{"id":5955,"date":"2017-06-01T20:11:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T19:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hastenteufel.name\/blog\/?p=5955"},"modified":"2019-02-14T12:00:42","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T11:00:42","slug":"hello-vietnam-back-in-saigon-off-to-long-hai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hastenteufel.name\/blog\/hello-vietnam-back-in-saigon-off-to-long-hai\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello Vietnam! Back again in Saigon and off to Long Hai"},"content":{"rendered":"

8 weeks Thailand – most of it up North in Pai. Meeting old friends and making new ones. It was a very good time – I come back again ;-)
The next few days should go down like that: Fly to Saigon, find a motorbike and get out of the city before Tet starts. The goal was to get to Long Hai with my new bike in 5 days from today – the day I left Bangkok. Sure enough that is more time than you need but I had a few friends coming in to Saigon as well and wanted to meet them. And I wanted a 135 cc bike which is a bit more complicated to find than your good old 125cc that you find in every street.
\"Boarding<\/picture>
Boarding AirAsia BKK to SGN<\/p>\n

\"Quite<\/picture>
Quite busy at the old airport<\/p>\n

\"Enough<\/picture>
Enough space for me – they gave me an emergency exit row seat :-)<\/p>\n

\"Adios<\/picture>
Adios Bangkok<\/p>\n

The plane was not too high up so we had clouds above and under the plane for a long time. Nice to look at them – they change all the time – a dream land in the sky.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/picture>
In the clouds over Vietnam<\/p>\n

\"Over<\/picture>
Over the delta in south Vietnam<\/p>\n

You can almost see the heat down there. And it does look quite humid as well.<\/p>\n

\"Golf<\/picture>
Golf course close to Saigon<\/p>\n

Welcome to Saigon<\/h1>\n

The flight was smooth as silk – even on AirAsia :-) however immigration in Saigon was a big mess. I had my Visa on arrival papers from Vietnam Visa Pro<\/a> (They are the BEST – use them!). Went to the counter and gave everything to the guys behind the glass. Waiting and waiting. From time to time an angry officer shouted at us: “Do not stand here – sit there” for no reason.
Most of my plane was gone with their passport stamped and my application still somewhere in there.
All the time some guys cut in-between with Fast Track Service. For 15 US$ you get the next slot. And for 30 US$ you get your papers worked on right away. That is worth looking into if you fly into Saigon. No need for it in Hanoi!!
One hour later – more planes arrived, more people waited. Only 3 guys from my plane left. At last I am not the only one. 90 minutes later an immigration office tried to call me with my name – but that was to complicated so he only yelled “Germany”. “I can not find your name!” We talk about 2 pieces of paper – printed only on one side each. With 18 names! And he could not find mine – I could without my glasses! A half hour or so later I got my passport. The 2 guys that had to wait as long as I had got a Uber into town and gave me a lift. The car did stop close to my hostel. So I walked over there and checked in. Time for some food and beer – what a welcoming country!<\/p>\n

\"My<\/picture>
My 1st Bia Saigon for this trip<\/p>\n

\"B\u00e1nh<\/picture>
B\u00e1nh m\u00ec – Vegetarian<\/p>\n

Day One in Saigon<\/h2>\n

\"There<\/picture>
There is a Vegetarian restaurant under the hostel. It turns into a sleeping room for the staff and parking hall for staff and guest motorbikes at night<\/p>\n

\"Morning<\/picture>
Morning market in front of the hostel<\/p>\n

\"Distribution<\/picture>
Distribution centre round the corner<\/p>\n

I walked to the gold shops at the side of B\u1ebfn Th\u00e0nh Market. One of them had even a better rate for the \u20ac than the rate was for credit card cash!! And they are open the next few days before Tet. If you are in Saigon and want to change money try Dntn V\u00e0ng H\u00e0 T\u00e2m next to the market! Here is a link to Google Maps<\/a>.
Tet is the Vietnamese new year. If you ever travel to Vietnam make sure you do not have to move before or after Tet. The roads are full, many accidents, everything gets more expensive and most of the shops and restaurants close. So it might be a good idea to go to a tourist place along the coast. Over there at last the restaurants will be open. But I still had a few days to go. And the plan was to escape to the beach!<\/p>\n

\"A<\/picture>
A 24\/7 Vegan Restaurant! Next to the market!<\/p>\n

\"Only<\/picture>
Only a few days to go before Tet. The park is a big flower market<\/p>\n

