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Whoops, this one should be before the Saigon entry - got myself a liitle out of order! No photos with this one either, you'll understand why when you read it...
So, 6am, four hours sleep and ready for our twelve hour bus journey to Saigon in our fancy tourist bus, we waited on the dirt road for said bus to appear. Obviously it was late because Asia conspires to get me out of bed unnecessarily and obviously it was not a fancy tourist bus. Mini bus maybe. Tourist bus, no. We piled in, glad that at least it wasn't full as our luggage got crammed up against the back of the bus and our knees were equally crammed against the seats in front of us. However, this too was short lived as we drove round in circles picking up more and more people, each time sure that these had to be the last as there was no more room, only to turn another corner and cram a few more in. By the end there were twelve people and twelve peoples luggage in this mini bus.
We tried to relax and find a comfy spot for our knees as we headed for Vietnam. A couple of hours in and we stopped for a loo break and incredibly to let more people into our bus! BG got stuck next to a hilarious British woman who did not stop talking to him, even when he got his book out and, as a last ditch attempt, feigned sleep. A couple of hours later and we approached the border. As usual, we were told absolutely nothing about what to do or expect, just shouted at to get out of the bus. We walked towards the border hoping to work out what was happening only for the bus driver to start shouting at us to get all our luggage out of the bus. When we questioned why it couldn't be driven through the border on the bus we realised that the bus was going back to Sihanoukville and we were to get on a different bus on the other side of the border. So much for the direct journey! Struggling down the dirt road with our bags, we got to the border where an equal amount of chaos ensued. A Vietnamese woman came over to us and after yelling 'passports' at us a few times, snatched it out of BG's hand. That obviously didn't go down well with BG snatching it back and yelling at her 'who are you?'. It turns out she was our guide for the next bus who could do with some customer service training.
Having got through the border and customs check we looked for our next bus only to be told that it would be there in a couple of hours! This journey was not going well. With nothing to do but sit inside the border control in sweltering heat we slumped down on our luggage and tried to not get wound up. Two hours later and the next bus arrived. Still not a tourist class but at least a proper bus with a tiny bit more leg room. Glad that we were now on the final stretch, we settled in, got a book out and started reading up on Saigon. Hah. Presumptuous on our part as it turned out for an hour later we were turfed off the bus again at some crappy travel office in a small Vietnamese town. With no explanation what so ever our luggage was thrown after us and we made our way into the office to try to find out what was going on only to find out that we had to wait for another hour and a half for the next bus. So much for direct.
So, another two hours of hanging around and our third bus turned up. This bus was the worst so far, a really cheap commuter bus that did not bode well. With a few seats empty, BG and I got a double seat each in an effort to give our kneecaps a well deserved break. This too was short lived as within an hour or so, the bus had filled completely and we were sandwiched between the locals. The bus stopped every ten minutes to load crazier and crazier things onto the roof. At one point, polystyrene crates of fish were hauled up onto the roof, with all the fishy water in them sloshed everywhere, running down the roof and sides of the bus, through the windows (no aircon) and onto us. SUPER GROSS. It was now late afternoon and knowing the end was in sight BG dozed off with a monk sat next to him while I tried to read my book. This is when the journey got really bad (yeah, you thought gross fish juice was bad enough). Basically, the guy next to me started trying to chat to me in very limited English. Not wanting to be rude I tried to respond while making it clear that I wanted to read my book. Not clear enough obviously as he wouldn't give it up. Eventually I realized he was trying to get me to take his number and again, politely declined explaining that my boyfriend was asleep next to the monk just across the aisle. Ah, this man wasn't going to let something as trivial as me already having a boyfriend stop him and he tried to give me his card. Again I declined, now shooting BG evils in the hope that I could wake him up just by being really mad at him. No such luck. The next ten minutes were spent with me willing BG to wake up, thinking about how I was gonna kill him when he did wake up and repeatedly giving crazy Vietnamese guy back his card which kept finding its way in his hand on my thigh.
Ten more minutes and I decided that taking the card might shut him up and get his slimey hand off my leg. No, this only encouraged him even more and we moved on to when I was going to call him. This is when I got really mad, shouted at him and told him to leave me alone. He went quiet. Success. He turned away from me and I went back to my book glad he'd finally taken no for an answer - only to have a bag of wet fish thrust under my nose as a final attempt to seduce me. They were wriggling and sending more fish juice in my direction and frankly were the final straw! Thankfully, he got off soon after, taking his gross fish with him and I was able to wake BG up, give him grief and asked him why he'd never tried to seduce me with wet fish.
A couple of hours later and it was starting to get dark. It was now nearly six and the time we should have been arriving in Saigon. Trying to work out where we were from the street signs it became clear that we were less than half way there and we both started to panic. Two hours later and the bus pulled into a station. Foolishly thinking we'd arrived, our jubilation was cut short when we were shouted at to get onto another bus. Fourth bus of the direct journey, already two hours later than we'd been told we'd arrive and we were only half way. Three hours later, we pulled into another bus station. This must be it. No it wasn't. Just another bus change. By now it was nearly midnight, we'd been in four buses in forty degree heat for eighteen hours and still hadn't arrived. Back in another mini bus, we literally had to plea with the driver to wait while we went to the toilet at the station (which was DISGUSTING) before starting the final leg of our journey.
The last two hours were possibly the worst, crammed together in the tiny bus we were literally falling asleep as the driver seemed to stop for anyone who wanted a lift as long as they had cash. Finally at 2am, twenty hours after we set off, we got dropped off in Saigon. The driver woke us up, threw out our luggage and sped off before we could even find out where we were. Having asked him if we were in district one (the tourist area) he'd said yes and then vanished. Luckily, we happened to be on the bus with an English girl who now lived in Saigon and she quickly realized that he'd dropped us on the outskirts of the city, nowhere near district one. Thanks to her, we all got into a taxi and she was able to tell the driver where to go to get us to our hostel, I'm not sure what we would have done if she hadn't be there.
Worst journey ever and we decided that we were not going to go anywhere by bus for quite some time…
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