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Published: July 19th 2014
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We're happy to report that we survived our first monsoon thunderstorm and successfully made our way to Khosan Road for dinner and drinks, even managing to bump into some school friends!
We tactically befriended some Germans and took our seats (and pints of Chang) for the World Cup. Celebrations included dancing on snooker tables and partying in the street but perhaps the less said about that the better...
After a whole two hours sleep, it was time to face our 5 hour bus to the Cambodian border.
Siem Reap
After successfully making it across the boarder (we thought one of the officers was going to try and keep Susan as a wife at one point!), we headed for our hostel in Siem Reap. Sophia managed to cause a bit of a scare amongst the other girls due to the swerving across lanes and questionable head movements of the taxi driver in the dark which was later explained due to numerous potholes/mammoth graves and frequent checking of the side mirror for any brave overtakers!
The next morning we witnessed the sunrise at Angkor Wat which was thankfully worth the 4.30am alarms! We managed to find a great tour guide for
the temple and then headed on to Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm - move over Lara croft!
After a very productive morning, we realised how little planning we had actually done and how ambitious we were being whilst the grandmas (a.k.a. Susan and Tara) slept. After booking some hostel and transport we felt we deserved to enjoy our first authentic Cambodian dinner and drinks!
Phnom Penh
We endured yet another early start for our journey to Phnom Penh, this time treating ourselves to a comfy $15 bus after a fragile Zoe and Roxanne on our last one!
We booked some flights and more accommodation and then headed for dinner and drinks. After a mere 1 drink Zoe and Roxanne (the new grandmas) lapped whilst Sophia, Susan and Tara partied Phnom Penh style, meeting a fellow Belfast boy, Americans and a questionable 40 year old Aussie! On arriving back to our hostel and turning on the light, Tara had the shock of finding a drunken girl in her bed who had even decided to adorn her hoodie! Sophia came to the rescue by dragging said drunken girl off Tara's bed and carrying her to her own! A sleeping Zoe and Roxanne, unaware of the night's happenings in their top bunks, didn't seem to see the funny side... Woops!
We treated ourselves to our first lie-in in a while and adopted a lonely American from the previous night's festivities at brunch before heading for the Killing Fields and S-21 Prison. We all found the visit to the Killing Fields very moving and left in more of a somber mood than we had arrived but it was definitely a worthwhile experience.
Ho Chi Minh
Our journey to Vietnam didn't exactly go as planned... We booked a sleeper bus which was meant to leave at 12.30am and left at 1.30am and which was meant to arrive at 7am and actually at arrived 12pm! During the extended journey, we adopted a Canadian Sofia (nothing on the Irish version) and headed to the Vietnam War Memorial Museum. After more than enough graphic images and anti-American propaganda we were very happy to bump into 2 boxes of puppies and were almost coaxed into buying a basket of them! And not to eat as a passerby decided to inform us!
We wandered around Ho Chi Minh (this time on foot after almost being overcharged £20 for a taxi to the museum) to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Night Market.
Why did the 5 Irish girls cross the road? They didn't! Trying to cross the zebra crossings was an experience of it's own! It would seem everyone but pedestrians have right of way here!
After numerous adrenaline rushes, we revelled in our own cleanliness after our first showers far too long and met our fellow dorm roommates which included a girl from Liverpool and a German, a Dutch and two Danish boys. We met some more hostel stayers and all decided to go for drinks then dinner then more drinks...!
We managed to still wake up early for a day of separate activities (we couldn't stand each other's company anymore)! We decided to split off into two teams: the A Team, consisting of Sophia and Roxanne, and the B Team, consisting of Susan, Zoe and Tara.
The A Team headed for the Cu Chi tunnels (Rox doesn't like boats) and the B Team headed for the Mekong Delta (Susan doesn't like tunnels).
The A Team spent the day being part of the tour guide's "family" and living the Guerrilla lifestyle of shooting M16s and crawling through tunnels amongst a monsoon downpour.
The B Team spent the day meandering around different islands on the Mekong river and trying some of the local produce including honey tea, coconut sweets and tropical fruits! There were even appearances from bee hives and snakes!
We're now getting ready for our last minute (no surprise there) flight to Hoi An tonight and are all excited to spend more than one night in the same bed!
Stay tuned!
Sophia (the only non-grandma of the trip!)
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