January 2025 – North American Darrell

Vietnam railways – HCMC to Da Nang, Vietnam

Vietnam Railways – HCMC to Da Nang was a 17-hour trip!

We started at the downtown station at 6 AM and worked our way South traversing the Oceanside and rice fields arriving in Da Nang at 11 PM. It was neat to see the Countryside through a window most of the trip.

It would have been about the same price to fly with an advanced ticket, but I’m glad I did this trip once. It also gave me a pretty good idea of what it will be like using my Europass.

I put together the below trip but thinking about it for 17 hours may change the aggressive but inexpensive plan:

If I do stick with the plan, I will definitely make shorter trips. I initially thought I would see the countryside via train which still may be the case in Switzerland and colder countries in the Northern part of the map. I have ten legs for 60 days available to use so trying to get the biggest bang for the buck was going far but that thought process will not work for me again.

Here are some more videos from the train trip:

There were plenty of rice farms. It was amazing to see how each farmer had their own land setup. There were water sources and flags indicating the readiness or each separate patch of land.

A lot of the trip was along the Oceanside which was neat to see. Most locals were out there fishing.

I was in car three of over twenty cars on the train. Being it was the New Year’s holiday; the train was relatively full. We probably made 10-12 stops along the way picking up and dropping off passengers as well but it appears most of us were there for the full 17-hour trip. I also booked a one-way trip as I was unsure how long I was going to stay in Da Nang and then Na Trang on the way home.

I just checked the tickets and there is an 80% surcharge on the tickets due to the holiday!

How about that BS? The actual train ticket is 16% or $8.39 of the entire $52.42 cost of the ticket without fees. That is only my halfway point home too so another $50+ to get back which is more expensive than flying!

The overall shitty experience gave me no hesitation to cancel my Euro-rail pass this morning:

I knew there was a chance I would need to cancel so I bought the $8 cancellation insurance. I am sad that I will not see that part of the world via train but thankfully it was the only money lost. Ultimately, it sounded like a great idea and the price was phenomenal price for a ten-day pass.

I can still hit some of the cities with my Wizz airlines all-you-can-fly pass as detailed in this blog.

HCMC–>Vung Tau, Vietnam – Ferry roadtrip!!

I have been itching to get out of the big city of Saigon for a few days. The problem is that it is New Year’s week and everything is super busy and crowded.

No problem, I found a way as always seem to when traveling and took a fun two-hour ferry ride.

I booked a ferry ride from the main terminal in HCMC down the Saigon River and then east to Vung Tau:

I am not sure what to expect so I booked a one-way ferry to see if I like the new location.

My original Airbnb in HCMC is booked until February 11th, so I packed a light bag and, off I went on January 26th, 2025. The beach looks great and there are tons of “white tourists” here so I might be on to something.

I found an inexpensive Airbnb with a rooftop pool for $17 a night:

I noticed a lot of Lunar New Year displays in HCMC, but Vung Tao goes all in as it was incredible to see. I have attached a hyper-ink and summary below:

“Chinese New Year 2025 is also called Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New Year. In Mandarin, it’s called Guonian or Chunjie. 2025 is the Year of the Snake.

Chunjie starts on Wednesday, January 29th, and goes on until the Lantern Festival on February 12th. It’s also the first Spring Festival after it was successfully added to the cultural heritage list. People in China get an 8-day holiday for the Chinese New Year 2025.

During this holiday, they gather with their families and watch the wonderful Spring Festival Gala while enjoying a delicious reunion dinner. A series of celebrations will continue until the 15th day of the lunar calendar, the Lantern Festival”.

I hope the below pictures and video do it justice as a lot of hard work and passion goes into all of these displays.

Hammock camping! St Croix Virgin Islands!!

This is a blog for the ages! I went to beautiful St. Croix and hammock camped during a tropical storm!! It was Wednesday October 4th, 2023, and it started great! – LOL!

