Day 174 - Prague to Rome

The days in Prague got progressively colder each day we were in the city, and today was the coldest it got, reaching below zero in the morning, probably due to the stronger winds in the area. It was a good thing though, since I had way too much clothes to pack, so I wore 5 layers of clothing to save some space. We were taking Wizzair from Prague to Rome, and with discount airlines, you didn't want to mispack and risk having to pay some ridiculous charge for excess baggage.

The Prague airline was clean and organized compared to Rome's Da Vinci airport, which was danky and old, similar to LAX back at home. Check in and security checks were quick and painless. The flight was a little less than 2 hours, with clear skies and a smooth ride.

We arrived in Rome around 5pm and it was already dark. We took a shuttle bus to the city center at the Termini Station. It took over an hour since it was Friday and there was a ton of traffic, or maybe it's always like that in Rome? I read in my Lonely Planet that much of the pollution in the country is caused by the excess number of vehicles on the road. The traffic was chaotic too, since there weren't any lane divisions and cars just sort of tried to fit through any opening to get closer to their destination. Cars also just parked adjacent to a parked car with their emergency lights on, causing further gridlock on the streets at night.

We checked into our hotel, but I didn't anticipate that everything would be so expensive here. I knew it was going to be a lot more expensive than Prague or Asia, but I wasn't thinking it would be this extreme. The reception at the hotel told us we had to pay 50 extra Euro per night to switch from a single to a double room. That's like 3-4 days of my backpacker budget for food, attractions, and a place to stay! We ended up paying for one night, but I am going to look for a hostel tomorrow to save some cash.

We had our first meal here, which we decided would be pasta. Linh had a salmon pasta while I had one with bacon – mediocre. Hopefully I find some more decent places to eat and get some advice from couchsurfers! More and more food for the next couples weeks! Tomorrow, we will purchase Roma Passes and sightsee in the city.

First meal in Italy - Spaghetti with Bacon in Tomato Sauce

Day 109 - BKK to Delhi, India

Spent the day getting everything settled before heading to India. Spent the morning deciding what to bring with me and what to ship home. I ended up shaving 5kg from my backpack but it cost an arm and a leg to ship stuff back! Afterwards, went to a pharmacy to get some more malaria pills for the rest of my travels in the less developed areas.

I would arrive in India at 10:30pm so I booked a hostel and airport pickup beforehand so I wouldn't have to deal with it when I arrived. The flight ended up taking about 4.5 hours, which was more than I expected, but it was due to the 1.5 hour time difference that I didn't account for when I looked at my itinerary. It's interesting how India and Myanmar have times that are 30 minutes off from the rest of the world on the minute-hand.

The flight was probably 50% booked, and I managed to get a whole row to myself. It also kind of smelled like baby poo at the beginning and end of the flight.

Going through immigration at the Delhi airport was quick and painless, and there weren't too many people there at night. People have told me that it would be a culture shock, and I braced myself. The ride from the airport to the hotel was interesting. It just seemed really dangerous and chaotic driving through the city. There didn't seem to be any method to any of the driving, and I saw many instances that could have potentially ended in an accident (i.e. cars parked on the side lanes, that could easily get hit by oncoming traffic) This was at night too, when I suspect the traffic is less congested.

I arrived in the neighborhood where the hostel was and I could see the sheer poverty of the country already, with many, many people sleeping on the floor and in the streets. Dogs and even cows were also scattered around the roads. Garbage was littered everywhere. I don't know why, but it just reminded me somewhat of what my perception of a warzone would look like in a city. Definitely the worst place I've seen so far in my travels, and this was the area where tourists were! I was scared to leave the taxi, since there were scarcely any streetlights, and I had to walk through dark and narrow alleys to get to the hostel.

