Hi all! I am now on Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! We arrived here last night after a very long bus journey which I will get to shortly.

I think my last blog was from Siem Reap. Well since then we had one more day looking at the temples. Our last day around the temples was a very long one. We set off at 8am to head to one which was over 50kms away! We were in the tuk tuk still so it took us a very long time to get there. Once we got to the first temple it was a 1500 meter walk up a hill. The temple was ruins in a stream. It was very hot as we climbed up the hill. There wasn't really a track as we had to climb up some big rocks. After we climbed down we went to the second one of the day - at the moment I can't remember the name, but I do remember that it was temple had the most detailed carvings on. After that we headed to the last temple, again I can't remember the name! We then decided to go to a floating village - this was another 50kms away! It took about 2 hours but it didn't feel long to me as I feel asleep on the way there. Once we got there we all climbed into a boat. The village was on the Mekong river and we were in the boat for about 2 hours. The village was amazing to look at, they had churches and schools. Some of the houses looked like they were about to collapse. We visited a fish farm which had crocodiles in. I was really scared as the cage they were in did not look very safe at all. Once we finished at the fish farm the boat got stuck! The river wasn't very deep and the man tried for about 10 mins to push the boat off the bottom. I was so glad when he got the boat moving as I did not fancy walking through the Mekong! In Anita's guide book it said that only go in the Mekong if you have guts of steel! Anyway, we all had an enjoyable day!

The next day we were heading back to Phnom Penh. The bus journey again was a very long one. We decided to leave Siem Reap at lunch time so we got to Phnom Penh about 7pm. We knew that as soon as we got off the bus there would be tuk tuk drivers waiting but we were not prepared for the amount that would be there. I could hardly get off the bus and everyone was shouting tuk tuk at me. They were quite aggressive! We managed to get through them all and find our bags. In the end the amount of drivers worked in our favour as we managed to get the tuk tuk for a cheap price to the hostel. We stayed at the hostel that we were in before. We just headed out for a meal when we got back.

The following morning (Wednesday) we had another early start as we were getting the bus to Kampot. They said it would be a 4 hour bus journey. We since found out it was nearly 5 hours. We now know when we have been given a time for a bus journey to add a few hours on to the time! We arrived at lunch time and then mde our way to the guest house. That afternoon we went for a cruise on the river, which was nice. Our original reason for going to Kampot was to go to Bokor National Park, when we got there we found out that it was closed for improvments. There is only one road in and one out and they were being maintained! We were slightly annoyed but decided on the Thursday we decided to go on a tuk tuk to see the salt fields, pepper fields and a small temple. As we got closer to the temple a lot of children were running after the tuk tuk, once we got there they followed us to the temple and explained about the temple. They also asked us a lot of questions, eg: what is your name? Where do you come from? Have you got any brothers or sisters? One asked how old my mum and dad were! At first we did tell them that we didn't need a guide to the temple as we have found out that at the end they want paying! But when we got back they didn't ask us for any money, which surprised us! Me, Anita and Naomi were given flowers! We then went to the pepper plantation, apparently Kampot Pepper is famous but I hadn't heard of it before!

The next morning we had to get up early as we were going to Ho Chi Minh City. We had to get on the bus at Kampot and then go back to Phnom Penh and then from there to Ho Chi Minh. We got on the bus at 7.30 at Kampot, arrived in Phnom Penh at 12.30. The next bus was late and we eventually got on it at 2pm. We then travelled 4 hours to the border. Once we got to the border we all had to get off at the Cambodian side and then get back on again, when they shouted our name out. We then drove a bit further on and then had to wait on the bus for a while. We weren't really sure what was happening and then a woman got on the bus and then tested everyone's temperature. She didn't tell us why but we assume it might have been for swine flu?! We then stay for a while longer before we had to get off and collect our bags. We then waited in a room until our name was called out again and then we could go through to the other side. We had to put our bags through an x ray which seemed very pointless as the man on the other side was laying down and not paying attention and the other man was putting his shoes through! We then got back on the bus. It took nearly 2 hours. We then arrived in Ho Chi Minh at about 10pm. It was a very long day and we were all tired. We checked into our hotel and were very pleased as it was very nice and clean.

Today Me, Anita and Naomi have been having a wander. The boys didn't venture out with us today as they wanted to stay close to their toilet! We all have been feeling a little bit ill, it is probably a mixture of the malaria tablets, heat and food! Us three had a good wander around and went to the market which was really good. We all bought a few things. For tea we ate on a large boat on the Saigon River, which was very tasty. All of the waiters were dressed up as sailors. So far Vietnam seems very different to Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh is a lot more built up than Phnom Penh. Also it seems a lot more cleaner and there are far more moped about! They are coming from all directions and when you cross the road you have to keep going and they swerve around you! So far we have been successful in all our road crossings, they were quite hairy at first. Tomorrow we are going to the War Remnants Museum and also the Reunification Palace and I am sure we will do some more shopping!

Well I think that's all for now. Will update again soon. Love Anna x