We took the bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon and it was a relatively painless affair. The hotel made us a packed breakfast and arranged a tuk-tuk to take us to the bus pick-up (approx 200 metres away) and we were settled on the bus riding through the city by 7.30am. After flying through the last two borders, it was quite exciting doing this one by land. Everyone in S.E. Asia looks after their tourists very well, and you are hearded through the administration with maximum SE Asian efficiency, (so it takes a few hours, but hey). By 4pm we were safely in Madam Cuc's Hotel 127, supping free juice and eating bananas. Its really not bad this travelling lark.
We took a stroll in the early evening to explore our new city. The first thing we had to do was cross the road. You are literally putting your life into the hands of several hundred motorcyclists everytime you do this. At the busy times, and at all other times now I think of it, there are motos coming at your from all directions as well as criss-crossing each other and weaving in and out. It's like water. There are no road rules here. Its each man for himself and the bigger you are the better chance you have of getting where you want to go. If you don't have a vehicle, you don't stand much chance. The idea, apparently, is to step into the road and walk slowly across the road. It's kind of like the slow walk across 'No-Mans-Land' we all know of from WW2 with probably as much chance of surviving. The motos will see you and drive round you and the few cars just have to slow down. It can be disconcerting when you are putting the theory into practice especially when a full speed moto driver is not looking where he is going and chatting away to someone on the other side of the road... Eeek. For the first half and hour we were totally mesmerised by the seething masses on the road and stood on the side grinning and laughing, (slightly hysterically). When we had made it across the single lane road it was time to tackle the roundabouts with roads of 4 lanes of traffic coming off them... We mentally wrote our wills.
Eventually we found ourselves in a kind of open public space between 2 of the main roads and discovered the Ho Chi Minh past time of choice, a sort of cross between football and badminton where a shuttle cock is kicked between any number of players. The idea being to keep it going for as long as possible. There were loads and loads of small groups of people playing, some in team colours, and we passed them all watching and grinning inanely at this crazy city.
Saigon is another one of these very cosmopolitan cities and I keep finding myself in shoe shops and silk shops where the clothes are beautiful and the service exceptional, (and the sizes too small dammit!), we are always automatically drawn to the fancy eateries and plush drinking establishments. Lunch was baked salmon with mango & spinach in citrus dressing and our early dinner drink was taken accidentally in the Sheraton Hotel bar. Ooops. Budget - Shmudget. Thankfully our dinner of simple noodle soup and Vietnamese spring rolls was included in the hotel price so we could justify this one day of extravagance.
The following day was spent on the internet. One thing no-one ever tells you about traveling is how long everything takes to organise and how long it takes to update and upload pictures onto blogs.
That evening, we met up with Rosie and Richard. Rosie is the sister of my lovely DK friend Emma and they looked after us exceedingly well. It was great to see some familiar faces and be able to chat away to them, instead of all that traveller/stranger small talk. In fact poor Rosie & Richard weren't able to get a word in edgeways and Ben & I talked ourselves hoarse. They took us to a very popular Vietnamese restaurant and then to a very authentic Irish pub. With a very authentic live band. We went back to the hotel happy, fed & watered. Thanks guys!
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