Upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (aka Saigon) I was fully overwhelmed by culture shock. I knew to expect a big city but I wasn't quite prepared for the thousands of motorbikes with a singular goal of mowing down tourists. While I strolled down a busy street to find a bite to eat after the looooooong commute (about 20 hours of nonstop travel), a Vietnamese man dragged me by the arm into his restaurant. Reluctantly, I sat down and was immediately solicited by Vietnamese prostitutes. The man who dragged me in relayed the message that one of the girls "thought I was cute". Even though I could tell she had a fine taste in men, I had to turn her down.
The next day, I set out to acquire my Thai visa from the consulate in Ho Chi Minh. I quickly learned to avoid the rides offered by the bicycle taxis as they were much pricier than an air conditioned car taxi. I paid 150,000 dong (~$7.50) for a ride from a bicycle taxi whereas I paid only 50,000 dong for the same ride from an Uber. It only took 24 hours for the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh to process the visa so if you are stupid like me and wait until the last minute to research visas, know that it's fairly easy to acquire in a neighboring country.
The worst thing about walking around with a map is getting continually harassed by the same guys asking "where you going? where you from?" so they can offer you a ride on their motorbikes. I turned down some guy at least 20 times. Despite dodging between traffic and turning down a side street, he still managed to find me again. They're relentless here. I swear they can smell the slightest scent of a lost tourist.
The next day, I set out to acquire my Thai visa from the consulate in Ho Chi Minh. I quickly learned to avoid the rides offered by the bicycle taxis as they were much pricier than an air conditioned car taxi. I paid 150,000 dong (~$7.50) for a ride from a bicycle taxi whereas I paid only 50,000 dong for the same ride from an Uber. It only took 24 hours for the Thai consulate in Ho Chi Minh to process the visa so if you are stupid like me and wait until the last minute to research visas, know that it's fairly easy to acquire in a neighboring country.
The worst thing about walking around with a map is getting continually harassed by the same guys asking "where you going? where you from?" so they can offer you a ride on their motorbikes. I turned down some guy at least 20 times. Despite dodging between traffic and turning down a side street, he still managed to find me again. They're relentless here. I swear they can smell the slightest scent of a lost tourist.