TL;DR#
I never actively sought to understand Vietnamese culture and history; I only browsed posts shared by others before my trip. My stay was brief as a tourist, which was a very novel experience, except for the hot weather.
- Got my first tattoo.
- Drinking and partying with strangers at a youth hostel.
One#
Before the trip, I accidentally bought the wrong flight time, and since I forgot to purchase luggage allowance, I ended up paying an extra premium for the return trip (compared to buying it together with the same ticket).
I had a layover in Macau, and before takeoff, I realized that I had about 30 minutes of actual layover time. If I didn't make it, I could spend a day in Macau, after all, I couldn't ask the pilot to fly faster. I arrived later than expected, but the gate wasn't far, and the second security check was much simpler, so I still had plenty of time.
The immigration process was overall smooth. As a young person who is proficient in using the internet, I naturally prepared my visa and eSIM in advance. I queued for a while; it didn't take too long, and I noticed quite a few white tourists in line.
The distance from the airport to the hostel was about 22KM, and Grab cost around 300,000 Vietnamese Dong. During check-in, the front desk guy spoke English that I could only understand most of. He took a picture and started babbling about something, thinking he was going to introduce me to local attractions, but he was actually transferring me to another hostel B, explaining that he worked at A (where I had booked) at night and at B during the day. However, my understanding lagged a bit; I didn't ask why and didn't refuse. The fact is, the experience at B was quite poor, even though the price for B that night was higher than what I booked at A. I only stayed one night, so I thought I would just make do.
It seems that everything mentioned so far has not been a very pleasant experience.
Two#
The next day, I started wandering around. In the morning, I went out to exchange some cash, but I forgot the password for my HSBC card, and after too many incorrect attempts, the card got locked. However, I had other cards to use, and the Industrial Bank's Global Life card worked quite well, allowing three fee-free withdrawals from overseas UnionPay ATMs each month. Then I just wandered aimlessly, but the continuous motorcycles on the road forced me to confirm before passing through at every intersection. The hot weather also constantly reminded me to find a shady place to stay.
Across the street is the popular train street
Because I didn't handle the lighting well, I lazily processed everything in black and white
Three#
I had no shopping plans for this trip, but there were a few vintage shops nearby, and the prices were really reasonable compared to domestic ones. I only carried one bag, and when it couldn't hold more, I stopped buying. I saw several stores with things I wanted later, but I had to give up.
Four#
I always had the idea of getting a tattoo, and coincidentally there was a shop next to the youth hostel, so I went to get a simple design. It wasn't very painful, just tolerable, and the final effect met my expectations. I originally scheduled to get another one the next day, but after drinking too much that night, I canceled due to a headache the next day.
Five#
I experienced two different youth hostels, both of which were quite nice, especially at the price of 50 RMB per night. The first two nights at Little Charm had quite a few Chinese guests, while I hardly saw anyone at BAD MONKEY for the next two days. The experiences were quite different; BAD MONKEY also had a bar, with different themed parties every night, providing more social opportunities. Aside from that, they were pretty similar.
The most memorable part of this trip was the few days at the youth hostel, where I met many people from different countries. If I could be more proficient in English, I might discover more interesting people and things.
I tried to actively greet people, which went well. I should continue to improve my expression skills, especially in English.
BAD MONKEY's activities every night; coincidentally, an employee from another hostel (left) came to find his friend (right)