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Water Puppet Show.
After missing the floating markets yesterday we made sure we were up early this morning in an attempt to make it this time. Chris's cough worsened over night and kept him up so he was very tired and I, well I love an excuse for a lay in, so we decided to stay in bed and didn't go again. Im sure there will be other floating markets in Vietnam.
At 11am we went to the bus station to wait for our bus to Ho Chi Minh City, we made sure we booked a big bus with more space after experiencing the cosiness of a mini bus yesterday! A minibus turned up and the staff told us to get on. We both looked at them and asked what's going on? They tried to convince us it was a big bus, but then the driver got off and shouted out "Mini Bus?!" So we turned back at them and began to raise our voices, then a couple of minutes later they said "OK, your bus is here now" and instructed us to follow a man who led us to, the big bus! We think they tried to trick us into paying for the big bus but then try and squeeze us on a mini bus so they make more money, but we are less naive now when it comes to transport!
The journey only took three and a half hours, when we got off the bus we were bombarded with men with motorbikes trying to offer us a ride. We knew we wanted to stay in the backpacker area but we didnt know how far we were from it. We looked around and couldn't spot any tuk tuks, so we had to get a lift on a motorbike each. I felt a bit nervous about getting on, especially as Chris's driver put his foot down and sped off as soon as Chris hopped on. My helmet was loose but my driver kept saying it was ok, until someone else came over and tightened it up for me. Chris and his driver were well out of sight by the time we got going. I could feel my palms sweating against the mans body as I held on, it felt like being in a computer game whizzing in and out of traffic, squeezing in between two big coaches and running the red lights! Everyone drives where they want and some how it works. I just prayed Chris would be safe wherever the man was taking us and that I would make it in one piece.
After twenty minutes the driver stopped at the side of a busy road, there were plenty of guest houses and restaurants, so I knew I had been dropped off in the right place, but where was Chris?! My driver held out his hand and asked me to pay him. I told him Chris had the money and asked where he was? He told me he would be along soon, but I told him he had left a few minutes before us so should already be here. Twenty minutes went by, my driver drove up and down the road looking for him and I started to get worried. Then he finally appeared through the sea of motorists. He said he had been dropped off at the other end of the road and had been waiting for me, also getting worried. The stupid drivers, you would think they would have the same drop off areas!
It didn't take long to find somewhere, we were greeted by a really friendly old lady on the street who took us down a really small alley to her guest house. We got checked in then went out to a tourist shop back on the main street and booked tickets to see the Water Puppet show this evening and visit the Chu Chi War Tunnels tomorrow.
Our taxi picked us up at 7:30pm and dropped us off outside the Golden Theatre. We had read mixed reviews about the show so we weren't expecting anything spectacular.
The show was ok, Chris found it boring though. It was all in Vietnamese so we had no idea what it was about, but we enjoyed the traditional music and it was a very unique and colourfiul show. We didn't think the Theatre was far from where we were staying so we decided to walk back, we walked around for an hour before admitting we were lost and took a taxi.
The past few days have been really lazy so we are looking forward to walking around the Chu Chi Tunnels tomorrow and learning about the Vietnam war from their side.
Charlotte & Chris
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