Pier
Ti Top Island
Sunset in Ha Long Bay
111015
Awoke at 530AM to watch the sunrise which at 530 looked like nothing and it was cloudy. I returned to my room but then outside my window, I saw a gleam of light around 6-630AM which was primetime for beautiful morning light. Everyone skipped yoga and taichi. We had breakfast then went to Sung Sot cave which is one of the 7 wonders of nature as this island has limestone tunnels inside into another world practically. They used this cave during the American war to hide from invading soldiers and to hide weapons and it’s interior is massive. It somewhat looks like that secret new world they found in Vietnam that has it’s own ecosystem. Back to the boat where we packed and made spring rolls and had lunch before heading back to Hanoi.
We checked back into our original hotel but in a 5 person suite which is actually pretty nice minus the fact there is one bathroom with low water pressure. Since Adam, Amy and myself are going to be on the move from Luang Prabang straight to Pakse straight into a jungle then off to Siem Reap, we needed to wash our clothes so we used body gel and hand washed them in the sink. Luckily there was 18 hangers in the closet in the hotel room. There is a ledge where the ceiling lowers slightly which came in handy to hang the hangers to air dry all our clothing which reminds us of an open market selling clothing.
For dinner, we walked over to a Quan An Ngon – 18 Phan Dinh Phung – which was a slightly higher end version of street meats but better service. We ordered a bunch of items to share including: ben cha, pho, ben thang, seafood /springroll, mango salad, green onions with garlic, fresh spring rolls, some type of fish thing. Everything tasted great, service was great and the place was booming and clean that we got seated upstairs. From there, we walked back over toward the pond Ho Hoan Kiem and made our way to Highland Coffee to check out the view and buy coffee. Unfortunately the smallest bag of beans they had was a size of a baby so I opted to go outside just around the corner to Trung Nguyen (coffee chain) and purchased a bag of espresso beans for 140.000VND. We walked around looking for dessert so we ended up walking back into the direction of the dessert place we went to 2 nights previously and had more dessert there. 95 Hang Bac. We arrived home shortly after and said our final goodbyes to Emily and James.
We booked a private Mekong Delta tour with with Mekong Delta Tourism – TNK Travel. $50USD – 6AM pick up then off to Cai Be after an hour of delays waiting for the 15 in total group we had. The group of 4-5 from the Phillipines slept in and made us wait 30 minutes before we left them behind but then they caught a ride to catch up to our van as we collected the others on this tour. We stopped by Minh Tri for a rest break where we shared a bowl of pho and I got a banana shake – 30.000VND. Mr Thang was our tour guide who learnt english off of youtube and western television shows.
Facts aboutMekong Delta / Vietnam as told by Mr Thang:
-Mekong delta was actually owned by Funan under control by the Khmer people but Vietnamese people occupied areas around the delta and expanded the country which is long and skinny country like Chile.
-40% of people are named Nguyen.
-Ho Chi Minh freed people against Japanese communist and Americans thus the name change from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh. Uncle Ho – father.
-Saigon wasn’t the actual name but over time it was named Saigon because people couldn’t pronounce the original name.
-It was under control of a French colony thus explaining the architecture especially in and around the flower district.
-Since 1976, an election is held but there is always one winner because there is only one group that runs.
-Hanoi (Northern Vietnam) looks more oriental as Saigon (Southern Vietnam) looks more western because of French and American invasion / influence.
-Vietnam – means strong country in the south because China is the central capitol of Asia.
-There are 11 million people in Saigon and chinatown here spanned multiple generations mainly from Canton and Fukien so they speak Cantonese. Near district 8. Government built government housing where they turned the slums into new housing and built a highway. Some still live in shacks though.
-In Vietnam, government offices and elementary school are closed weekends but university and high school run on weekends.
-Many don’t have drivers licenses but if they get pulled over, they just pay them off with money (200.000-500.000VND).
-Mekong delta is flat so they plant rice. They can plant 3 harvests per year. It’s fruit and seafood are the main exports. 75% work in agriculture. May to October rainy season
-The Mekong Delta is known as the river of nine dragons with nine different branches as the legend told them the Dragon is God of river. But they mistook a crocodile as a Dragon. Cuu lung.
-In the delta, they bury people in the middle of rice paddies (above ground on pedestals) as the water levels rise so when it’s risen, they either put the dead people in plastic bags and hang them in trees or attach rocks to sink.
-Students in Mekong cross the river by going into plastic bags and pulling themselves across. But overtime, this gets difficult and many leave school early (grade 8-10) and work instead.
