I
try not to fly AirAsia if I can help it and was surprised to find myself
looking at the destinations the cattle airline back in December. I didn’t stop
there but proceeded to buy tickets to Nha Trang in Vietnam and Surat Thani in
Thailand well in advance. The Surat Thani trip had since been cancelled as AA
decided to retire that route wtf.
Friday,
6 July 2018
It
started raining early in the morning but stopped just before I left micasa for
the bus station for the bus to KL Sentral. I slipped in a mini brolly into my
suitcase just in case. I had to wait a bit as the usual service didn’t operate.
The feeder bus only left after 08:00 and fortunately for me, the traffic was
clear despite the earlier rain and when we reached KL Sentral at 08:14, I
jumped out and made my way across the KL Sentral concourse to the platform for
the buses to KLIA 2. I bought the ticket quickly – some moronic wench thought
it was OK to cut my queue while I was being served – and loaded my bag into the
bus. The bus departed at 08:20. Talk about cutting it close!
We
arrived at KLIA 2 at 09:10 and I rushed up to the departure area. I was pumped
with adrenaline and reached my gate within 15 minutes and that was after a
quick bathroom pitstop. We were supposed to board at 09:50 but we were only
called to do so after 10:05. We took off slightly after schedule and I settled
in for the flight. The captain was a bit annoying with his announcements and
poems woven into his announcements. I think I was one of the two covered girls
in the flight which was great.
We
landed at Cam Ranh International Airport at 10:30 local time and had to take a
bus to the terminal. I was the first one out of the bus and I rushed up to
passport control. Evidently there was another flight that landed ahead of ours for
there were already some Caucasians queuing. The process was quick though,
unlike the one in Busan, and I was done within 7 minutes. I exited the building
and looked around for signs for the bus and located it to the left of the exit.
I had read that you could take bus number 18 to Nha Trang city and sure enough,
there was a small kiosk selling bus tickets for that bus. The ticket cost
VND50,000. The girl at the kiosk told me to wait 20 minutes so I decided to use
the bathroom. The bathroom was clean but there were annoying flies flying
around and it made me realise their presence. For some reason, there were quite
a few flies. Not that many to be annoying but enough to make you notice.
20
minutes stretched into half an hour and finally the bus was there. The day was
promising to be hot but at least there was a nice continuous breeze at where we
sat waiting for the bus. We boarded the bus and after it made a long detour to
pick passengers from the domestic terminal, we were finally on our way to the
city. The female bus conductor asked where I wanted to get down and I told her
Hung Vuong. The highway from the airport gradually led us to the coastal road
to the city. Nha Trang is about 30 km away from the airport and I got down 45
minutes later at Trần
Phú and thanks to google maps, managed to
find my hotel without any problem. I checked in (the lady asked for my
passport) and went up one floor to my room. The room was perfect for a
two-night stay. After performing prayers and resting, I ventured out into the
afternoon sun and heat.
I walked up Hung Vuong and immediately
noticed the many, many shops selling exotic leather handbags (by that I mean
crocodile skin). They are all beautiful once you get past your squirming
uneasiness with crocodile skin (especially the bags with the whole crocodile on
it, how disgusting and ugly!). I only found about two styles that I liked
though and while they cost only a fraction of what they would be had they
carried Dior or Hermès logos, I resisted buying any. Maybe on
another trip.
I walked on and noticed there were many Russians
in the city. They were everywhere! Even the travel agencies seem to be
Russian-owned and some restaurant had menus in Cyrillic. The city was also
expanding rapidly and I came upon a building under construction every 50 metres
or less. And yes, the numerous exotic leather shops too and it made me wonder
how many crocodiles they breed and kill every year. There were also shops
selling the local offerings like coffee luwak and agarwood jewellery and
another orange-coloured prayer beads/bracelets (I didn’t go near to have a
closer look). There were also the usual massage parlours, beauty and skincare shops,
restaurants. One thing that was missing was foreign currency exchange offices
though and as I walked on, I began to worry. I only had some leftover balance
from my last trip to Vietnam and had used some for the bus fare.
After
a while, I came to a major road. I waited at the lights before crossing over to
Viễn Đông
Hotel. I went in to ask and the lady at the reception said I could change money
there. The rate was VND22K for USD1 so I changed USD50 (in denominations of
USD20 and USD10). I went out and guess what? BaoViet Bank was just right next
to the hotel. I went in and found I could change money there. I asked the rate
and when I found the bank offered better rates at VND22,920 for every USD1 (for
notes smaller than USD50), I went back to the hotel and said I changed my mind
and wanted my money back. The lady was not happy of course but after a couple
of minutes, I managed to persuade her to return my USD50 and I gave her back
the Dong. Alas for me, the bank had closed within those couple of minutes as it
was already 16:30. Oh well. I could return the next morning. Banks operate
there on Saturdays anyway.
I
walked on and after a couple of blocks only noticed bus stop for the airport
bus. I hadn’t seen any bus stops before then and wondered if I had missed them
or if the bus followed a different route. I walked on to the airport bus
station at no. 10, Yersin Street and left after ascertaining the schedule. I
walked on to Cho Dam (Dam Market) but it was starting to close then (a stall
keeper told me in halting English that the market opens early and closes at 17:30
every day). There were stalls selling ready-t-eat seafood snacks outside the
market. I left the market and stumbled upon an adjacent building which sold
mainly dried seafood. The stalls here were still operating when I left half an
hour later.
