Day 2: Cruising Along Mekong Delta

Breakfast in Vietnam is typically
a baguette with toppings of your choice

We were off to an early start on our second day. We signed up for the group tour for Mekong Delta through our hostel and the bus was going to pick us up at the hostel at 7:45AM.

There are pros and cons to joining guided group tours. One disadvantage is being forced to stop at places that do not merit your interest or attention. On the other hand, a guided tour allows you to relax in the company of fellow tourists. Further, your itinerary and transportation are taken care of. As it turned out, joining a guided group tour was a wise decision. The jump-off point for Mekong Delta River was in My Tho, which is more than an hour’s ride from Saigon. Then you have to rent a boat to cruise through the river. Did I mention language is a bit of a barrier? If you’re a first-time tourist in Saigon, better take the guided group tour and see if you want to wander off on your own the next time.

Boats of trade in Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta River flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.  The river water is brown, probably from siltation, and plays an important role in the trade and commerce of the countries and the livelihood of its inhabitants.

There were a couple of stops during the tour: a bee farm where I tasted the most delicious honey tea, a coconut candy factory, and a fruit-tasting place where we were also serenaded by traditional Vietnamese music. We also stopped for lunch (included in the tour package).

The chocoholic on a paddle cruise!

The highlight of the tour – well, at least for me – was riding a small paddle boat and cruising through the narrow river channels. It was an exciting experience! When I stepped into the paddle boat, I was so sure the boat would topple and we’d all fall into the water. I held on to my dear Hunter. (I baptized my camera Hunter. Yes, I name my stuff.) But the paddlers have mastered the art of balance and even if there were occasional boat-to-boat bumps, the paddlers deftly used the paddle and we coasted on the calm, brown waters gracefully. I was a happy kid on a sunny afternoon. 

Next: Day3 & Day 7: Riding the Reunification Express Train to Hanoi and Back

Vietnam: Into the Motorcycle Capital of the World

A couple of bloggers and travelers have named Vietnam as the motorcycle capital of the world. And I acquiesce. At least for the major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), the moniker does give justice to the hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes that rumble into the streets each day, sending locals and tourists a run for their lives. You cannot go to Vietnam and sashay like a ramp model. Of course, that wasn’t the impression running through my head in the pre-Vietnam days. Vietnam for me, meant coffee, French colony, and the UNESCO World Heritage site, Halong Bay.

We touched down at Tan Son Nhat International Airport at an ungodly hour. Our flight was delayed for more than an hour, pushing our 12:20 AM arrival further into the wee hours of the morning. The airport was almost deserted, save for a few sleepy personnel. We took a cab ($20) and went straight to our hostel in Pham Ngu Lao Ward in District 1. Fortunately, the taxi driver knew where the hostel was exactly located. The city was asleep too except for a couple of bars that were still open. I thought Saigon was a nice, quiet little city – until we slept and woke up the next day.

Saigon literally roars to life everyday with the motorcycles. One of the local tour guides told us that with the exception of children and old people, everyone owns a motorcycle in Vietnam. They outnumber the taxis, private cars, and buses and goodness, they run alongside these bigger modes of transport as if they were the same size!    

In Vietnam, a motorcycle driver is the king of the road -- even at rest.

So it wasn’t the quiet city I initially expected it to be, but it is a nice city. Their coffee exceeded my expectations and is incredibly delish. Something about the way they prepare the coffee or their water or their milk makes it really special. I brought home coffee from Vietnam and tried to make a cup as tasty but it is not quite the same. This is something you really have to try for yourself.

Trung Nguyen is one of Vietnam's homegrown coffee. (the chocoholic's favorite)

The French colony influence did not disappoint either. Vietnam has beautiful architectural structures. What I also admire is that they seem to be hell-bent in documenting their history, as evidenced by the number of museums they have. Sometimes, their museums overlap each other in some aspects. Nevertheless, it’s a conscious effort towards preserving their history and culture.