-The floating market isn’t regulated. You just need a boat license and government doesn’t care what you sell. They start their business at 4AM and finish around 2PM. They don’t gather together and are all their own business.They are only closed the days during lunar New year. They advertise their products by hanging them on nearby trees. Most of the people who sell on the market live far away from conventional markets and are poor. They also go by lunar calendar so depending on the days, big events cannot happen such as funerals or weddings.
-They also follow zodiac signs so a pig and snake can’t marry as the snake wool eat the pig.
Ok, back to our trip. We drove past through the town of Tan An which overlooks flat rice fields where our first destination was Cai Be. From Cai Be, we boarded a tour boat that fits all 15 of us and motored down the Mekong Delta to a facility that makes crispy rice snacks and coconut candy. It’s an interesting experience seeing it made as they use black sand in a giant wok, use the rice husks for fire and then through rice into the sand and mix quickly then they sieve the husks from the popped rice. They also created some version of rice crispy treats. We also got to see a local painter paint, watch them make rice paper which is pretty cool. They take rice flour and water and cook it on a drum and pulling off the paper with bamboo. They can make a crispy version of this using rice flour and throwing in coconut milk, coconut shards and sesame if you like (which is so delicious!) We also had a shot of banana liquor but we could have also tried snake scrotum shot but didn’t. I feel like this tour is very scripted but I also know this is what happens when you want a “cultural” tour.
Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
Making popped rice crispies
coconut candies
making rice paper
banana liquor
painter
We hopped back on the boat and went over to Tan Phong Island where we sat and enjoyed the stylings of Vietnamese singing. I definitely prefer chinese opera over theirs.. we have a little more flair and high pitched emotion. From there, we took he boat over to Rustic Mekong where we did a “cooking” class. We were all given tasks to cut up / shred carrots, sweet potato, papaya etc which resulted in us making our own fried spring rolls and papaya salad. The meal was accompanied by fried elephant fish (a little meatier fish) which they a also took some of the meat and made spring rolls and also hot pot. After we filled our gullets, we hit the trails with our bikes (bamboo rice field hat optional and off we went. It was a fun ride although narrow paths and not so fast bikers in front made it difficult but also the fact my bike seat wouldn’t adjust and part way through my chain just wouldn’t pull (local men came up to me with a tile and just kept hitting then kicking it until it worked). Another girl was having difficulties because she was riding on a flat tire. One final activity to do: cruise the upper Mekong Delta through small canals with ladies paddling us through in 4 seater boats. I gotta admit my time here, I take for granted all that Toronto has to offer and for the same position at home, we get paid at least quadruple the price for these things.
Since we had a late start, we got stuck in rush hour traffic and even at one point got pulled over by police. I think we had to pay but Mr Thang showed the cop the papers in english and asked him to read it (which he couldn’t) and we were on our way. Got back around 6PM and just relaxed a bit before heading back out for dinner. We decided we wanted pho (In Vietnam why not!) and went around Ben Thanh to Pho 2000 (1 – 3, Phan Chu Trinh, Phường Bến Thành, Quận 1) which Bill Clinton visited back in 2000. 3 regular pho + 3 shakes cost 327.000VND. It was a better soup broth than previous day at Pho Hoa Pasteur. I ordered a sapodilla shake. Sapodilla looks like a coconut mango hybrid but has a banana-ish taste to it but its a tropical fruit and it was delicious. It was a Saturday and the streets were booming with the weekend market and people. The main area we were in the previous day became a pedestrian and motorbike only area and the foundations lit up with people selling trinkets everywhere reminded me of the gypsies in Europe. We went through the night market and kept getting pressured to buy stuff obviously. Similar to HK ladies market and all other night markets I always find myself never wanting to be hassled and buying stuff plus Im horrible at bargaining. Some of the stall markup like crazy and their asking price is still relatively cheap in USD but to the standards of SEA, since they are made there for .50USD you bargain the hell out of it. The best part of the day is showering. Also note that common products such as contact solution and cases were no where to be found so bring from home!
HCM is a relatively clean city as there are people cleaning the streets constantly. In the central part, it’s present that there is security police patrol. It’s always congested with motorbikes, cars, trucks and bicycles everywhere. There are a few traffic lights but not all pay attention to it. The waterfront that we were nearby in district 1 is actually being developed and mass production of more condos and land is being made so district 1 will be no longer exist in a decade. People are relatively nice but one again, we stayed and walked around very touristy areas so the image is skewed. Tons of food carts just setup on side of roads with little stools and food is produced. Males can be topless but women are suppose to be covered. Tank tops aren’t really seen around on women. I’m unsure if I’m feeling stares because I’m wearing tank tops or because of my physique. I am more toned/fit and taller than the men in HCM. Flip flop fashion is on point here as everyone in the city wears them for everything including riding their motorcycles.
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