Ho Chi Minh City: A Sleepless Arrival and Unique Landmarks, Saigon/HoChiMinh City, Vietnam

It was simply too loud. Why was it so loud? The screeching voices from the driver’s mobile phone were making me regret my choice of transportation from the airport to my hotel. Voices in expressive and quick Vietnamese, that I couldn’t understand, tiring my brain, which still unconsciously tries to decipher any heard sounds. I didn’t need the additional energy depletion. I was sitting on the minibus, sweaty and sleep-deprived, with no information on when it would depart. I had paid for the ticket with the leftover dongs from my first time in Asia - I had been to Vietnam just about a year before, a trip that made me seriously consider the adventure I had just embarked on. I wanted to use public transport as much as possible and thought using the minibus service was going to be a good idea. Why did I think this? Not sure. But after waiting for almost one hour, it looked pointless to go for a Grab ride. Or was it? I asked the lady selling the tickets how much longer. She typed in Google Translate. Just 15 minutes more. Okay.

Looking back, I should have just got a Grab car. If you’re not familiar, Grab is an Uber-like app, that allows you to hail a driver from your phone, and definitely makes travelling in most parts of South East Asia easier - a great way to avoid being scammed (or at least reduce such risk), avoid misunderstandings, and it’s all done through the app, you barely need to speak to the driver, and you can pay by card too. It was late at night, I had just landed from a very long journey. The mini-bus left me at the wrong stop, and I had to walk for longer than expected. At night. In a new, unknown city. With my backpack. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).