It was my first flight on my Frontier Airlines AYCF pass was one of the biggest and possibly dumbest adventures yet. I would probably need to do something dumb on purpose to beat this one, stay tuned! 👌

I have traveled with my hammock many places as it is compact, and I just need two trees to be comfy. This trip was no different, I packed my hammock, rain fly, and basic camping essentials.

I had all the base camp basics covered, running water, flushable toilet, beer fridge, and setup in a perfect spot! It was going to be an amazing few days exploring the islands.

Everything was perfect but I was advised to set up camp quickly as they predicted rain. I honestly could have used a bit more of a warning, but I think I was going to be the entertainment for the evening.

This is what they call a Tropical storm in the islands which is less than an actual hurricane. I was buckled in and ready for a little rain.

After the first night, it turned from the worst experience to the best experience. If I had used proper tent pegs the first night, it would have worked out. I would not have been soaked and cold with my rain fly sounding like a flag on a windy day. I had such a peaceful sleep listening to the sounds of the forest with a light breeze from my ceiling fan.

Lesson learned for next time as I am going to hammock camp again in the islands again.

Riding the chicken bus! Guatemala!!

I have always heard the term “Chicken bus,” but I never really understood it until I visited Guatemala!

It does not take a big imagination to understand the term as almost everyone uses the chicken bus as their main source of transportation within Guatemala. If you ever wondered what happened to the school bus you took as a kid, there is a good chance it ended there.

I visited Guatemala twice (San Jose and Antigua) on my Volaris All-you-can-fly pass (AYCF). There are direct flights from Los Angeles, and the same plane ends up in San Jose, Costa Rica, so I took advantage of that, too. The flight is about 60 dollars with the AYCF pass, and you can find an Airbnb in both cities for around $20-$30 a night.

If you can stay a month, you can find rent for about $600 a month for a simple, clean stay.

My first experience riding the chicken bus was from the capital of San Jose to the amazing city of Antigua.

It was a great way to start the crazy mode of transportation as the road was relatively straight with no cliffs, LOL. Although, nothing would prepare me for the trip to Lake Atitlan was a start.

Lake Atitlan is the deepest lake in Central America and a three-chicken bus transfer from Antigua. I am not joking when I say that I was chicken shit scared! These bus drivers are insane and swear that everyone on the bus was hanging on for dear life as we traversed the road with cliffs on both sides.

Did I mention that these buses may still have the same tires they did went we took them to school?

I plan to write blogs on each of the cities visited in Guatemala. I wanted to start with the Chicken Bus first as it sets up how awesome of an adventure it is to visit.

I remember vividly asking this guy if they checked the brakes!

Panglao Island – The Philipines

I took a five-week trip to the Philippines at the end of 2024. I rented a a condo in Cebu City for the entire time and made several road trips to neighboring islands including the beautiful island of Panglao.

The trip included a two-hour ferry ride from Cebu City to the port of Tagbilaran, a bus ride and then a short tuk tuk ride to the beach. This was an amazing stop and one of my favorites on my trip. You could say I was relaxed!

A massage a day, everyday! HCMC, Vietnam!!

Health is a major driver in the Asian lifestyle! Anytime I head to the gym anywhere in North America, I see Asians in the sauna and hot tub taking care of their bodies. Their habits are a very good reason they tend to live a longer life as shown in the below graph of the longest-living by Country:

They are top three while the life expectancy is ahead of North Americans by five years:

Each time I have visited Asia (Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, and now Vietnam) there are many spas. Since the cost is pennies on the dollar, I treat myself to a treatment a few times a week, minimum.

My first week:

USD $12 full body massage,

USD $20 45-minute shoulder massage, mineral bath, sauna, and cold plunge.

USD $35 shoulder massage with fish footbath, one-hour facial, and 30-minute eye treatment for baggy eyes.

USD $12 for a haircut, hot shave, and ten-minute relaxing shampoo and loved his TIP!

USD $5 for a hot shave every few days with the same crew too!