I will talk about Halong Bay in a separate post, as I am about to break down our backpacking trip per day. Because I really wanted to visit Halong Bay, which is in Hanoi (north) and still cross over to Cambodia (we are quite the ambitious first-time backpackers), we had to plan our itinerary really well. Although we ticked off a few items during the actual trip, we pretty much followed the itinerary we set for ourselves. Here’s a quick overview of our itinerary:

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) City Tour

Day 2: Cruising Along Mekong Delta

Day 3 & Day 7: Riding the Reunification Express Train to Hanoi and Back
Day 4: Exploring the Old Quarter Streets and Watching the Water Puppet Show

Day 5: Halong Bay in a Day

Day 6: Up Close with Vietnam's Patriarch

Day 8:  The Epic 40++ Traveling Hours for the Love of Cambodia

Day 9: Apsara Dancing and Shopping at the Angkor Night Market

Day 10: Visiting Angkor and Presenting... The Happy Pizza

Day 11: Why You Should Start Your Angkor Experience at the National Museum

Day 12: Getting Into A Little Trouble at Ben Thanh Market

Day 13: Exploring the Cu Chi Tunnels

And so begins our journey.   

Next: Day 1: Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) City Tour

How We Almost Didn’t Make It To Vietnam

The chocoholic's backpack

No journey is ever complete without a few bumps along the way. The first bump of our first backpacking trip came right at the beginning when we missed our flight to Vietnam.

No, we weren’t late for our flight. In fact, we were already at the Mactan Cebu International Airport two hours before our 6:15 PM flight to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), where we’re supposed to take a 10:50 PM connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh. Between the 7:30PM estimated arrival time in NAIA and let’s say, the estimated boarding time of 10:20 PM, we had more than two hours of layover. We even checked in online so we can avoid the long counter lines. Besides, we took the term backpacking literally to heart and we carried one backpack and a smaller handbag each so no check-in baggages and more mobility for us. We were more than confident we’d catch the flight. The one thing we forgot: to factor in the moody, often tempestuous weather that the rainy season brings. June is, after all, the start of that season.

Our flight to Manila was delayed for about an hour. By the time the plane took off, I was very anxious. We’re going to have to make a run for the international airport as soon as we touchdown. The flight was a little turbulent – something I’m quite used to. I was a little relieved when I started seeing the buildings as we were about to land although I noticed the plane was shaking from the turbulence a little more than the usual. Like what I normally do before landing, I closed my eyes and waited for the landing thud. Instead, the plane accelerated, turned its nose upwards, and flew steeply back into the air. I quickly turned to my travel buddy with horrified eyes. It didn’t help that the week before the flight, the airline hit headlines when one of their planes overshot a runway in Davao airport. I recalled one passenger’s testimony of his experience. How convenient. Times like that, you NEVER want to remember things that can only aggravate your already frazzled nerves. Not one passenger said a word but we were looking at each other with meaningful expressions. We really thought we were in trouble.

Then the PA system cackled to life, breaking the uncomfortable silence and the captain explained that he had to abort landing due to zero visibility. Phew. He said he’d try to land the plane again but while we’re still circling the skies, he received a different order: all flights are to be diverted to Clark. Uh-oh. I told my travel buddy Maan we could get off in Clark and spend our dollars in Subic if everything else fails. Of course, that was just a joke in an attempt to lighten the situation. But deep inside, I was fighting my dwindling hopes. We landed in Clark safely and smoothly. Thank God, we’re alive! But we were stuck there, in our seats, inside the plane for 3 hours. At around 1AM, the plane received clearance to go back to NAIA.

By the time we arrived in NAIA, our plane to Saigon already left. The Cebu Pacific crew offered to put us and several passengers in the next flight and even extended their hospitality by graciously booking us in a nice hotel with free breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next day before being shuttled back to the airport to take our rescheduled flight.  The rescheduled flight would have sufficed but hey, the free accommodation, shuttle, and meals did not hurt one bit either. In fact, the gesture was truly appreciated.

