arrived at the school, what trauma

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this story beings in a tour group office in saigon! after an amazing week with jazz i left her on the bus heading to the mekong delta for a relaxing two day cruise.
the bus took three hours to get to a floating market...this floating market finished at 9am...our bus left at 8...hmm!! so after a bit of disappointment, we found ourselves being hounded into tourist activities such as shopping and tasting local food. this was nice but a bit over the top.
anyway, i was the only person doing a two day tour, others were doing three or one day. the tour guide i forgot to mention didnt speak much english and sounded like a phnematic drill whenever he opened his mouth. when he tried to speak to 5 people it was like he was trying to fill an auditorium with his voice. sooo....he panics when i say where am i going now...i get shoved on to a moto and i get off wanting my bag!! he gets my bag from the old bus and tells the driver to go. i then end up at a service station and sit on a plastic chair while people look at me funny and tell me to wait. a local bus gets flagged down and i am thrown onto it and laughed at by the vietnamese...not one speaks english...i have no idea where i am going. after two local bus rides and 7 hours later i arrive in the dark at a bus station. by this point i dont have my ticket anymore because the guide took it and i only have a piece of paper with vietnamese writing111 a moto driver takes pity on me and drops me at a guesthouse. i find out i have arrived in chau doc and i find a phone and yell at the tour office...they proceed to forget what english is!! i have no vietnamese money because i enxchanged it thinking i wouldnt need it...so a lady at the guesthouse takes pity again and gives me some rice!! by this point i'm crying and she was so sweet she brought me some tea and gave me a hug!!!!! 😊 she tyells me to be down at 6 in the lobby.

i go to bed, watch some tv and find that i can't sleep. i sit in the lobby from 4.3 and me and the lady sit there and go for a walk round a temple!!! get back for 6 and the moto driver who took pity on me the night before is there and whisks me away to another hotel where i will catch a boat. with no proff that i paid i quickly get smuggled aboard with the most amazing austrailian couple who vow not to leave me on this trip!!! haha so my tour day tour continues with a different company and i once again set sail down the mekong 😊 we see some villages stop for lunch and cross the border with no trouble!!! i had such a good day with this couple and their friends and after the trauma of the day before, i finally can enjoy the hourney!!!

we arrive in phnom penh and i quickly find a tuk tuk, find my guesthouse, sit down and cry. i was so exusted from a whole two days of worrying and the relief that i am finally safe. i haven't had any problems like this and to find that i managed to get to the school ok, by myself, with horrible people yelling at me, and not having to pay any extra, was such an achievement!! oreintation is going great, food is wonderful and my roomate is a legend!! i'm so looking forward to these three months!!!

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Comments

[Lou]

GOSH!
Oh my goodness, what a journey!! Glad you got there in one piece! This is a bit of a life-changing experience eh!xxx