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Well I must update my travels don't I... Lightly lashed writing this so please excuse all errors!!
The last time we spoke I was leaving Saigon. Well we got a random bus which we thought took us to a place in the Mekong Delta called Can Tho but in fact the bus which we hopped on was no more than a commuter bus from one small bus station to another... Funny stuff as we prepared to go all the way in a wee small bus!! When the conductor woman beckoned us to leave by waving her hand down I got up to get off only to look back and see Elaine hiding under the seat as she thought the woman was telling her to get down and hide as we were foreigners and thus not allowed on the bus!!! A harsh introduction to public buses for Ms Darmody but I was rolling about on the ground in pieces!!
Anyhow we got to Can Tho in the end... A/C bus and the like for about 70000 Dong I think - $5... pretty darn nice really and I even kept myself away from the fried frog etc.. when the bus stopped
half way.. Only noodles and beef consumed in a thin broth.... Can Tho was nice enough. Quiet.. We booked a boat to the floating markets the next mornign which is the highlight of a stay in Can Tho allegedly... 5 hour long boat trip with an old lady who doesn't speak any English in the most makeshift boat you could ever like to see was an experience in itself but it was dead on if a pretty tiring morning... We got to the floating markets which were pretty uneventful but again nice and it was box ticked....
After we got back from the hurculeum expediton it was decided that we would go to a place called Rach Gia that day by the cheapest means possible... Obviously I cannnot devulge who made this decision but it was clearly me trying to save about 35 cents for a day of misery with livestock in our seats and the like!! We boarded the non a/c, non soft seat, non comfort, public bus and went to put our bags in the hold for dafe keeping of course... Or not of course... Opened the luggage hatch only to be met by a number of
ducks looking back at us in a quizical look.... Believing our bags to be of more importnace we of course thought the ducks would be placed on the roof as this is more likely to be benficial to said ducks than for our bags to go there... Oh no not here in Vietnam... On the roof our bags went and the waterproof little fluffy white duk creatures safe inside the hold... 5 hour journey in a tropical country in rainy season... You're wondering if it rained... Ask Elaine!! I don't wish to relive that day..
Rach Gia was uneventful apart from not being able to find the town centre due to no Lonely PLanet and eating in an expensive place by the river... Nice food though - prawns in a spicy sauce... Hmmmmmm ... Next day was the ferrry to the island of Phu Quoc off the south coast near Cambodia...
Right the ferry was allegedly at 9am so we turned up at the busy dock 8 to make sure we got on... When we got there there was a bit of a comotion going on and as such we decided t get our ticket straight away!!! I
It was very warm actually
I was wearing only a pair of shorts and a flimsy t-shirt!! think not!! Only 1 boat today heading to Phu Quoc due to the rough seas.. The weather weren't great but it was not perfect storm in fairness!! We tried to buy a ticket... " you foregigner no... " as they sold tickets all round them ... Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh.. Now this continued for some time until we decided to trust one of the motorbike riders who was lurking around to get us tickets and to be fair to him he took us to an office a bit out of town where they eventually sold us a ticket and we got onto the 2.5 hour ferry of karaoke and fun.... Off to Phu Quoc we were going!!!
Now the Vietnamese have a fine nautical tradition so you would expect them to take a few wee waves in their stride... I think not... People weren't overly shipshape and sick bags were handed out... All in all the trip over was spot on... Not sure how the locals felt!! So Phu Quoc was entered and we headed off to our residence on the Island whcih was to be the Beach Club right on the main beach... Of we went in a minibus after the
usual oblilgatory haggling and pretend walking off over 2 cents and we were turfed out at the side of what looked like a dirt track into the jungle... A finer poinyted down the track and off the minibus hurtled in a could of dust!! Off we went into the unknown and we soon found ourselves in the Beach Club thankfully.
Now this place was somewhere that you would pay 1000's of pounds to stay in in somewhere like Maritiuous but here $17 a night sorted it out for a room about 10 metres from the waves.. Nice. 3 days of drinking from pineapples and coconuts served by monkey butlers followed of course in the island paradise coupled with good food from the restaurant in the beach club which was great. Couldn't fault the place at all, idyllic. Just a shame that the weather wasn't a bit better and the brown waves would have reverted back to turquoise... I canny change the weather though so no point in crying over what might have been!! Oh just to make you more jeleous our bill for 3 days of paradise, all our drinks and all our food came to about $60. Hard
life eh... Oh and shout out to the Canadian pirates of the carribean who made our stay more enjoyable... I've got the 10 dollars here waiting for you when you decide to sell me that boat of yours in the end!!
So back we went on the ferry to Rach Gia and then straight on a local bus again to the Cambodian border at Ha Tien where we planned to hop into our next country.... Off bus we went at Ha Tien, not much going on in this place so we got straight onto a moto for the short trip to the border and to get our visa on arrival or so we hoped as I wasn't overly sure that we could get them here as it was pretty newly opened to tourists... All was fine and the visas were gotten with no fuss at all... It was pretty pleasant really as obviously not many foreigners come through here and they were very nice to us... Well done all round!! We stayed on our motos all the way to Kampot in the south of Cambodia along roads, if could call them that!! flanked by rice paddies and locals waving
and shouting hello... Various wildlife was spotted along the trip, water buffalos, dogs, cats, goats, etc... There were also big hog-like creatures and pigs which Elaine and her driver nearly turned into a flying one as it ambled out in front of them at high speed... A scared Elaine and a delighted pig later disaster was averted and bacon was off the menu once again... At this stage sights such as 5 year olds washing cows in lakes and kids lying on top of pigs in the sun had become normal sights randomly... No photos though as the road at this stage had turned into a death trap and I was concentrating on the survival of me and also not to allow my arse to slip back into the shattering mode of previous excursions by bike!! All was fine in the end and Kampot was reached... Off to the beach I said as it was here where the beach scene could be gotten to in Cambodia wasn't it... !
Now my knowledge is pretty sound usually but no this occasion there was a breakdown, probably due to a badly written guidebook or an ill-informed person telling me bad advice
of course!! When asking proudly for the directions to the beach by locals I was met with pretty blankn faces and the sort of looks that you get when you're about to realise that maybe there isn't a beach in the town!! So "where's the beach"? A fine local who spoke some English moved forwards and advised me that the beach was 20k away... Great... Elaine was delighted at this of course... I shall say no more!! Anyhow Kampot was dead on. Nice riverside locations for bars and restaurants and it was a pleasant night all in... Who needs the beach anyhow...
Off to Phnom Penh we went the next day via bus....
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Elaine Darmody
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Langer!!!!!!!!!!
How funny that 15 mins before you typed this entry - you actually tried to tell me that you were NOT durnk!!!!! I think you'll find the proof is in the pudding....... Ha Ha!!