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The drunken bus journey was a total disaster. The bus picked us up from our hotel at 2 30 am. Late but being english i'm use to our dreadful public service. We got on the bus and it was completely packed. We managed to get a seat each by waking people up. I sat next to this local man as it was the only seat available. The next 3 hours i had to put up with him sleeping on me. He was almost sprawled out all over me so every so often he got an elbow to get off. I had paid for this seat so i wasn't going to give it up like that due to his ignorance. He got off after 3 hours so i managed to get an hours sleep before we arrived in saigon better known as (ho chi minh).
We spent the next 2 hours looking for a reasonably nice place but it had to be in our budget. Saigon is nothing like Hanoi. In hanoi by now you would of been scammed and hassled by many people. We stayed on a road which is very similar to Ko san road in bangkok so we new this was going to be a great place to be. $11 dollars night and it was good. Top end of our budget though. We dropped our bags off and then went to this bar called go go for a coffee and to plan our day out. No it's not a brothel but it does sound like one. We got on a motorbike and headed towards the war remnants museum. This explained the the tragic vietnam war and the horrific tortures the american's used against them. It portrays the Americans to be really bad but i'm sure they only gave as good as they got. They still shouldn't of been there though. It was horrible learning about the Agent orange after effects which still occurs now days.
After that we went to the reunification palace. Thought this place was going to be cool but it was sooooooooooooo boring. It's just a building which holds the governments meetings. Every room was practically the same.
We tried to get a taxi back as it was chucking it down but they were all full. Typical the only time you want one and there all full. Usually they stop by at the dozen and offer you lifts.
At the museum we met some girls we knew called laura and steph. They were staying in the hotel next to us so we met up to party. We also met tucker in the night and he was with some fellow american's so we all got drunk in the go go. Hang on a minute, we know them? Then our danish friends show up. This was going to be a messy night. During the night we had arranged to go to the Cu chi tunnels. Here we would learn about the history and how they use to fle to saftey here. Some were as deep as 8 meters. We went down in to them and they were so clostrophobic. God knows how they lived down here for weeks on end.
On the way there we stopped at a factory which employs people who are still affected from the agent orange disease. The agent orange disease is caused by what the American's sprayed on the jungle to see the fleeing gorillas. (That's the local fighters).
We got back around 3 pm and decided to check out this place called bobby brewers which is coffee house/ restaurant and it also has a mini cinema on the top floor. we all chilled there for a while and then met up in the evening. By this time neal and nick had arrived so there was loads of us drinking wine in this restaurant. This place sold cheap but nice wine so we made the most of it as we was paying $2 a beer in the go go bar. Who should come walking down the street? Brandon the canadian. Almost the whole gang back together. We was all in the go go bar and it was packed. We pretty much owned it as there was such a large group of us. We also got joined by 3 Swedish girls an ozzie chick and our norwegian friend called lisa. We partied on down until 4 ish and then everyone left in dribs and drabs. I was hammered. Probably the drunkest I've been since being away. Mark had all ready left and had the key so i was banging down the door to get him to answer. I woke our foreign neighbour up and he came out and had a go at me. I pretty much told him i wasn't going to be quiet until mark had let me in, so go back in your room. Can kind of see his point now though. Well we didn't get out of bed until 1 pm that day so the day was almost a write off. We went to some park called. We wanted a chilled out place with nice surroundings, lakes, benches and a grassy area to relax on. We turned up in a cab and it was a theme park like thorpe park. Well we wasn't disappointed just shocked at by what we have found. If we knew this was there we would of made the effort to get up earlier and come. We walked around looking at the rides. Saw some huge birds which were the size of teradactours, watched a animal show. We saw bears riding bikes and balls, Monkeys performing. You know the animals were not happy and this is an extremely cruel way for them to live. It was fun to see but i wouldn't encourage people to see such shows as it only means they will put on more. After that we went in to this huge ice sculptor area. It was a huge freezer with impressive peices of art. They give you a huge jacket to wear in there but after 10 minutes my toes were throbbing so we had to leave before i got frost bite. Quick tour around the park on a sky train and then it was time to see dinosaurs. Every boy loved dinosaurs when they were kids. I evened named 2 fish of mine raptor and rex after watching all the jurassic parks over a few nights. The ride was cool. It was really similar to proffesor burps bubble works at chessington. Time to head back to the strip to eat, get showered and head out. I had a really nice curry with brandon. Best i'v had since i have been away. Found a nice bar to watch footie in and then it was time for go go again. Every place we visit we always manage to have a local.
That morning we had to get an a 8 am bus to head to cambodia, our current location and loving it.
Forgot to say on the saturday i headed out to find a post office so i could send donna's (my sister) birthday present home. Thought i'd give you a mention sis as it's going to be 3 weeks late so take this as an apology. What a epic this was going to be trying to send. They searched everything i was sending, made me list everything i was sending, checked my cd's of photo's and then asked for my current address and passport number. Luckily i had a business card on me with our hotel's address but i don't know what my passport number is as i don't have it on me. So i made one up. I missed the required amount of numbers of which is 9, i only put 8. Well i made it out of the country hoping not to be stopped at the boarder and imprisoned for lying.
I'm now a convict on the run now, so you best like your presents.
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