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So, got up early as we were leaving to go off to Vietnam. Got a tuk-tuk to the Sapaco offices where we were catching the bus. As per usual, tuk-tuk drivers charging us too much for a ride but hey, thats just Cambodia for you. Managed to get there a bit early so walked to a bakery and got some nice bread things. Jen fed the dog at the agency with some of her food, so he wouldn't leave her alone for a while. Got on the bus, waited past 9.30 (when we were supposed to have left) until the bus was a bit more full before it left. We ended up sitting near a really annoying family - they were actually the first over weight people that I had seen in South East Asia since I had been here! The bus journey was fine, much better than the one to Cambodia! Stopped just before the boarder to get some food - it didn't look like the best food - the meat had been left out for a while, so I opted for a stir fry vegetables and some rice as that seemed the safe option.
After about another 20mins or so, got to the boarder. Was a much cleaner, well organised boarder than the Thai-Cambodian boarder. Found it a lot easier to get through, which we were very glad of. Met a few other people who were traveling, it really does seem that everyone has the same crappie experiences when traveling - dodgy boarder crossings, taxi drivers trying to rip you off etc.
Got to Ho Chi Minh City at about 5.30, as usual there was the mad scramble when you get off a bus that taxi drivers try to get your business. They follow you and take you're bags etc. Gets a little annoying and no one seems to respect your personal space! Got a taxi - we kind of got stuck with the guy, so we took his taxi. Once we got in the taxi we noticed the meter was already on 14,000 Dong (just under a dollar). Thought this was pretty normal - probably just the starting rate - but as we started going down the road, we meter went up three clicks each time, within 2 minutes we were already on the equivalent of $5! Both myself and Jen were very dubious about the whole thing. We quickly moved up to $15 and by the time we got to the backpacker area, the meter was on 384000 Dong - $24!!!!! This was a total scam - and we weren't going to fall for it. Jen got out of the cab and ask a couple who just happened to be walking past our car roughly how much the taxi should be - the lady told us that it was a common scam and she started to shout at the cab driver! We luckily pulled up outside a tourist agency - we thought that they would be quite helpful but they just didn't want to get involved, funnily enough, neither did the tourist police! We ended up just getting out bags out of the boot, giving him $5 and walking off! Walked down the road that out hotel was meant to be on - thinking that the cab driver had really pulled a fast one on us and just taken us to the middle of no where, so asked another travel agent, and pointed to us that the Giant Dragon was there, we just walked past it!!! Got a room on the fourth floor, was ok, $15 a night for the two of us, not bad. Just chilled out for the rest of the night as wasn't feeling that great - watched the rest of the American Idol marathon!
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