After 2,5 hours flight from the Philippines to Ho Chi Minh City... Now I can say, Xin Chao.
Yeah, now I'm in Saigon... with a million Vietnamese Dong... Heart pumping fast with the overwhelming idea of a million and also a possibility that I am somehow losing in the exchange.
The girl in a traditional Vietnamese dress just basically grabbed my USD and Euro bills and gave me a million with a note as if I won a million. "Here is your one million Ma'am (take it, take it and leave...)."
Surviving that... I'm off to the next challenge... How to get to Pham Ngu Lao without being stashed by the persistent "middlemen" for the taxi.
First offer: I bring you Pham Ngu Lao, give me 250,000 Dong.
Answer: NO!
Second offer: OK, OK... give me 200,000 Dong, just like 12USD.
Answer: NO!
My offer: 100,000
His answer: 150,000
My answer: NO!
Then he came to me after this bargaining with a deal, "You give me 100,000 Dong but when the guy in taxi (another passenger) asks you how much you give me, tell him 250,000. OK?!"
Oh well, OK! Now I am an accessory to the crime but saved me so much! And my million is down to 900,000!
I passed the first level in surviving Vietnam, LEARN HOW TO SAY NO!
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