ho chi minh trip - seaside villa

it was a short 4-day trip with colleagues to vietnam. and it was an very interesting one.

we had planned to spend 2 days at a seaside villa and another 2 at ho chi minh city. and the plan was to head to the seaside villa once we arrive, and to sleep early. for day 2, we intended to wake up early, hire motorbikes and hit the market early in the morning. we were told the market was 100m from the villa. and after all the shopping, we would marinate the meats and head off to the hot springs for the afternoon on our motorbikes. and we would return to the villa for the barbecue... we would then check out the next day and make our way to ho chi minh city and spend the evening there before checking out the next day. that was the plan. but what unfolded was rather different.

we arrived as planned and were faced with the first challenge. the driver couldn't speak english, and we couldn't speak vietnamese. haha... thankfully, he knew where to bring us to. and by the time we reached the villa, it was close to midnight. we were presented with the next shock. we had expected 4 rooms but it had only 3. so in the end, all the girls had to sleep in the master bedroom while the guys shared 2 rooms. it was almost 3am when we slept. the next day, all the girls woke up late and the guys took the opportunity to walk around the estate. i took a look at google map and concluded that there was no real civilisation anywhere near where we were, much less motorbike rentals and markets... and this was subsequently confirmed by the villa cleaner. the nearest market was over 10km away. and after lots of discussions (yes, when traveling in a group, you can expect lots of discussions before decisions are made), we decided to just hire a cab and make our way to the market. by the time we finished our marketing, it was already late afternoon. so it was lots of preparations for some of us while the others went swimming and kayaking at and around the villa.

the marketing was one helluva experience. it reminded me of singapore in the 70s. stores were organised according to their produce type and packed close to one another. at the meat section, pork and different parts of the pig (intestines, stomach, etc) were arranged on wooden tables and there were many flies buzzing around the pieces of meat. it looked very distasteful considering many of the meat pieces looked dry and stale. and i do also note that they were selling cooked meat next to the uncooked meat. ewe... anyway, we couldn't find any stores that sell cut chicken parts. instead, chickens were sold live and slaughtered in front of you when you buy them. but what made all of us sick was that apart from the live chickens, there were also live goose, and puppies. yes, puppies. we decided not to purchase the chickens in the end and just focused on seafood.

anyway, the barbecue went well and by the time we ended, it was close to midnight. there were lotsa merrymaking and alcohol during the evening and many got drunk. and for the few of us who remained sober, we had to look after those who were drunk and clear up the mess that was created. it wasn't until about 3-4am before we retired. the next day was quite a blur as we cleared up and finished up eating the left over from the night before. we finally checked out of the villa after lunch before making our way to ho chi minh city itself.