After all the paperwork was completed, we were shuttled to St. Giles Hotel in Makati. After assuring our parents we were safe, we finally slept at 4AM. What.A.Night! Despite hitting an unexpected snag in our plans, I am still extremely grateful that I lived – to tell the story and to write it.  

Next: Vietnam: Into the Motorcycle Capital of theWorld

Asian Backpacking Chronicles: Vietnam and Cambodia

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Travel is love, but I never wrote “go backpacking” in my bucket list, mostly because I had vague ideas about it. I've always associated backpacking with mountain or rock climbing – what with those huge, towering bags that could carry an entire wardrobe. And I’m a self-confessed introvert with very little to no interest in sports or anything that requires physical agility. I have a poor sense of direction and awkward balance. So with utmost certainty, I’ve concluded backpacking is not meant for me. That is, until I watched a documentary by Sandra Aguinaldo on her Vietnam and Cambodia backpacking trip.

Aside from dispelling the myth that it is similar to mountain or rock climbing, backpacking didn’t seem such a bad idea after all. If anything, it sounded exciting, fun, and challenging. Traveling on a low budget with a backpack in tow sounded physically exhausting too but the thrill of novelty, the promise of adventure, and the potential of spawning great tales and stories far outweighed my apprehensions. This was a life experience I couldn’t miss.  

I couldn’t stop yakking about it until I convinced myself and a few friends to follow suit and travel by backpack to Vietnam and Cambodia. Quite the ambitious travelers, we set plans for a two-week backpacking adventure for June 2013. This was around October last year. The universe cooperated in this pursuit because the day after we agreed on the travel dates, Cebu Pacific announced a seat sale. It is on, baby! :)

So, for my next blog posts (yeah, I figured there’d be more than one), I will write about the Viet-Cam experience – the quirks, the little misadventures (we almost didn’tmake it!), the joys of first-time backpackers, and everything in between. 

7 Milestones That Made My 2012 Awesome

 

I don’t typically do a countdown of sorts to welcome the New Year. Recently, however, I came across an interesting school of thought called The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. Watch his Ted talk here. Witty presentation and entertaining as hell, too.

According to Achor, we have a twisted view of happiness and success. Our brains are wired to think that if we work harder, we become more successful. The more successful we get, the happier we become. That is our current formula for success and happiness. After years of research, what he found out is that our brains work in reverse! When we train our brains to be positive, we are more productive, more resilient, and yes, more successful.

So what does this have to do with me? (or you, for that matter) Well, what this simply means is that we underestimate the power of positive thinking. Note that the operative word is train, which involves a conscious, wilful effort towards achieving it. One of the strategies Achor highlights to start creating the ripple of positivity is to list down the things you are grateful for every single day. And this is how I want to start the year – light, positive, and just plain thankful for the awesome year that was.

On average, one year gives us probably around a hundred noteworthy experiences – good and bad, pleasant or otherwise. I have narrowed mine to seven. And since my goal for this post is to be as positive as I can, here are the seven best experiences that made my year awesome and memorable in different ways.

Swimming with the whale sharks in Oslob. Oslob is a quiet town in the southern part of the Cebu province. Well, it used to be quiet until word got around that whale sharks (butanding, in the local language) were spotted in the beaches. Oslob became a sensation. Everyone wanted to go there to see the whale sharks, including yours truly. So several of my work colleagues and I packed our swimming gear, cramped ourselves in a rented multicab, and drove around 2 hours to Oslob. And it was beautiful. Just like a lot of Cebu towns, it was rich in cultural heritage. The whale sharks did not disappoint, either. The experience was breathtaking and a little scary – swimming just meters away from live creatures bigger than you with nothing between you and them but just water. And those mouths! Oh my god, I think if they really wanted to, they could suck you right into their mouths. I had this irrational fear that they would gleefully chomp down my legs, but thank God, it never crossed their minds. As we were leaving, my heart sank when I saw chips of paint on their mouths from bumping into the boats. I just wish there was a better way of taking care of them. We drove back to the city that afternoon and as we were driving along the south road properties area – as if on cue, fireworks lit up the sky. Amazing. Seeing the colours engulf the black night in smoke and light. That would have been a perfect ending to a beautiful day. Until the engine of the multicab conked and wouldn’t start. Epic fail. We were stuck for about an hour until help came along. Nevertheless, it was a great day and we had a pretty good laugh about it.

