Ho Chi Minh to Vung Tau

I am about to leave my room, get a grab car to the ferry office at Bach Dang Wharf to buy a ticket to Vung Tau today … I feel apprehensive … I don’t know why. Hopefully this anxiety stops kicking in whenever I am doing something new 😀

Ok so I am in the grab car, managed to get my bag down stairs, managed to pay the hotel owner remaining money, managed to get a grab … lovely and cool in the grab … so far so good 😀

Well that was easy … I just rocked up and bought my ticket 320000 vnd just under $20 aud. Had time to have some bacon eggs bread and salad - cost double what I have been paying at 73000 vnd $4.46 aud but it did include a plate, knife and fork and napkins …. Which have been rare where I have been eating. Another plus was that it was very yummy 😀

A bit of rubbish floating in the water but a lot of it does seem to be vegetation.

So it is 15 minutes till the ferry leaves and I am just sitting here watching people to see when and where to go. There is a few boats … I hope I don’t miss it. Some people have luggage … surely they are getting on.

Ok they announced it, in Vietnamese of course, but people came running. Now on board … comfy and lovely aircon … I must stop stressing 😆

The windows are not very clean … but you get the idea.

This must be where the other half live … or maybe just the privileged few. Shortly after this we passed what looked like a French colonial area … that looked very flash. I will have to investigate where that might be.

The river is very wide and busy … plenty to see. The boat is humming along too. I believe that it is a 2 hour trip.

Well the ferry trip was lovely … even met a kiwi guy who went to Whangarei Boys High on the boat. The sea got a little choppy as we entered the South China Sea and the hostess told us to go inside and sit down but it was nothing really … could not have had a more perfect day. The trip ended up being 2 hrs 15 minutes.

It was a different story once I got here. The grab driver could not find where I was staying and he got angry. After much drama and him knowing better than me he finally let me give him directions off my phone. Was all good in the end.

After settling in my room at Huong Homestay I rested for a while but knew that I needed to find a shop as I did not even have any water let alone other supplies 😎.

I walked to a local supermarket but it really didn’t have what I needed except for water which I purchased for my ongoing trip.

I decided to get a Grab bike ride back into the city to go to lotte mart which is a mega type store that seems to have a good variety of things. Anyway I don’t know what it is with these grab drivers or maybe it is an app thing but they always seem to be waiting for me somewhere other than where I am … and I feel that I am waiting in a perfectly good pickupable location. Finally he picks me up and we go on a crazy trip into the city, as by this time it is now rush hour. There is nowhere for me to hold on and I dare not hold his shoulders, as the lovely Francis advised me when I was on the motorbike food tour. Anyway I felt vulnerable and unsafe especially as I was wearing shorts, tshirt and thongs. There is something about clothing that really makes you feel protected but really it will not make a lot of difference if I hit the road.

Anyway I made it to lotte mart and promised myself that I would get a grab car back and not endure the motorbike again.

Shopping at lotte was good … I got some good steps in checking everything out.

Coming home grab did not recognise the address I needed to go to … I could see the same issues happening again.

Low on phone charge I decided to take the offer of a taxi to take me home for 60000 vnd. He was very unconfident after I booked him, plus no English, and put the meter on … long story short cost me 180000 vnd … three times the original quote.

Like whatever, I am already over staying at this Homestay with the obscure address. I am thinking about leaving and just losing my money to go and stay somewhere more central … lesson learned … I will wait until tomorrow to make a decision about leaving.

I am not very good at budget travelling … every day I seem to make mistakes and over spend … I obviously need to practise more 😀