On our second to last day in Vietnam we visited our first port, the Cat Lai Terminal. This port was enormous spanning over 2km worth of space. The sheer size of the port cannot be put into words. Thousands of crates were housed at the port waiting to be loaded up. Looking into this entire operation, it would be great for anyone thinking about supply chain management. The amount of planning and work that goes into a port like this enormous and not an easy task. To me seeing the loading and unloading process was most interesting to me. Watching the workers go inside and move goods from crate to crate is something you never think of when goods are transported. I looked into one of the crates and saw a ton of rice. It made me question how much rice is at the port due to Vietnams larger exportation of rice. 

Once we finished up at the company visit and ate lunch we headed to the Ben Thanh Market. A world-famous market with over 13,000 square meters of shopping, most of them crammed side by side, offered a unique twist on shopping. The market offers all sorts of products from local souvenirs to fake luxury goods. For starters prices were not fixed and we were able to negotiate. I put my skills to the test and went after a basketball jersey. I spent over 10 minutes haggling with some ladies over the price and at the end I got the jersey for the right price. It’s exhilarating bargaining with the shops trying to find the right price. It’s a tight environment with many obstacles, and people and you need to stay focused, so you don’t lose sight on your goals. The Ben Thanh Market was nothing like normal shopping and I enjoyed every second of it.