There was an earthquake when I was in the taxi on my way to the hostel measuring 6.6, but I didn't feel it. People were talking about it at the hostel though, and it was covered on the news, showing footage of all the locals congregating outside. The hostel ended up transferring me due to some sort of “earthquake” issue to another guesthouse. It was basically a room that I suspect used to be the kitchen. Pretty shitty conditions for my first night in India.

I met an Indian couple who was on their honeymoon at the guesthouse and we talked for a little bit. They informed me that there was a bomb that went off in Delhi earlier today killing around 70 people. I'll have to check the news later to see what that was all about...Hopefully India gets better...People have told me to get out of Delhi and into some of the other parts to really have a pleasant experience. I should follow their advice..

Indira Ghandi International Airport (Delhi, India)

Last meal in BKK

First night's accommodations in Delhi...

Day 2 - HCMC - Revisiting Dad's Old Home

We spend the majority of the day getting more acclimated with the City and seeing some of the popular landmarks.

The first stop was the Independence Palace (Reunification Palace) - originally built by the French during colonization as the Indochina Governor Palace, and then the home and workplace for the South Vietnamese president. This was the site of the end of the Vietnam War when the North invaded and the South handed over control. The current architecture of the building began in 1962 and was completed in 1966. There is a very mod and retro feel to the architecture of the building as well as the interior design. My sister said it reminded her of a UCLA building...I'm thinking maybe a North Campus Building? Public Policy? One thing you can't miss for sure is the incessant and endless whistling from the cicadas in the area.

After that, we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office, where a huge picture of Ho Chi Minh hangs at the back. My sister wrote some postcards for home, but I opted to wait until further along in my trip. Send me your addresses everyone!

Next, we went to visit Dad's old home before he fled to California. It turned into a tea-shop, like many of the other homes on the busy street. We stopped by to visit the neighbor, and the grandmother that still lived there remembered him and my grandfather. Dad spoke with her for a while. We also looked around for his school, but he could not recollect the exact location since so much has changed in the 30 years he had been gone. He fled the country when he was in his early 20s. All of this has allowed me to ask my dad more questions about his life in Vietnam and how he ended up in California. I don't think I ever really asked him these questions, but it's fascinating to hear of some of the things he had to do to get to America.

Took a taxi to the Cholon area in the city. We visited the Thien Hau Pagoda, which had really intricate wood carvings all along the roof. There were numerous spiral incense coils hanging from the ceiling and burning incense throughout the central room - Very beautiful. The temple is dedicated to Thien Hau - the Goddess of the Sea and Patroness of Sailors. I noticed that many french tourists were there and I was amazed that the Vietnamese tourguide could speak French so fluently...until I remembered that Vietnam used to be a French colony. How many times did I watch Indochine in French class in high school? Duh. 

The last temple we visited was the Quan Am Pagoda, which honors Kwan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy. 

At the end of the night, we decided to have a hot pot dinner on a cruise ship, as it rode along the Saigon River - a bit touristy, but nonetheless fun.

The second day in, and we've basically decided that taking a taxi was affordable and mandatory for our survival in the humidity of HCMC. A day consists of walking the streets for about an hour at most, and then recovery in an AC'd taxi or luxury store, repeated many times during the day. I dread when I have to leave the taxi cab...

I saw the first motorcycle accident on my first full day in Vietnam. Despite this, I think it seems pretty safe driving around the city. Even though it's basically a clusterfuck of vehicles travelling in all directions, everyone is driving pretty slowly, maybe 30 mph max... Now...rush hour on a weekday is a whole 'nother story... We'll see if my opinions change. I'm still looking to take that perfect picture that conveys all this highway chaos I am speaking of...

Independence Palace (Reunification Palace) - Very Mod and Retro

Post Office and a Picture of Ho Chi Minh

Dad's Old Home in the City

Speaking with the neighbor, who remembers him!

Thien Hau Pagoda - Notice the wood carvings at the top of the Pagoda

Day 1, Part 2 - Arrival in Ho Chi Minh City

The flight from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh City took about 3 hours. Even though I had a good amount of sleep on the last flight, I still dozed off on this flight. There's something about airplanes that makes me sleepy...