Writing my bucket list. A bucket list is simply a list of things you want to do or experience before you die. I never thought I’d make one for myself. But the whale shark encounter in Oslob really inspired me, along with the realization that the clock is ticking and there are so many things I still wanted to do, experience, or make out of this life. Some of them reasonable. Some of them just plain crazy. But who cares, right? My life, my rules. I once wrote a post on the difference between existing and living. Writing my bucket list made me look into my own heart and define for myself the kind of life I want to live. My bucket list is my personal manifesto, a promise to myself to not waste this life, and a declaration to live out my dreams. You see, life is so random that I want to put a little more deliberate-ness into this random-ness. I don’t know if it makes sense to you but it does to me. And strange as it may sound, I have a really good feeling that going after each item in my list will teach me a thing or two about life and living. So I am quite the excited little kid. And the world is my playground.

Learning how to drive. I wanted to learn how to drive for a number of reasons, the most ridiculous of which is getting another valid, government-issued ID in the form of a driver’s license. On a more serious note, I wanted to learn how to drive so I don’t have to keep asking my brother or my father to drive me to where I want to go. Also, one of my items on my bucket list involves driving so learning to drive is simply a means to an end, not the end itself. Anyway, I took driving lessons last year and learned the basics. A little more practice and mastery should do the trick. So for now, it’s a work in progress.

Taking up a crash course on film. The last time I dabbled in film was during my college years for my thesis. I love watching films. Creating one is a different story though and requires a lot of patience and hard work. The filmmaking course was offered on a scholarship. I got in, attended the classes, and produced a 5-minute film about Mega Cebu.

Auditioning for a musical play. Another item in my bucket list. The thing with a bucket list is that once you put each item into writing (and does not remain as some vague idea in your head), you have signified your commitment to doing everything your power to make it happen. If you are gunning for a life with no regrets, this commitment might be the extra push you need to keep going despite the frailty of your convictions. When I woke up in the morning of the audition day, I wanted to get sick. My feet were cold and it felt as if I drank a dozen cups of coffee. I was nervous and jittery all over. My heart was in my throat and my mind flew somewhere else. Anyway, to make the long story short, I walked into that audition and went as far as the final casting audition. I’d have to say I enjoyed going through the process. It was all very new and exciting to me. In the end, I didn’t make it to the play but I have ABSOLUTELY no regrets. Well, until next time then. J

Traveling to Shenzhen, China. In 2011, I traveled to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Davao. I thought for 2012, I’d lie low and save for a major trip in 2013. But I guess I got lucky. Our team decided to hold our teambuilding exercises in Shenzhen, China. I always feel ecstatic when I travel. And who doesn’t? It’s an adventure, a trip outside of your comfort zone. It means meeting new people and immersing yourself in a new culture and a new way of life. Geography can be very limiting. Yes, I am referring to the physical boundaries that separate nations, cities, and towns. Traveling gives you the opportunity to look at life in a different lens. It liberates you from your own narcissism and ignorance. Plus, you get to learn about yourself or the people you’re traveling with.

Getting inked. Safe to say, I did not end my year with a bang. It was more like bzzzzzzt. A buzzing sound like that of a bee, except that it came from an electronic needle that stung my flesh over and over again. Getting a tattoo is an item on my bucket list. People have asked me why the hell I wanted to undergo such torture. I guess it’s my own way of testing my limits; in this case, my tolerance for pain. Tattoo, check!

The bar has just been raised and 2013 is going to be a tougher year – because playing it safe in the status quo is a dangerous thing. I hope my 2013 will be bold, risky, and adventurous – in a positive way. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself here. I’m taking it easy, one milestone at a time. I super love what one of my favourite writers, Jeff Goins, says: "Some of the best things in life cannot be planned. They can only be enjoyed. So go. Live. Be surprised."