"Let's go!"

After arriving in Saigon and settling in(we are staying with my aunt and uncle and cousins), Ben La (my cousin), Vinny and I made our way out to the bus stop. On the way we stopped by a jewelry store to exchange money (note to my fellow travelers, when in Viet Nam, always exchange your money (preferably $100 bills) at jewelry stores, you get better exchange rates than at the bank). Then we boarded Bus #18 and for 9,000 VND total, the three of us rode to the Saigon -> Vung Tau Express Ferry Service. The ferry prices went up since last time I took the ferry, it's 160,000 VND now instead of 100,000. Actually all prices in Viet Nam have gone up significantly since I was back in 2006. Everyone I talk to says that prices have been going up 50-60% for everything in the past 2 years.

We boarded the 10:30 am ferry and happily walked off the Vung Tau docl at 11:40 am. Guess for the short travel time, we definitely had to pay the price. On the way to Vung Tau, Ben La practiced speaking English with Vinny and now that he has taught her the phrase, "Let's go!", everywhere we go, since she's our tour guide, she always says, "Let's go!"

1st stop: Banh Khoc
My hometown has a specialty dish which is crispy rice cakes topped with shrimp, green onions, and ground shrimp powder. You eat the little cakes wrapped in lettuce leaves dipped in fish sauce or eat them by themselves dipped in fish sauce. It's one of my favorite dishes and I had to make sure it was the first thing we had upon arrival to Vung Tau.

2nd stop: The marketplace to buy ghe (large crabs). We picked out fresh live crabs for 150,000 VND per kilo and bought 2 kilos (a total of 8 crabs). Vinny carried them still wiggling around in a plastic bag and we rode back to my cousin's wife's home to see his new baby girl (Ngoc Nga) before taking off to the beach.

3rd stop: My cousin's baby girl (Ngoc Nga) was asleep when we arrived so we waited a bit while my cousin's wife steamed the crabs in beer and prepared a spicy/salty/sweet dipping sauce. Then we all put on our motorbike helmets (it's a requirement now in Viet Nam that anyone on a motorbike needs to wear a helmet), Vinny carried the cooler full of beers, I carried the pot of freshly steamed crabs, and we all headed out in a caravan of motorbikes to the beach.

4th stop: It's quite cool in Viet Nam due to the time of the year and also due to the fact that the entire world seems to be colder than normal, so it wasn't really a beach swimming day. As we approached the area where you rent tables and chairs on the beach, Ben La shooed Vinny and I away so that the vendors wouldn't try to rip the family off since Vinny sticks out like a sore thumb. Afterwards we basically had a picnic on the beach of crabs and beer. I went into the water even though the day wasn't very hot and it was cooler than usual but still warmer than anything in the States. The waves were really big that day and the riptide pretty strong so I didn't venture out too far. Vinny said it was too cold to swim but we did have fun watching the waves come in and as they rolled back out, the little clams would burrow into the sand even further. It was quite impressive to watch. Vinny also learned from my cousin Viet Nam's famous drinking toast, "Mot, hai, ba, gio!!!"

5th stop: More food at another restaurant. My cousin took us to a restaurant that was famous for its dipping sauce and we grilled rabbit, venison, and fresh okra. It was super delicious but the best part was Vinny really liked holding and playing with Ngoc Nga so he decided to take Ngoc Nga for a walk. So many people looked at him, Mr. Italian dude carrying a 9 month Vietnamese baby through the streets of Vung Tau. They went to visit a funeral celebration down the street from the restaurant and walked back. It was quite funny seeing people's reaction.

After a long fun-filled day in Vung Tau, Ben La, Vinny and I took a bus back since we had already missed the last scheduled ferry. All three of our tickets came to 165,000 VND which was so much cheaper than 1 ferry ticket at 160,000 VND. Vinny claims our bus driver was crazy driving us back, but Ben La and I happily slept the entire 2 hour ride home and so we missed any crazy antics that Vinny claimed the bus driver pulled. If you can sleep on buses, then traveling in Viet Nam is a breeze. You miss crazy driving moments and the trip goes by a lot faster.

Next Post: Hanging around Saigon