Broke in Vietnam, a family took me in in Da Lat

When I got back to Cebu I was really happy. I was going to Vietnam next, I had already bought my plane ticket.

Then the Papara thing blew up.

Suddenly broke

Because of what was happening with Papara accounts in Türkiye, I couldn't reach the money in my account. Papara is a Turkish payment app, and all my money was there. The accounts had been restricted for an investigation, some people could get to their money, I couldn't.

Suddenly I was broke again.

Luckily the ticket was already bought, so at least I could get to Vietnam. I had no idea how I would live there or where I would stay.

I flew to Ho Chi Minh City. The first thing I did was find a place to stay. When I travel I normally try not to use my credit card, but I had no other option, so I paid for the hostel by card.

Help from AI

I sat down in the hostel cafeteria and opened my laptop. Volunteering came to mind.

I asked an AI for help. I told it to look for hostels in different cities in Vietnam that were looking for volunteers, aimed at backpackers, with a social atmosphere and a free bed. It made a list.

I collected the contact details one by one. Instagram, Facebook, email, phone, WhatsApp, I wrote from everywhere I could.

Two places answered yes. One was in Da Lat, the other on Phu Quoc Island near Cambodia.

The owner on Phu Quoc asked if I was Turkish. When he found out I was, he wanted me to make some food that could be sold on the street. He even asked if I could make döner. My döner experience is limited to eating it. I could make menemen, but selling menemen on the street didn't sound like much of a business idea. He also kept insisting that I come, I didn't go.

The answer from Da Lat was very simple. Come and start.

I explained that I had no place to stay and couldn't use my money. Don't worry, just come, they said.

The next day I walked into the office of a bus company by the road. They only took cash. The guy told me I could buy the ticket on their website, so that's what I did.

I still had no money in my pocket, but now I had somewhere to go. When your pocket is empty the world gets smaller, but that's when the good people in it show up.

King Kong Hostel

I went from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat on a sleeper bus. After a long ride I got to King Kong Hostel.

It was a family business. A couple named Ha and Han ran it, and they had two little girls. From the very first day I didn't feel like a stranger. There was another volunteer like me, Andrew, a British guy with Egyptian roots, and we got along right away.

My jobs were simple. Every evening I worked at the bar, and sometimes I helped with other things around the hostel. Once they asked me to paint four bunk beds, it took two days. At the bar I mostly made drinks with rum, ice, cola and lime.

But it wasn't the work that made King Kong special for me.

Every evening there was a shared meal called Family Dinner. Guests, volunteers and the owners all ate at the same table. When the owners cooked lunch they would put a plate aside for me too. I had the drinks I took written down in a notebook. I knew one day I would get into my account and pay off my debts.

Maze Bar and always the same conversation

I had built myself a routine. Family dinner, then music, pool and games at the hostel bar. Around ten when the bar closed, we went to Maze Bar with friends.

Maze Bar lived up to its name. Inside it was like a labyrinth, several floors, parts that went underground, a rooftop. The first time I went I couldn't figure out where to go in or out. After getting lost a few times I learned it by heart.

For a while this routine was a lot of fun. Two Italian friends, another Italian, Filip from Poland and other travelers coming and going.

But as time went on I noticed something. The people changed but the conversations stayed the same.

Every day someone new arrived and we asked where they were from, what they did, where they had been. Then pool, cards, Monopoly or UNO. In the evening the same bars again. By the end of a month I was bored.

Still, I remember the time I spent there as one of the best periods of my life. At a moment when I was completely broke, a family took me into their home and gave me food and a bed.

The floods

While I was in Da Lat, there was a huge flood in other parts of Vietnam, especially around Da Nang. One day the hostel owner asked if we wanted to help. We said yes without thinking twice.

We went to a warehouse where aid was being collected. All day we sorted clothes, food and other supplies and loaded them onto buses and trucks. We were travelers from different countries, all there for the same job. I filmed that day too. Local newspapers wrote about foreign travelers joining the relief work.

There's a big difference between going to a country just to see it and contributing in some way to what's happening there.

Hue

A month later my Papara account was finally unlocked. I could use my money again, it was time to move on.

Most travelers who come to Vietnam choose Da Nang. As a man who can't swim, going to a city just to get in the sea didn't make much sense to me. Looking at the map of Vietnam, Hue caught my eye. Palaces, citadels and waterways left from the old kingdom.

I stayed three or four days. I visited the palaces and citadels and wandered the streets. After Da Lat it was a totally different Vietnam, more historic, calmer. Not every trip has to be full of extraordinary events. Sometimes walking the streets of a city is enough.

Hanoi

After Hue I went to Hanoi and again stayed three or four days. The city reminded me of Ho Chi Minh City. Crowded streets, motorbikes from every direction, horns that never stop. In Da Lat people had seemed calmer and kinder to me, in the big cities everyone seemed to be rushing somewhere.

The place I was most curious about was the famous train street. In photos it looked really interesting. When I went I wasn't as impressed as I expected. It was full of tourists, cafes and people wanting to take photos. It felt like a tourist show to me. Still, at least I saw it.

I didn't film much in Hue and Hanoi. My camera was with me, but I hadn't built the habit of recording yet. Back then traveling and meeting people came first.

Thailand was next.

What you need to know before going to Vietnam

Visa

• Turkish citizens go to Vietnam with an e visa. You can stay up to 90 days, a single entry is 25 dollars and a multiple entry is 50 dollars. Check the rules for your own passport.
• You apply online, only use the official site, evisa.gov.vn. There are middleman sites that look very similar and charge two or three times more.
• It usually comes through in a few working days, but mine took a month. Apply early and write your details exactly as they are in your passport. Even a one letter mistake can cause trouble.
• Rules can change, check before you go.

Money

• The currency of Vietnam is the dong. There are a lot of zeros and it can confuse you in the first days, look twice before you pay.
• Most ATMs charge a fee per withdrawal. When paying by card or withdrawing, if it asks whether to charge in your home currency or dong, choose dong.
• In big cities card and QR payments are common, but for street food, at markets and at bus companies you need cash. Don't get stuck at the bus office like me, either carry cash or buy the ticket online.
• Don't trust one account at home with all your money. Have a second card and some dollars with you.

Getting around

• In the cities use Grab, you can call taxis and motorbike taxis. The price is clear from the start.
• Between cities the cheapest option is sleeper buses. If you ride at night you also save a night of accommodation.
• There's also a train between Hue and Hanoi, the views are nice.
• When crossing the street don't run and don't stop. Walk at the same speed, the motorbikes go around you.

SIM card

The operators are Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone. You can buy a SIM at the airport with your passport. Viettel is known for having the best signal.

Volunteering

If you're broke or want to stay somewhere longer, write to hostels directly. Like I did, Instagram, WhatsApp, email, whatever there is. Most places give volunteers a bed and food, and in return you work at the bar or the reception.

Weather

• Da Lat is high up, it gets cool in the evenings. Bring a hoodie.
• In central Vietnam, around Hue and Da Nang, September to December is the rain and flood season. If you're going in those months, follow the news.

Places to see

• Ho Chi Minh City. Ben Thanh Market and the War Remnants Museum.
• Da Lat. The lakeside, the night market and the waterfalls around the city. In the evening go to Maze Bar, if you don't get lost you're lucky.
• Hue. The Imperial City, Thien Mu Pagoda and the imperial tombs.
• Hanoi. The Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake and the train street.