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THE END OF THE INTREPID GANG
24/09/07 - 25/09/07 - Intrepid Tour
25/09/07 - 27/09/07 - Guesthouse
After a 6am start in Phnom Penh (good job we took it easy on the beers) we crossed the border to arrive in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon) around lunchtime. The bus journey was one of the smoothest as was the border crossing. After sampling some local dishes (Mel was not keen on the noodle soup!) we set about finding somewhere in the backpackers district for the following night. As Hazel's second leg of the intrepid tour has been cancelled she's going to spend the next few weeks travelling with Mel and me.
Whilst walking down the street Mel was acosted by a sweet lil old lady who showed us to a nice clean family run guesthouse which we settled on for the rest of our time in Vietnam.
For our last night with the intrepid crew we headed to a local brewery, which was abit like a german style beer hall. The menu wasn't great for a vegetarian, but the place was fun... if a little surreal. The cricket was on so we left Raj there while we headed to the "Go2" bar in town. Raj later struggled to find us as turns out if you get in a taxi and say you want to be at the "Go2" bar you can end up in all sorts of "boom boom" bar places... although the lady(boy?) of the night on a moto did promise she'd have him back within the hour!
DID I MENTION I WAS IN 'NAM... YOU CAN GET A BOAT BACK
The following day we took at trip with Kim Travel to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong hid under ground during the war. There are 75miles worth of tunnels, with midget-sized (yes I fit!) exits they could poke out of to shoot the US army. This was a good place to go and I enjoyed going through the tunnels... although they were abit sweaty and claustrophobic... but a word of warning... never book through Kim Travel!!! The journey there (which should have taken around 1hr 20mins) took 3hrs... on a tiny bus overstuffed with people... with a massive hangover and a driver with a deathwish. The tour guide was actually in 'nam, but on the American side?!? He told us how back in the day, upon seeing a Vietnamese target, he would say to his US army mates... "don't shoot them, they are my people" the US guys would then say "ok we won't".... now call me cynical... but something about that just didn't ring true. He also spent the entire journey harping on about how we could pay extra to come back on a boat which would be quicker (it wasn't). The trip was supposed to be 8.30 - 2pm... we actually got back at 4!
Had our second last night out with the intrepid crew... bar Mr Con... and after saying our heartfelt goodbyes to Raj the following day randomly bumped into him outside the Lao embassy waiting for our Visas... what are the chances! Had a guy with a gun come and chase us into the embassy as the second time we went in we couldn't show our passports (cos they had them!), but luckily for us oblivious lil ladies Raj explained to him what we were doing.
Went to a fancy shopping centre called Diamond Plaza full of Vietnamese business types and played pool (looking scummy) next to everyone else who was so well dressed.
BIG CITY BLUES
As someone who's not a big city girl (give me the seaside anyday!) I've got to admit that we all had the big city blues in Ho Chi Minh and couldn't wait to escape further north. It's so busy and hectic and noisy (do I sound old now) so we hope there are better things to come!!!
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