February 22, 2018
Rest day in Ha Tien and some final thoughts on Vietnam
Unfortunately my time in Ha Tien was as displeasing as the ride getting there. I wish I could say something nicer about the Viet Toan Guesthouse as I couldn´t have put myself into more hospitable hands than Puks. He was looking after me all the time without hassling me, I hardly ever met such a nice and genuinely friendly young man. He got me cold drinks, mosquito repellent, did look after my washing, showed me around town etc. etc. On the other hand they accepted large groups of late arriving Vietnamese teenagers who turned the hotel into a bloody discotheque. Both nights. I would have left after the first one but I had booked myself in for two as I had heard rather positive comments on Ha Tien and therefore left some necessary chores like getting my clothes washed and sending some of my warmer clothes down to New Zealand as I will certainly will not need them down here anymore. And the latter one is actually what spoilt my mood to an extent that I am still surprised about myself.
I asked Puk whether we could go to the Post Office before doing some sightseeing which was obviously no problem with him. So I spent an hour in the morning to sort and repack my gear before we made it over there. When he explained to the Vietnam Post lady what my simple request was - sending some used clothing of no real value - she gave me SIXTEEN forms. Eight different ones, two copies each. It took me almost an hour filling them out and when I returned to the counter she declared one after the other to be incorrect. Another 30 minutes later I went back with the rectified forms, only to be told half of them were still deficient. I possibly would have taken it one more time but what really p..... me off was the fact that she used some sort of translation software and wanted me to write "sandals and pimpers" for a pair of thongs. I tried to tell her those CN 22/23 forms were meant to make sense in the receiving country but she became very upset and in the end I left taking my bags home and rearranging my luggage for a second time. All this cost me more than half of the day and as I strongly believe I was not only right but very moderate explaining my point of view, I got even more upset....
So now as you know how I spent/wasted my day off, I wish to use this last post from Vietnam trying to share some of my experiences :
Traffic
I mentioned this a few times before. The sheer amount of scooters and other motorized traffic out there is unbelievable. They all go fast and will let you know they are coming by using their horn. No matter whether they are coming from behind, from the front or from the sides. And they are coming from all those directions. No aggression involved but they feel entitled to keep rolling. This does work if you are prepared not to insist on your right of way. I found that very dificult initially but believe I managed rather well. All the same - not one releaxed minute on Vietnamese roads! I felt quite exhausted every night due to the corresponding noise level and the attention I had to pay all day long.
Money
The only accepted currency (different to Cambodia and Laos) is the Vietnamese Dong at an approx. exchange rate of 22500 d for 1 US$ //28000 d for 1 €. I had learnt from a fellow traveller in Phnom Penh the ACB (Asia Commercial Bank) would not charge any extra fees on withdrawals using Vietnamese and European visa cards. That´s correct and well worth looking out for their ATMs as the other banks are said to charge between 30000 and 60000 dong per transaction. The maximum amount I could withdraw at a time was 3.000.000 dong (108 €) but that takes you a long way in Vietnam.
Food/ Drinks
My major problem in Vietnam was to find a cold drink while cycling. Only very few shops do have refrigerators but I developed some routine to spot them. Gives you some distraction from the madness on the roads too..... Prices did vary immensely though and I have to say I didn´t have the same confidence in the shop owners honesty as in Thailand i.e. The problem I experienced was if I gave 20000 a lot of them would automatically declare that as what I was prepared to pay. The following discussions were always difficult due to the very poor standard of English being spoken. My way to deal with it: A large 1.5 l bottle of water should be 10000 dong and that´s what I handed over. If they got upset and would ask for 2000 more I would pay that but no more.
Small bottles of water should be anything between 5000 - 7000. Soft drinks like coke or the isotonic Revive were almost everywhere 10000.
A coffee (hot or iced) varied even more. I paid between 5000 and 14000 without feeling cheated, it just seemed to depend on the location of the Ca Phe in particular. No different to home.
If you like a cold beer at the end of the day you might do it like me. Any accommodation I stayed at had a fridge and while I do prefer bottles the little freezing compartment would cool cans down much faster, 30 minutes in general. My favourite beer was the "333" and a can in a shop would come for 10000 - 12000dong. The Vietnamese do cool their beer by throwing ice cubes into the glass. Completely unaceptable to me that´s why I never drank beer away from my hotel/guesthouse.
Accommodation (Khach San, Nha Nghi)
I was very happy with the price-value ratio in Vietnam. I paid anything between 180000 - 400000 dong (6.50 - 14.50 €) but always had a fairly spacious room with aircon, fridges and mostly balconies.
I will add if I can think about anhthing else later.....
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I'm so sorry you had bad nights at Viet Toan Hotel. I guess it was probably due to Tet.
We lugged our warm clothes all the way to Thailand to mail back home. I completely trust Thai post offices and have always found the people there to be nice and the procedure efficient. My experience in Asia of mailing packages home has been disastrous from any country other than Thailand. Nothing has ever made it home from other countries but every package I've ever mailed from Thailand, dating back to 1974, has made it.
And buying water in Vietnam.... The first Vietnamese words we learned were 'how much' - Bao neo? We found that if you ask how much in their own language they don't know if you know Vietnamese and are therefore honest. But we also always tried to give them exact change as well. I think this might have helped us have no problems.
Thank you for your wonderful journal. We are enjoying it immensely.
6 years ago