You must have seen puppet show. But have you ever heard of water puppet show?
Have you ever been to any country where each and every corner is decorated and is so colourful during their New Year Celebration?
Till you think about these questions…
Let’s begin another fun-filled blog series by sharing our experience and, at the same time, help you plan yours.
As we call ourselves Travel Freaks…………
In this blog series, we will take you all on an amazing trip to Vietnam. Just hold on to your curiosity. We will unfold everything about Vietnam.
Table of Contents
1. Why Vietnam?
As we pointed out at the beginning of this blog, Vietnam is all about culture, nature, history and food. Their history reflects their perseverance; their culture reflects their generosity and simplicity; their landscape is breathtaking, and last but not least, their mouth-watering street food.
It’s difficult to explain how much can be explored. We can only say you will fall in love with this fantastic country once you visit.
When are you planning to visit? Till the time you think, get a glimpse of Vietnam through our eyes.
2. How did we land in Vietnam?
Vietnam’s main cities, such as Ho Chi Minh, Da Nang, and Hanoi, are well connected with most countries. Our flight was from New Delhi to Ho Chi Minh, with a layover in Da Nang. It was approximately a five-hour flight from New Delhi to Da Nang and a little over six hours layover at Da Nang. It was a one-and-a-half-hour flight from Da Nang to Ho Chi Ming City.
Our excitement was over the moon as soon as we landed in Da Nang. We were thrilled to finally land in this beautiful country. It was 4:30 AM when we landed; hardly any shops were open in the Airport premises. We waited patiently for the shops to open. At around 8 o’clock, the shops opened.
As we were starving for breakfast, we entered one of the food outlets where we ordered their famous Pho (a Vietnamese noodle soup) with tea. Thankfully, we found charging ports at the food outlet. Be aware there are no charging outlets in the Da Nang Airport. You can get one at any food outlet in the Airport.
After having our breakfast and spending some time at the food outlet, we moved for the boarding of our next flight to Ho Chi Minh City.
At around 12:25 p.m., we landed at Ho Chi Minh City. We took our SIM Card from one of the outlets that were present in the exit area. We chose Viettel Mobile because of their better plan.
One thing that we observed soon after landing was that they could barely understand English. It would be better to use an online translator for better communication. We also used a translator wherever they had difficulty following what we were saying.
Nevertheless, we continued our journey by booking a cab using Grab to head to our stay.
One thing which we observed, as it was Tet aka Vietnamese New Year, all the places were beautifully decorated and everything was so colourful. We were really so happy that we chose this time to visit the country :).
You might want to know………
3. Where was our stay in Ho Chi Minh City?
We booked ACE Home in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City. The area has all the necessary amenities, such as food options, markets, and even medical shops. We chose this location as it was close to some of the best street food options available.
The hotel manager was warm. He welcomed us with free Beer coupons. It was the first time that has happened with us. Surprisingly, he invited us to a New Year party organised that day. It was also the time for the Vietnamese New Year. We were pretty excited to hear that.
There was a small alley leading to the building where we stayed. We removed our shoes on the ground floor, as there was a custom to remove the shoes on the ground floor and slowly moved towards the room. The room was excellent, and we loved it.
Looking at our watch, we found it was already 3 o’clock in the afternoon and we didn’t have lunch. We were also getting late for the first destination.
What did you think we would be resting on the first day? Haha…
Won’t you ask…….
4. Where were we heading to after lunch?
Returning to our story, we quickly headed for lunch after freshening up. We found a good street food shop serving rice with boiled, soupy veggies. We loved the taste and the uniqueness with which it was prepared.
After having a delicious meal, we headed to The Water Puppet Show, the first destination of the trip. It was about 3-4 km from our stay. As we landed just a few hours ago, we thought to explore the city by walking and trying to capture the first impression through our lenses.
We loved the path leading to the show theatre. The show was scheduled to start at 6 o’clock. We were there by 4:30 PM and waited eagerly to start.
Wait! What? Water Puppet Show???
Yeah, you heard read it right. It was a Puppet Performance on Water.
We booked the Water Puppet Show tickets through an agent, as no online booking platforms are available. The ticket cost was around 930 INR per person. We can help you out in case you need.
Returning to our story, we got the tickets and headed to the auditorium. One of the staff politely showed us our seats. We were excited as it was going to be a unique experience.
Soon, the show started by raising the curtain. We could see a pool of water where puppets started performing that humans controlled from behind. The puppets presented short stories based on the various cultures that Vietnam offers. We loved the experience. It was a unique one. Many people were sitting on the side as voice-over artists for the puppets.
The puppets include humans, fish, monkeys, dragons, etc. It was a mesmerising one-hour show that will forever affect our memory. After the show ended, we booked a cab to return to our stay as we were too tired to explore anything.
Most importantly, there were a few important spots that we had planned for the next day. Hence, we needed some good sound sleep. It was around 9 o’clock when we had egg fried rice from a local restaurant . Food was yum. And we ended our first day in Vietnam.
Now, before we end this blog, you may want to know………..
5. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
Do follow our Instagram handle @mindfulllofvacations and watch for the next destination story of Vietnam. For any query related to any trip, drop a mail at @mitkau007@gmail.com.
by mitkau