\"More<\/picture>
More flowers in the park<\/p>\n

\"Waiting<\/picture>
Waiting for tourists<\/p>\n

\"Ice<\/picture>
Vietnamese Ice Coffee – well deserved after my stroll to the money changers at the market.<\/p>\n

\"WiFi<\/picture>
WiFi was not working at my hostel so I did spend quite some time at the $nob Coffee<\/p>\n

\"And<\/picture>
And did try a few of their cakes as well<\/p>\n

Friends in Town!<\/h2>\n

\"Scott<\/picture>
Scott doing another visa run<\/p>\n

\"Misha<\/picture>
Misha at the beginning of his Vietnam trip and Konstantin at the end of his visa run.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/picture>
Scott at the soup place<\/p>\n

My new Ride<\/h2>\n

\"My<\/picture>
My new ride – a Exciter 135 with a 5 speed manual gear box<\/p>\n

\"14599<\/picture>
14599 km on the clock<\/p>\n

Buying the bike was faster than expected. Took only 5 minutes – most of the time we did count money – 33 Million Dong. Some paperwork later the guy was happy and I only needed some elastic strings to get my bag fixed. Yes – it is the same bag I had last year. <\/p>\n

Finally on the Road<\/h2>\n

There are not to many roads out of the city with the motorbike. You are not allowed on the fast highway so I opted for the ferry from Cat Lai Port to the other side and continue on the DT769 and the HL13 towards the QL51. Looks like the fastest way out of the city to me.
Once on the QL51 I only had to drive down to Long Hai. Since I had no clue how long it would take to get the bike and move from Saigon I booked a room in Long Hai for a night. <\/p>\n

\"This<\/picture>
Somewhere in suburbia Saigon where rich people will move in soon<\/p>\n

\"Waiting<\/picture>
Waiting for the ferry in Cat Lai Port<\/p>\n

\"Crossing<\/picture>
Crossing the river<\/p>\n

\"We<\/picture>
We had about 34 degrees – but the Vietnamese do not want to work on their tan<\/p>\n

\"Time<\/picture>
Time to check the phone and do all the little things before the race is on again on the other side<\/p>\n

\"New<\/picture>
New church in X\u00e3 T\u00e2n Ph\u01b0\u1edbc. After all the years before Vietnam did open up again after the war they do construct the churches the same way as they did before the war. In the years after the North won the war the new churches looked nothing like that.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/picture>
A bit further down the road – a church from the good old communist times<\/p>\n

\"Maria\"<\/picture>
Maria with her baby boy<\/p>\n

\"And<\/picture>
And only a few years later he was a man! Friendly with a big heart and a huge smile he waves at me.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/picture>
Another minute down the road<\/p>\n

\"Further<\/picture>
Further down the QL 51 in X\u00e3 T\u00e2n H\u1ea3i. The tower is not always on the right!<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/picture>
Happy to have visitors<\/p>\n

\"Gi\u00e1o<\/picture>
Gi\u00e1o X\u1ee9 Long H\u01b0\u01a1ng Catholic church in B\u00e0 R\u1ecba<\/p>\n

\"Salt<\/picture>
Salt production close to An Ng\u00e3i<\/p>\n

\"Salt<\/picture><\/p>\n

\"Cathedral<\/picture>
Cathedral Parish Hailin Nh\u00e0 th\u1edd Gi\u00e1o x\u1ee9 H\u1ea3i L\u00e2m<\/p>\n

\"Hello<\/picture>
Hello water – clost to Ap Bung Rieng<\/p>\n

\"My<\/picture>
New and clean – lets take some pictures – just in case…<\/p>\n

\"Yamaha<\/picture><\/p>\n

\"Looook!\"<\/picture><\/p>\n

\"Vung<\/picture>
Time to get to my hotel – coast road with Vung Tau in the back<\/p>\n

Hoa Sua Motel in Long Hai<\/h2>\n

The Hoa Sua Motel<\/a> in Long Hai was the stop for tonight. It is on the smaller street so not to noisy in the night. Check in was absolutely no sweat. The owner took the passport – showed me the room and a minute later I was in the shower. Great! The room was super clean, the shower as well. WiFi fast and stable, nice table with a chair. A good place. Left the window open at night with a nice breeze coming in from the ocean.
The room was 10 US $ for a night – check it out on booking.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"The<\/picture>
Bed, chair, table and a closet – which I never use<\/p>\n

\"The<\/picture><\/p>\n

\"The<\/picture><\/p>\n

\"The<\/picture><\/p>\n