March 8, 2023

Holy cow it is HOT in Vietnam. Today was in the 90’s so I spent most of the day absolutely sweating and downing as much water as possible. I arrived last night and was greeted by the sweetest owner of the hostel I was staying at. Nona is 27 and owns The Like Hostel and Cafe. When I came in at 11 pm she was kind and welcoming even when I was exhausted. She immediately asked if I like beer and if I wanted to join her for one. While I was exhausted from traveling for 22 hours, I could not say no to this. After taking the long trek up three flights of stairs and dropping my stuff off in my room, I wandered back down to have the beer with Nona. Joining us was a Russian guy named Oleigh, who was traveling abroad for 5 months and working remotely, and of course Willow, the hostel dog who was absolutely adorable and greeted everyone as they walked in. It is in these moments I remember why I love to travel so much. We sit down and talk about our three very different life experiences being an American, a Russian, and a Vietnamese woman. One thing we all connected on was the difference between traveling and vacationing. We’re all travelers. We like to immerse ourselves with locals and strangers to really understand the differences in cultures and people.

Nona gave us some incredible local snacks she said to go perfectly with beer and without questioning it we all started trying them. Imagine how at bars in America we often see popcorn or nuts or something to snack on. The version of this Nona gave us were little fried crab bites, sweet and spicy fish bites, and something else I have no idea what I was eating. To me, this is part of the fun of traveling. Trying new things with no concern over what it is, just being open to new experiences. Eventually, a Canadian girl comes and checks in and chats with us for a bit. She was just starting her 3-month journey around southeast Asia. When I meet humans like this I really do feel as if I am looking in a mirror. When I leave for a month I hear enough people stressed out about it. When I tell people in a hostel I’m traveling for a month, they’re baffled at how that is all that I am doing. I was able to get some great recommendations from Nona on where to go before heading up to bed and trying to get some sleep even though in my American timeclock, it was 9 in the morning.

When I woke up the next day, I had to figure out what I wanted to spend it doing. Usually, on the first day in any city I just like to roam and see what I run into. One of the women at the front desk of the hostel pointed me in the direction of somewhere I could get breakfast and off I went. I decided to start my day with some fresh-cut guava and some dragonfruit juice. Finding tasty food is always my priority when I travel. This cost me a whopping 40,000vnd, approximately $1.80. The USD truly is strong here. I wandered to a nearby park to enjoy my fruit and listen to some podcasts. Finding these moments alone gives me the chance to reflect on a lot. I think it is hard for people to be able to be alone when traveling but for me, there is something peaceful about it.

After getting my fruit I knew I needed to get a Vietnamese sim card. This is always something I recommend when traveling. For about $10 I can get a sim card that gives me access to data when I’m wandering Vietnam for a month. This makes it substantially easier to get around and is a heck of a lot cheaper than my $10 a day travel pass on my US number. Luckily, the hostel sells them directly so I got that set up before resting in the AC for a little bit and googling what to spend my day doing. I decided I needed more food, obviously, and set out to find some pho. Luckily this is on every corner so the hardest part is choosing which to go to. I ended up locating a place that had a nice sit-down area and was probably slightly more expensive than one of the food stands, but felt more comfortable for me as a solo human. I say more expensive, but I was able to get tea and a huge bowl of pho for 75,000 vnd, about $3.80. It was of course wonderful and I slurped down every bite.

One place that I was recommended by many people was the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. This was not for the faint of heart. I am glad that I went, as I learned a lot, but it also shined a light on a pretty nasty part of the US history that we as Americans really are not taught about. There were multiple times in here that I was brought to tears reading about the hatred and genocide that was inflicted on the Vietnamese people by the US. As well as seeing how many American soldiers suffered serious long-term consequences from this 17-year war. When we consider three major wars that the US was a part of internationally, the Vietnam war is where we spent the most money and dropped the most bombs. Learning about this war from the lens of the Vietnamese population absolutely devastated my heart. So while this was mentally and emotionally draining, I think it is crucial for Americans to go here and learn about a part of our history that is often swept under the rug.

Since I was mentally pooped after this I decided I needed coffee and shopping. I have quickly realized I have no concept of money here. Because when I was told my coffee and a bottle of water was 50,000vnd that seemed aggressive. Until I typed it into my currency app and realized thats only $2. I took my treats and decided to wander toward Ben Thanh market. On the way there I stumbled upon a park with lots of neat statues and ponds. I always love finding these unexpected gems when I travel because it is not anything I would necessarily seek out. Ben Thanh market is a smorgasbord of different foods and shopping. I loved walking through it but tried not to buy anything since this is the start of my journey, but I will absolutely be gathering trinkets here for everyone once I return to Saigon at the end of my trip.

I walked back to the hostel afterward to start typing this blog and ran into Nona, who was cooking some food for Willow. We chatted a bit and she offered me some soup that she had prepared for her staff and let me enjoy it with her as we talked about life. I can’t believe I only have one more day in Saigon. While I don’t necessarily love the city as a whole, Nona has made the start of this trip outstanding with her hospitality and kindness. I will absolutely be returning to this Hostel at the end of my trip.

Thanks for reading this exceptionally long blog post. I can’t promise they’ll all be this long but I really enjoyed reflecting on the first 18 hours of this solo trip.