The flight was nowhere near booked and I managed to get the whole emergency exit row to myself. I usually like to take the aisle seat so I don't have to deal with leaping over other passengers to get to the bathroom, but this time, I took the window seat so I could actually look out the window and scope out the landscape. Flying Into HCMC, I saw murky brown or mossy green water wherever there were lakes, ponds, canals, and any other water sources. It just reminded me of all my friends' words of advice for this trip - "Don't drink the water"

It was nice to see the the land from the perspective above the clouds, and actually see the shape of the cloud casting a huge shadow over a huge chunk of the land. Being on the ground, you rarely, if ever, get to see when a cloud's shade starts and ends.

I also noticed that the airplane experienced turbulence every time it flew through the clouds. Maybe it was due to the change in temperature or density of the air? It's been a while since I've taken an earth science class...

Upon arrival at the airport, we passed through customs without too much trouble. The officials didn't ask us for a proof of return, probably since we were traveling as a family. My dad was a little nervous about coming back here. He was born in Vietnam and the last time he was here, he fled with one of his brothers to America (after one year in Malaysia) due to the Vietnam War. I'm sure it will be a culture shock for him, but hopefully he will recognize places and reconnect.

Hailing a taxi at the airport took forever. We were pretty cautious about choosing the right taxi since some of the travel guidebooks warned of sketchy taxi drivers who would work with certain hotels and "unknowingly" take you to the wrong hotel or convince you that the hotel you booked was dodgy or unsanitary and that you should book a room at their hotel... We finally found a "Venisun" taxi cab to District 1 in HCMC for about 6-7 USD.

My friends warned me about all the traffic in HCMC, but I finally got to witness the chaos of it all. Almost everyone drives a motorcycle or moped. The roads are filled with these vehicles, along with buses, taxis, and the occasional cyclo. There don't seem to be many road laws to follow as there are rarely any stoplights and people are driving from all directions. There are also a ton of turnarounds scattered throughout the city, which makes for even more interesting traffic action.

Being a pedestrian among all these drivers is stressful. I feel like they risk their lives numerous times a day just trying to cross the street as the motorcycles zoom past them from all directions. It's sort of exciting but also scary. The best thing to do is just walk slowly so that the drivers can dodge you. I suggest walking slowly, but also consistently so that you will remain predictable, and the drivers can avoid you.

My family had trouble all day with the currency conversion here. Due to extreme inflation over the years in the country, 1 USD equals roughly 20,000 Vietnamese Dong. Imagine buying something that was 1,000,000 Dong...It's actually just $50 USD... Except 1,000,000 Dong can buy you so much more than $50 USD worth of stuff since everything is so cheap here!

It is uber-humid here, but I expected it. There was no rain today, even though it's monsoon season. Hopefully there will be clear skies throughout my trip.

Walking around an open market, I noticed a man taking a break from the sweltering humidity underneath his business.

A collection of Vietnamese Beers in a supermarket - probably one of the safest things to drink here, and about 50 cents a can! Hooray!

Dinner - Bun Bo Hue - Hot and Spice Hue style noodle soup with sliced pork tenderloin, sliced beef brisket, and Vietnamese pork sausage, garnished with white onions, green onions, and cilantro. A decent bowl of noodles, although I thought the soup base was not seasoned enough. Instead of the usual bean sprouts and mint leaves that I'm used to being offered at restaurants in Westminster, CA, they brought out banana flowers, which served as an excellent garnish.

Dinner - Stuffed Snails with Meat - This dish was very good. It consisted of minced snail meat, mixed with mushrooms and pork. Sugar Cane was added so that the meat could be pulled out of the shell easily. The meat was soft but chewy, and blended well with the bitter taste of the mint leaves and the sweet/salty flavor of fish sauce.