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Day 11. (Fri 25th Feb) by AJ.
Cambodia/Vietnam border to Chau Doc
We had a long bus journey today to the Cambodia/Vietnam border but everyone slept most of the way ... definitely the worst hangover of the trip so far! But managed to get to Stan the man's restaurant to pick up our pack lunch at 7am!! We had to carry our own bags over the border this time through lots of little check point huts - glad we were part of a tour otherwise we wouldn't have had a clue what to do! Although we did have to pay a dollar to get through - cheeky bribary! But to be honest, I think we would have paid anything as they looked very scary!!
We had a different bus on the otherside and arrived at Chau Doc town that evening, in time for a little tour around the block including an amazing locals market! We then had a motorbike trip through the riverside streets and up Sam Mountain. AMAZING!! The ride was absolutely fantastic and such a laugh, although my driver was a bit of a cautious Clive so I was last up the mountain! I joked that I was too heavy for the bike .. the driver agreed. (So much for losing weight travelling!) !!!
At the top we all got some drinks from the little make shift bar and watched the sunset over Vietnam lying in hammocks! Perfect! The sunset was a little hazy but it was still beautiful and the views over the rice fields were fantastic. We drove back down in the dark - and my driver put his foot down a bit more - thank god! It was hilarious over all the bumps! We stopped off to view a temple, which looked just like a chinese temple but was very tacky due to flasing lights! It reminded me of Disney! But apparantly the temples are now built like that to attract tourism! We ate from the street markets again that night and then sampled some of the local food from the stalls - it was a bit of pot luck what you ended up with due to the language barrier, the BBQ bananas in rice cake were amazing! (although we are just guessing they were wrapped in rice!?).
Day 12 (sat 26th Feb) By AJ.
Ho Chi Ming City (Saigon)
Another long bus journey today with a ferry crossing - which was hilarious as the ferry set off before we had got on! We all had to do a James Bond style running jump!! Had another short walking tour around the area and discovered that the roads here were even more mental than Cambodia! There was a great back-packers strip and a huge market! It was 'the Swedish couples' last night so we all had a meal out together then hit the sports bar (so cultural!). It was a fantastic night, finished off with renting a kareoke room in a random hotel! We all sang for hours!!
Day 13 (sun 27th Feb) By AJ.
Ho Chi Ming City walking tour
Chris and I opted out of the group tunnel tour today and instead completed our own walking tour of the city - complimentary of The Lonely Planet Guide. It was brilliant to do some of our own exploring and we covered lots of the city - about 10km in total. We started off at the market and did a bit of bartering, then followed the tour along the street markets and through to the wealthier part of the city - very upmarket!! We had amazing spring rolls off a street stall beside the Cathedral and French colonial post office for lunch, then finished off at the Zoo and botanical gardens. On the walk back found a fantastic bakery with amazing cheesy sugary bread!!
That night we got the overnight train to Nha Trang. The train was very old-school with little cabins with 4 beds - we all played lots of cards and games - I slept like a baby!
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