Day 14! The beginning of this one is the end of a stressful few days, but as you’ll see it all worked out!

I boarded another very empty flight, this time to Vietnam! But before I boarded this flight I met someone in the airport also going to Ho Chi Minh City.

After telling him my visa predicament, he told me about a VPN app that was free and allowed WhatsApp!! So just minutes before my flight I downloaded it and prayed that my visa would be there.

And sure enough… it was!!

I was so overjoyed that I gave him the biggest hug! I wish I could remember his name because in that moment I was 99.9% sure I was going to be okay!

The flight attendants passed out a preflight snack which I scarfed down and then we were on our way to Vietnam!

On my flight I finished my audio book, Iron Flame, which I thoroughly enjoyed! If you like fantasy novels, I’d recommend Fourth Wing (the first book) and Iron Flame!

As we came closer to Ho Chi Minh, we were met with a sea of golden light that just flowed across Vietnam.

It felt pretty surreal that I was finally back in SE Asia and about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime!

After deplaning, I still wasn’t 100% sure my visa was legit… and I also wasn’t sure if my bag made it to Vietnam.

But after going seamlessly through security and hustled to find my bag, all my fears went away!

I was reunited with my bag and I not only had a working visa into Vietnam, but a 90 day visa (my original was only 30)!

So now I’m truly in no rush and can decide when I want to leave (I do still see myself doing closer to 30 days though).

When I stepped outside of the airport I was confronted by a number of people trying to get me to take their “taxi.” They even reached onto my phone and clicked cancel on my grab (Uber) ride.

Now, you want to watch out for these guys, because a lot of the time they will overcharge you and scam you. So I stuck with my grab because it was a secure payment and a fixed price!

I arrived at my hostel around 3:30am and promptly went to sleep after getting to my bed.

I woke up around 10am and took my first shower in a few days.

After doing so I went to the lobby of my hostel to see who I could meet!

The reviews of the hostel claimed it “impossible” to meet people, but I quickly met a number of solo travelers that I would hang out with throughout the day!

I met a solo traveler from the UK/Iran, Sam, and our first mission was to find a working ATM and some food!

Funnily enough, Sam had been to Kansas City many times which I thought was wild seeing how no one knew about it the last time I was in SE Asia!

There are SO many people on mopeds in this city. I’ll definitely be waiting to ride where it’s more quiet! Our hostel is also next to one of the busiest round abouts I’ve ever seen.

It took Sam and I a lot longer than we thought to find an ATM that worked, but eventually we did. So then we headed to a nearby Banh Mi place to enjoy a VERY cheap meal (and my first Banh Mi in Vietnam)!

For 48,000 dong, I got a very large and tasty chicken “in sauce” sandwich! I will definitely be eating my fair share of these as the trip progresses!

My next mission was a haircut… because my hair was super thick and super poofy in the humidity!

It might not look it, but I got a lot taken off and had it thinned for the first time in months! I can already feel how much lighter it is!

The haircut only cost 120,000 Dong, which is just under $5!

After my haircut, I met back up with Sam and met a few new solo travelers! Daniel from Toronto and Max from the UK.

We all set out for our next excursion, the War Remnants Museum.

I didn’t take any pictures inside, nor would I feel comfortable sharing them on this blog. But all I can say is, wow.

This museum was very impactful and brought a lot of information to light that I didn’t know about the Vietnam war.

It’s so sad the atrocities that were committed and I think it was a very important place to go to start my time in this country.

I’d highly recommend this museum, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

After the museum, Daniel and I headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

It was unfortunately under construction, but it’s interesting seeing the architecture built and influenced by France’s presence.

After I took this selfie, a Vietnamese woman who was in front of the cathedral for a photo shoot asked to take a photo with me 😂

I said yes, but it was my first time experiencing something like this… she even wanted to take a picture where we were looking into each others eyes…

I might be her social media husband now 😬

I never experienced that in Thailand so I’m curious to see if it happens again.

We then quickly checked out this building which appeared to be an upscale market and postal service and then made our way back to the hostel to rest!

I ended up taking a nap and then sitting in the lobby waiting for the people I met to be ready for dinner!

We ended up having a crew of 5 of us go get pho together! And pho is the national dish of Vietnam!

We added on Jaden from the US and Bart from Amsterdam (to my right not pictured).

The meal and beer together was 108,000 dong ($4.41)! It was very filling and I’m enjoyed my first Vietnamese beer.

After we feasted we hopped back to the hostel to pick up another guy, Valentin from Denmark, and made our way to the Bui Vien Walking Street!

This walking street reminded me of Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand… but on steroids! Loud clubs, people trying to sell you random things, and even people blowing fire in the streets!

At this point we picked up another hostel goer, Brodie from Scotland, and we found a quiet bar to grab some cheap beers!

We ended up staying for a few hours and chatted about everything! As I said in Thailand, it’s just incredible how many people you can meet and how easy it is to just hang out and connect.

I couldn’t have asked for a better first day! I know as the trip progresses I’ll meet more and more cool people and continue to grow “the squad.”

For now, I’ll be in Ho Chi Minh City for a few more days and then I’ll figure out where to go to next.

I’ve been asking the people I’ve met what they suggest so I’m getting an idea of a route too!

I’m already itching to get out of the hectic city, but I’m in no rush!

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of Vietnam has in store for me and I’m SO happy I made it safe and sound into this wonderful country!

– Elie