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getting to saigon
crossing border by boat and getting into ho chi mingh takes a whole day.
since 7 am we were traveling-first by car and a bit confused as we thought we would go staight on the boat.after 2 hours we stopped in front of a local little house still not knowing what was going on.so exciting-behind the house was the river and the boat!a local simple boat with a loo in the back.it was surrounded by 4 walls but when i sat on the loo i could look over the walls and saw the scenery-made me happy and laugh.the boat was very basic but i loved it.we had to climb and jump over things to get on the top of the boat.
it was a lovely trip.the boat went very slowly nature passing by and having time to take it all in.half way through we had to cross border-one stop where we left cambodia and another where we entered vietnam.at the vietnamese border we had to wait for a while and had lunch.
we had only a week in vietnam and decided to fly most of the time to see as much as possible.
while i was sitting on the roof of the boat enjoying the moment i wondered what makes one happy.people here seem to be happy with the little they have.you see more happy faces in this countries than you see in europe.doesnt matter how poor they are they smile and take life as it comes.kids swimming in the water,climbing up the trees,women smiling and selling their fish,vegetables,men fishing......they all have a hard life but they also enjoy and are happy which we sometimes forget.but than im on holidays and i see everything with different eyes and i dont see those people everyday.being here is a treasure and maybe it is also a way to escape daily routine.
after we reached chau doc in vietnam we had to catch a minibus to saigon which meant another 6 hours sitting on our bums.with us was the russian couple (they travelled with a tiny bag and a huge box of beer cans.lol)the foreigners had the 4 seats in the back.by the way the vietnamese are more pushy and angry than the cambodians.when we tried to get on the bus the just pushed their way in.
after being on a slow boat being on a bus seemed wired and i didnt like the speed at all.the driver drove quite agressiv and fast and i got so confused as we suddenly were on the other side of the road.
i noticed how green vietnam is and how much water there was everywhere- rivers and streams which meant many bridges all over the place.but i also noticed that is was far more developed than cambodia.and i didnt like that.i could feel that it was much more tourist orientated.
anyway,we were driving along and after a while the bus stopped and suddenly the door opend- 3-5 vietnamese jumped in with their goods trying to sell them by screeming and shouting-we didnt know what was going on and were shocked but then burst out into laughter.it was such a funny scene that the russians had to take a picture.
again driving and still far away from saigon.vietnam is full of scooters and bikes.we hardly saw any cars-but here everybody has to wear a helmet and so we saw the smallest helmets ever.wearing a helmet is not a normal thing in countries like this.in india hardly anybody wears them.in combodia we didnt wear them but here it seems to be a rule and thats good- still driving and its dark by now-another surprise a big screen appeared from the ceiling and showed a comedy programm in vietnamese-everybody kept laughing.(here the tv is very important-almost like a god.in cambodia karaoke was everywhere.even in the smallest villages you could hear sombody singing to their karaoke)
after a stop we suddenly were given some bananaleaf pacels from the family in front of us.it was a very kind and friendly gesture and we would have offened them by refusing their gift.
so i was sitting there with my parcel in my hand a family smiling and watching us not knowing what i gonna eate.we unwrapped the banana leaf and in the middle was something which smelled very very garlicy.the family was still smiling and nodding while i ate the thing hoping it was fish and nodding back.later i found out that i ate PORK!!!!it was the first time in 8 years that i ate meat-i survived.lol
around 10.30 pm we reached the bus station in saigon.we took a taxi to the center of the city and checked into one of the hotels.it was a dodgy dirty place but we were to tired to seach for anything better and we only had a couple of hours before we had to get up again.by 12 we were in bed and were proud of our trip:WE ARE IN VIETNAM!!!!
people, we made it and we are still in time and on track!
our plan for the next day was to go to the tunnels in the morning and to fly out to nha trang in the afternoon.we hadnt planed anything.so lets see what happens:-)
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