From the Cu Chi Tunnels, we came straight back to the Sinh Tourist office. By then, we were already famished. It was past 1:00 p.m. already. We just picked out a place to eat near the area. We would have wanted to have some Vietnamese food but we have not yet scoured the area, and all we saw were those western-styled restaurants since we're in the backpackers' area. We picked the Buffalo, and dined al fresco. Prices were reasonable considering the taste. I got a lasagna, because I'm Garfield and I love lasagna, and my friends got some subway-like sandwich, similar to the ones sold by the street vendors in Ho Chi Minh, and some steak. My lasagna was really yummy; the sauce was made of real tomatoes and it was served in a clay pot. Very cute. It cost around VND 110,000 and I ordered some Vietnamese iced tea (iced loose leaf tea sans sugar), and paid 10% service charge.
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to rest for a while before we head out to Saigon Square. But the bed was so inviting that I slept from 2pm to 7pm. No kidding! Half of my day was gone!
Oh well. Guess we were dead tired for not getting enough sleep during the previous day with our late flight to Vietnam and all. So, we just went to Ben Tanh Market to get some dinner. According to the hotel staff, the night market is open till midnight or so. We asked for directions and the competent staff gave us their version of a map where all the places of interest are pointed out. The hotel staff told us that we could walk to Ben Tanh Market from our hotel. We finally decided to check out the market and pick up some souvenirs; after all, we only had 3 days to spend in Ho Chi Minh. Also, we'd be out for the whole day the next day for our Cai Be, Vinh Long, and Mekong Tour.
Since Ben Tanh Market is just walking distance from the hotel, we really walked all the way there! It was not far away and the hotel staff made us walk the busy streets, not the dimly-lit ones, where there are a lot of people and vehicles passing by. So, even if it was night time already, we felt completely safe. But still, crossing the street going to Ben Tanh was a challenge; there was no stop light. Haha! But the motorists were kind enough to let us pass through, or at the very least, they tried not to hit us. Heehee.
Well, the night market is not a huge place; just a couple of short streets on both sides of the Ben Tanh Market. The items on sale are touristy, with some bags, shirts and home decor and paintings thrown into the mix. Naturally, we bought the usual Vietnam key chains, bookmarks and souvenir shirts from the night market stalls. Some of the storekeepers were willing to accept USD and Philippine peso in lieu of Vietnamese dong, since we said we didn't have VND with us while shopping. Some will tell you that they have not yet made a sale and will plead for you to buy, and some will not let you leave the stall without buying anything. Apparently, if you leave without buying, people will think that their prices are expensive. Some will get angry with you if you just ask without buying anything. The sellers at the market employ all marketing tricks to entice the buyers, especially the foreigners, to part with their money, in whatever currency it may be.
Apart from buying all those touristy trinkets to bring back home, we also had our dinner at Ben Tahn. There were a couple of similar-looking makeshift outdoor eateries, the ones with the plastic seats and/or stools. All were serving Vietnamese food and we just picked one of those eateries and we were quite happy with our choice. I had some noodles and they gave us plateful of green, leafy veggies, including fresh mint. It was a treat, really, to eat fresh veggies with our noodles. The food are priced cheaply, very affordable and the taste is great! Very satisfying.
I think we just stayed there for less than 3 hours and then we returned back to our hotel, well, to sleep again. We need to leave the hotel very early in the morning for our Mekong river tour the following day.
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