I
left the market area and walked south to Le Loi and then Pasteur. There were
more roadside operators now that it was early evening selling mainly food. I came
across one such stall at Pasteur with what looked like a small whole animal
being grilled. A piglet? Or a small dog? I hurriedly walked past without
checking further.
I
then walked along the beach. There were so many people on the beach and in the
sea! The beach stretched for about 1.5 km and there must be easily a thousand
people there and, no, I’m not exaggerating. But I was amazed to find the beach
very clean. I could hardly find any rubbish anywhere. This is one thing Malaysians
can learn from our neighbours. Promoting tourism is one thing, keeping
cleanliness a matter of principle, a more important thing. There wasn’t much of
a sunset because the sea was facing east.
I
crossed over to Nha Trang Centre and found more outlets selling crocodile skin
bags. I learnt that bags made from skin from the crocodile belly cost more than
those made from its back. I learnt that the scales can tell you how old the
crocodile was: the bigger the more adult it was. And that one crocodile is used
for one bag. Imagine that! Imagine how many crocodiles are killed each year! While crocodiles are one of my least favourite animals, I would still love to own a
Birkin or Kelly in crocodile or alligator skin but the sight of so many dead
crocodiles in one place depressed me. I left the mall after buying a 6-litre
bottle of mineral water and struggled with it back to my hotel.
I
stumbled upon the Chay Banh Mi Stall which I had read sold vegetarian buns.
Char means vegetarian and banh means bread (from bun I suppose). So if you’re
in Vietnam and want to find vegetarian restaurant, look for the word Chay. I went
to my room first to deposit the water bottle before going out again to buy
vegetarian bun for dinner. It was surprisingly filling, Alhamdulillah.
I
watched a bit of Wimbledon before turning in.
Saturday,
7 July 2018
I
slept again after waking up for morning prayers and got up at 07:30. After calling
my niece and talking to my sis and dad, I walked to Trần Phú to find the airport bus stop and was happy to find one 7
minutes away. I then turned back and set off for BaoViet Bank where I changed
USD60 (I would need some money for an upcoming trip). Then I crossed to a mall
diagonally across before walking on to the Cathedral. I wanted to enter but morning
visiting hours ended at 11:00 so I left and walked to Huynh Thuc Khang. I intended
to have lunch at Bo De, a vegetarian restaurant there but on the way there
stopped at a blind massage place. The prices were 20% lower than the average in
the main tourist thoroughfare so I decided to have a massage. I asked for hot
stone add-on and that cost VND10K extra. All in all, I paid only VND90K or less
than USD4! It was a basic place and I shared a three-bedded room. My masseuse
came a few minutes later and spent the first 10 minutes on the phone while
massaging my head. She stopped after that and my experience improved.
I
left within the hour and made my way to Bo De. I was sufficiently hungry by
then and ordered a spring roll and some noodle soup. The spring roll was huge! My
lunch cost VND37K but I only had VND36K in small change and the owner waved me
off indicating it was OK. I thanked him and left.
Cho
Xom Moi was just a few steps away and I went in to check it out. It sold fresh
vegetables and seafood and some clothes. I didn’t stay long here. I decided to
return to my hotel to seek refuge from the sun and made my way back.
I
ventured out again in late afternoon and walked to a small lane next to a
construction site with stalls lining both sides of the alley a la night market.
I had noticed they sell a lot of mango ‘cakes’, cashew nuts, and other food
stuff like durian and jackfruit sweets and snacks. I walked up and down the
lane and left with some cashew nuts. I dropped by Chay Banh Mi Stall for
another vegetarian bun, this time with cheese. Then I returned to my room to
finish packing and rest.
Sunday,
8 July 2018
I
slept after morning prayers and woke up at 07:30. After breakfast, I read my
novel. I checked out and left the hotel at 09:15 and walked to the bus stop. There
was a lot of traffic that early on Sunday morning. After a while, a Filipino
girl came along and asked for the airport bus stop. I told her I was waiting
for the bus too. We chatted while waiting and she told me that she took a cab
from the airport to the city and it cost her VND500,000 which was 10 times more
than a one-way bus fare!
The
bus arrived and we boarded. It was a 40-minute ride to the airport and the last
stop was the domestic airport. It was only a 5-minute covered walk to the
international terminal so it wasn’t a problem. I wanted to go through passport
control but was told to queue at the counter. It turned out that some system
was down and our boarding passes for online check-in couldn’t be accepted. I had
to queue a while to get the counter to print the usual boarding pass. While the
passport control was fairly quick, security check was slow as we had to shed
off our footwear. Ugh.
I
browsed the shops before making my way to the gate. We were called to board
quite late and again had to board a bus to the plane. We took off half an hour
later than scheduled and as a result, landed half an hour late at KLIA 2. I rushed
through the terminal to the autogate – I don’t understand those who shuffle and
dawdle when they have sat for two hours in the plane. So thankful I didn’t have
to join the queue for passport control as it was longggg. After performing
prayers, I went to find the bus back to KL Sentral and managed to board a few
minutes before it left. The traffic from KLIA 2 was bad too.
I
quite like Nha Trang. I didn’t see any Malays there unlike in Saigon where every
third person is Malay. That’s great because you don’t travel to a foreign land
to meet familiar faces. I found two halal restaurants (one was Persian or sth
and the other Indian) but I decided I wanted to try the local fare because I was
there to experience the local flavour. I have a feeling I might just make
another trip there, if only to buy a crocodile leather bag, have a massage and have
some vegetarian meal –although it means I have to fly cattle airline again.
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