20th March - Saigon to Nha Trang

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Last day in Saigon and it is hot and humid. Met some young Aussies today at breakfast. They have travelled the opposite direction to us. They told us it is a bit colder up north, so we will find out. Went to the tailor to pick up my tops, but they needed changing, so I made an appointment to return 2 hours later.
I walked the first time, so decided to go with one of the cyclos who had been bugging me since we got there. He even showed me a tattered book where people had written testimonials for him.
I asked him how much and he said “whatever you decide”.

I was a bit hesitant, but I had survived the motorbike ride the day before, so what the hell!
I struggled aboard hoping I did not send the little fella flying over the handlebars. He had a bit of trouble getting started and we braved the onslaught of traffic. I must have become aclimatised to the traffic, because I am less scared of it than some of the HCMC natives.
He cycled along the path it took me to travel 10 minutes on foot in the speedy time of 7 minutes. I guess this time I wasn't doing the work. He kept saying “you okay?” and “you understand?”
He waited for me to try on the tops and we were underway back to the hotel in 5 minutes.
He even stopped to take a photo of me in the cycle/seat thingy.

As we neared the hotel he said “you pay me now, before we get to hotel”. I saw trouble on the horizon!!! He said “you pay me 400,000 dong (about AU$30). I told him no way in the world and that I would pay him what a taxi would cost, that is 30,000 dong. He said he would not take me back to the hotel until I paid 400,000 dong.
He obviously doesn't know me does he!!!
So we argued in the middle of the traffic.
I told him I would give him 30,00 dong only, or I was getting off right here in the middle of the road. I even had one leg over the side of the bike to get off. Must have scared him, because he said okay, okay, I take you.
Our brief friendship had ended! He dropped me off at the door, I parted with 30,00 dong and he didn't ask me to write a story in his book.

Christine and I had booked a train to travel to Nha Trang. The 5 Star Express is under construction, so we booked on the S5. There was only 1 single sleeper available and the rest were 4 berth cabins. Christine was reluctant to share with unknown people, so she took the “deluxe” cabin and I booked the other. I shared my cabin with a nice Vietnamese family of mum, dad, nanna and a small girl. Yep, all in one tiny cabin. Christine shared her's with a mouse!!

We were served dinner of a baguette and bottle of water and given the now familiar tooth brush and toothpaste
Remember how I told you the mattresses in the hotel were like a log with a sheet over them? Well the matresses on the berths were like concrete with a sheet on them. My arm went to sleep more than I did on the overnight trip. My cabin was crowded but friendly.
Not much to see in the dark, but when the sun came up we passed some beautiful countryside.
All in all, I enjoyed the trip and am glad we tried something different.

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