Siem Reap and on to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

---

Siem Reap

A power outage at the hotel mid afternoon meant no air-con, and therefore, we figured we might as well go down to the bar, where at least there was cold beer to drink. We were not alone with this thought, and met some Australian travellers, who we on their way to Hanoi. This presented an opportunity to sound like knew what we were talking about, and share our own knowledge of the city from last October’s trip – as it turns out, we had plenty to share (well, about 4 beer’s worth!).

As this was our final full day in Cambodia, we explored Siem Reap’s markets. The Night Market in particular was a surprise – it was a sea of colour, packed with stall after stall selling clothing, accessories, jewellery and plenty of stuff on the endangered list that UK Customs would gladly hand you a fine for if brought back in to the country. We were also amused to find a namesake to one of our locals in Birmingham, in the Island Bar, which unlike Birmingham, offers foot massages on its door step.

After a night of live music, it was time to leave for Vietnam. I’m pleased to say we left Cambodia on a more substantial plane than we arrived.

Saigon

Having been to Hanoi previously, we were expecting the traffic to be mad. It became immediately apparent that Hanoi was but a warm up for Saigon – crossing the road here, even for us experienced Hanoi’ers, is at times, genuinely terrifying!

Finding our way around Saigon was our main priority for the day. We’re staying in a decent hotel a stone throw’s distance from some lively bars and restaurants. For the second time this holiday, RD gets a room that’s twice the size of mine; he also has a bath that you could have a party in.

We met some Dutch folk tonight, who gave us some idea of what to do with the last ten days of the holiday – it’s becoming something of a pressing issue, as after Sunday we’re unsure what town we’ll be in, let alone what hotel!

Planning on doing some tourist type stuff tomorrow – expect more on that next time, along with some photos if we get chance.

---