Each experience has been fantastic and well worth the money each time. Most are down an alley with someone advertising at the entrance with the prices and promotions:

Imagine, a lifestyle where you can afford to get hundreds of dollars of massages a week for pennies on the dollar! If you went with a basic $12 massage, you could even get one every day of the week for $84.

That is the price of one massage in North America unless you’re the guy below traveling the world living his dreams! 🤓

Good morning, Vietnam!

Good morning, Vietnam was made by one of my favorite actors and released in 1987 which would have made me 15 years old at the time. Each time I visit I new Country, I look back at things that happened earlier to my life.

I saw the movie at Londonderry Theatres, which was the neighborhood mall growing up. I wouldn’t have dreamed that I would someday visit Saigon. The funny part is that I thought MASH was also filmed in Vietnam, and thankfully, I was corrected before I wrote a blog on MASH instead of GMV.

I visited the Vietnam War Remnants Museum in Saigon, which was heartbreaking.

The torture the Vietnamese people endured was horrible to witness for me:

Made in Vietnam! That is a good thing!!

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on January 14, 2025. I knew street food would be great, but I never imagined it would be better than Thailand. I wrote a blog on street food here.

HINT: Vietnamese food is now at the top of the list! Bahn Mi, Pho, spring rolls with peanut sauce all ~$3 each!! 😋🤑

I also knew that most apparel and shoes are made in Vietnam too! How is that for a shopping win-win!!

Admittedly, I am not a big shopper. I try to keep it simple when traveling, as I do not pay for bags. The problem becomes when items are so cheap that they are almost disposable (setting up a Crocs joke here).

District one in HCMC has Bein Than market and many other pop-up stores selling knock-off brands. I know, you get what you pay for, but this stuff was worth it even if some of it does not make it home.

I always said that I would never buy a pair of Crocs, but I do not recall saying that I would not buy TWO pairs of Crocs. 🤓

I am going to take so much shit for this but honestly, I do not care as they were $10 bucks each. I also bought a couple of shoulder travel bags that were $10 each also making it a total of $40 for all four items.

I also bought a Nike jacket made of the same wicking material as the authentic. I knew it was a knockoff as the sizing is off on Asia products but again, it was $12 so what the hell:

You cannot even buy one of those items in North America for the total price of all five, screw it!

Here are some YouTube Videos of the famous Ben Thanh market:

The market outside Ben Thanh is better IMO and where I bought my items. There are so many other knockoff items that we overpay for in North America. These knockoffs items in some cases are made in the same factories and you cannot tell the difference and even go as far as to use the same tags:

I was wearing my $50 USD “Osprey Daylite” sling shoulder bag that has thousands of miles on it and did a side-by-side comparison.

The original is definitely made better and that is the reason it is guaranteed for life with the “Almighty guarantee“. I do not know of many other brands that stand behind their products forever so that makes sense.

The North Face, Patagonia, Nike and Crocs appeared to be authentic without a negative person’s overview.

North Shore, Oahu Hawaii! Hammock life!

There are not too many places in the United States that are as nice as Hawaii in general. My absolute favorite place to go is the North Shore on the island of Oahu.

I can reach there by bus from my $35-a-night Honolulu Airbnb which I have stayed at a few times for $2.50. I stay in the single occupancy, but she has seven properties that vary in size and price. I can help you find the perfect pad for cheap!

I normally take my Tommy Bahama beach chair you can grab at the Costco down the street. I pack a few seltzers and grab my traveling hammock. There are several beaches to choose from but close to Foodland where you can grab some fresh poke bowl for under $10.

Talk about a perfect day in Hawaii for under $50 with accommodations!

Ants marching – Ho Chi Mihn City!

I have been to a few Countries in Asia (Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, and now Vietnam), and the general mode of transportation is a scooter. I am blown away by the traffic flow each time and always explain it as ants marching.

Everyone gives way to the other all while getting to their destination, fast.

If you took the time to watch any of the videos, you would notice that almost everyone smiles and says hello to me. That is the first thing I notice in a new Country, so I know how much I can use my charming personality to have more fun.