Saigon

Next stop Vietnam, so we need to head on back up to Phnom Penh to catch our bus. Arrive around 6pm and expect to do not much at all as our bus out is at 6am. Check into the guesthouse and half of Sihanouk Ville is there, including Nico and a couple of Irish folk (who ask me if I'm Irish??? :) Llyod and Niamh. Pretty entertaining evening follows as we try to come up with ways to make our millions in the travel industry - as yet we havent come up with anything that would actually work.

Next day the border crossing is fairly uneventful - well, most definitely if you compare it to the first one - until we reach Vietnam. First off, at the border point to get in to Vietnam two men greet you and ask for your passport so they can fill your form in for you. Of course, we could do this ourself but they then wouldnt be able to charge you for this privelege. And maybe you wouldnt mind if they didnt jsut make it up. One of the guys on the bus had the female box on his form ticked??? Try and explain that one if your asked later???

Move on to the line where you are invisible and every other person who isnt a travelling tourist gets rushed through, although this may have had somethign to do with the money sticking out their passports also :) And then to the row of 5 tables and 5 men who all each need to check your passport and of course charge you a small fee for doing so.

We're in, on the next bus and our Vietnam guide dude on the bus wants to sing us a song???? Em, ok!! He starts, finishes and then asks if we would like to hear another one. Hillarious!! Maybe you had to be there but 5 songs later and after we hear a couple in Engish too he tells us we can go to sleep. Oh, thanks very much, very kind of you.

And then the travelling thing in Vietnam just gets easier they drop off at their office and can find you hostels, they pick you from your hostel, organise you day trips etc etc and you can afford to get lazy.

The traffic in Saigon is crazy - if your a pedestrian, the rule is, just to walk slowly and everything will move around you. Under no circustances is there to be any sudden movement.

First night, we go for dinner, as per usual, but this is only worth mentioning this time round cos a cockroach fell on Gem :) She screamed, I didnt know why she was screaming, the owners laughed, we ate quickly and left. We then turn the corner and walk into Jim and Charlie (who we first met in Siem Reap). Would be rude not to go for a drink and so we find some plastic playschool chairs at the side of the road and settle in buying bags of prawn crackers (Gem loves!!) and large poppadums (We all hate!!!) from random food seller people.

Next day we go wandering round Saigon and find the market and go shopping, find some more shops, do some more shopping, visit the cathedral and another random park. Along the way stop off at some cafe and gem goes into buy some fruit - I asked for plums (which we agree are on the left) gem comes back with grapes (that were on the right) ???? :) - and get speaking to some Vietnames people who want us to try Durria fruit. Well ok!! First off you need to put a plastic glove on?? what?? and it absolutely stinks???? It tastes foul but we're told it is very good for you. Of course it is, if it tastes awful but we eat it anyway - dont wanna seem rude.

The following day we're on a day trip to the Mekong Delta. Get to the boat and head off to the fruit market. Loads of oppurtuinty to take photos and then its off to Turtle Island for lunch - all pretty good althogh we are know eating tofu without even realising it. And I learnt that pineapples do not grow on trees!!!

Afternnon is spent on smaller rowing boats and visiting smaller islands, listening to traditional Vietnamese music and drinking tea. Oh, and we also visitied a Coconut Candy workshop in the middle of one of the islands. We werent exactly fans of the candy.

That night go out for some drinks and get talking to the waiter Han. Seems harmless and we cant shut him up. Next day we arrange to meet him so he can show us where the swimming pool is. First pool, closed!!! Second pool, closed!!! Excellent guide he is and this is costing us a fortune in taxi fares. All ends well at the third pool though and afterwards we head on down to the War Museum. Another interesting place to visit although pretty horrific in parts.

That night we head on out again and get talking to a group of Irish folk. Great bunch of people, the vodka and redbulls flow and the next thing you know its 5am - we're meant to be up at 7am for atrip to the Cu Chi tunnels. Lets just say Gem is the only one who made it. I slept through the alarm and Gem's atttempts at waking me. Oops!!!!! Sure I wouldnt have liked it anyway - crawling through small dark tunnels does not sound like fun!!

Gem comes home and we go in search of the water park. En route on the back of motorcycles the thunder and lightning begins. Within seconds out of nowhere the roads are flooded - is crazy but we carry on. Arrive at the waterpark soaked so head on in anyway. Might as well seeing as we're already wet. Find the first slide and through ourselves down it. Bad move!!! This was the Kamikaze ride!!! We will not be going on that again.