Next chapter: Sai Gon!
I chose Vietnam as my next destination to manage a long-term visa for Thailand, eat all the delicious Vietnamese dishes, explore more of Saigon and focus on work. I ended up staying in Saigon for 6 weeks, had a few short trips and it was my second visit to Vietnam after 2019.
I was really shocked about how much the biggest city in Vietnam and one of the biggest cities in the world changed in just 7 years! The city became much greener, no endless bike honking anymore, a few new skyscrapers (incl. Landmark 81, a 461m tall giant) and endless new options of coffee shops, cocktail bars and restaurants. I truly enjoyed every single day in my apartment in Phu Nhuan and exploring most districts of Saigon. I met super cool new people, had hours of night walks, delicious food, and interesting small trips to other parts of Vietnam.
The prices in Vietnam are still much lower than in Thailand or Malayisa and the country probably offers the best value for money of all countries in the world right now. But that might change very soon since Vietnam continues to develop like a rocket and the quality of living rises with every day. I would say my expenses in Saigon were about half of my expenses in Bangkok for the same or an even higher standard of living.
My first project was to finally manage a long-term visa for a country, which is really hard in Asia. After a few attempts in Malaysia, I tried my luck with the Thai embassy in Saigon to obtain a 5-year visa to finally be able to build a home base in South East Asia without worrying about getting kicked out of the country due to visa overstays. After 9 working days, a lot of paperwork (especially financial & professional proofs) I managed to obtain my 5-year-visa for Thailand, which is a really awesome thing for my next steps in life! Now I will finally be able to set up a strategic home base, to have a place to return to, store some stuff, have an address for official reasons and do long-term plans. I will probably spend 6 months a year in Bangkok now and spend the other 6 months slow traveling - a perfect mix!
I did two short trips during my 6 weeks in Vietnam. The first one was a 3-day trip to the flooded Mekong Delta, a maze of rivers, rice fields, villages, markets and boats. During my days there, I experienced really heavy flooding (in Saigon too, see the pictures below). Some of the houses were totally underwater and the river arms of the mighty Mekong as high as rarely before. I really enjoyed traveling this rural and lush area of South East Asia with super friendly people and interesting food. Can Tho, the province's capital, is a quite cool place too, with simple poetic beauty and a relaxed atmosphere next to the Mekong. The markets in this part of the world are amazing!
The second short tips lead me to the coastal vacation destination of Vung Tau! Just a 2-hour drive away from Saigon, it offers suuuuper delicious seafood, nice small hikes around its hills, some okay-ish beaches and a really pleasant town center. A perfect place for cheap, delicious food straight outta the sea while sitting at the coast.
