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Published: April 8th 2009
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Saigon Alley
En-route to our guest house Tuesday, April 7th
We took our last run on Mui Ne's beach this morning, the anticipation and excitement of adventures to come buzzing in our veins. We packed the last of our stuff and at 8:45 left Mui Ne.
It was a long 5 hour ride and on the bus TV they showed cock-fighting accompanied by serious rave music. Weird. We arrived in a rainy Ho Chi Minh City (everybody here still calls it Saigon) at about 14:00. It was raining good and proper by the time we got off the bus. Luckily for us the bus stopped just across from the road we wanted to be in. As we exited the bus a friendly fellow asked if we needed a cheap guest house. We said “yes” and he led us down a small alley. After slipping and sliding for about 100m we got to the guest house. It was okay so we decided to stay.
After dropping our stuff and checking in we went in search of a late lunch. We found a cool place nearby and had waaay too much food. With our bellies full to bursting point we checked out our neighborhood. The rain had stopped
Saigon Alley
From our guest house so we could put away our umbrellas. The little we’ve seen of Saigon is okay. We expected it to be crazier than Hanoi but were very relieved that it wasn’t. Maybe the rain had something to do with that.
We found a park and sat for a while observing the locals. Back in our room we repacked for the flight tomorrow cause our bags were not allowed to be more than 15kg each. Dinner was at a restaurant with big pictures of Harleys on the wall. Talita had potato soup while Ferdi enjoyed a delicious Sloppy Joe.
Today’s highlights:
1. Arriving alive and well.
2. Bus dropped us very near our hotel.
3. Walking the streets of infamous Saigon.
Wednesday, April 8th
We left our guest house at about 6:40 in the morning and took a taxi to the airport. We checked in then went and had the most expensive “breakfast” of our trip; two croissants and earl gray tea. It cost us as much as our huuuuge lunch the day before! It sucks not to travel with dollars, euros or pounds.
We left Vietnam at 9:45 onboard AirAsia flight FD3521 and almost crash landed in
Telephone wires
Good thing they're so big on cell phones! Thailand at 11:00. The plane descended normally but just as we were about to land its left wing dipped suddenly. Must’ve been a gust of wind or something. After a moment the pilot was able to level off and we don’t think everyone realised just how close we came to having an accident. Ferdi had seen a few crashes happen just like that on Air Crash Investigation. The wing would hit the ground causing the plane to roll. These accidents all ended in a fireball cause the pilots don’t have time to dump the excess fuel before impact. Okay… enough drama. We’re still here.
We took a taxi to Bansabai Hostel, where we stayed the first time in Bangkok. We let our guard down (happy to be back in civilized and hooter-less Thailand) and the taxi driver short-changed us. I doubt we’ll ever learn… ;-)
Anyway… We had a swim in the pool on the roof followed by lunch on the deck. It’s cool to be back in hot and humid Bangkok! We spent the rest of the day researching and preparing for our trip down south. It’s still a little complicated but we’ll figure it out soon
enough. We we’re spoilt in Vietnam where your hotel could arrange almost anything. It’s a very different story in Thailand. We’ll have to work a little harder over here.
Dinner was at an “Italian” restaurant and a disaster. We ordered spinach lasagna. It came with bacon. It was also the size of half a slice of bread. Ridiculous! Needless to say, Talita went hungry.
Today’s highlights:
1. Getting back to Bangkok, alive.
2. Swimming on the roof pool.
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