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Published: January 12th 2007
The bus took about 5 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh City. It dropped us off in the heart of backpackersville and close to a couple of decent, cheap hotels we had read about in our guide book. Outside 1, a tout told us it was full. Of course we didn't believe him but when we went in to check, the receptionist confirmed what he said. The tout, waiting outside, said he would show us another hotel nearby. When we got there, they only had 1 room left, on the top floor (5 floors up) and at the front of the hotel. We had learnt that rooms at the front of Vietnamese hotels are always really noisy due to either late-night bars, early morning cockerel calls, dogs barking or motorbikes whizzing past at any time of the day but we couldn't be bothered to walk any further, especially as everywhere seemed to be busy. Anyway, being 5 floors up would make it quieter. There was the small question of getting our heavy bags up the 5 floors but this hotel had it all sussed! They had a winch system to pull our bags up from the ground floor within seconds.
Fantastic! Orla was slightly concerned when she spotted the baby's high-chair directly beneath our hovering bags but the baby wasn't in it at the time so no worries!
Being 5 floors up did not make the room quieter at all!! We had a disturbed night's sleep with some bloody awful guitar player in a bar down the road. He clearly thought he could play and sing but believe us, he could do neither! He didn't stop until about 2am and we were knackered when we got up.
Today (29th), we had jobs to do. We had to get memory cards downloaded to CD and Steve's camera repaired after he had dropped it on the floor in Hue, causing the shutter to jam! Steve had also hurt his neck before we left home, shifting heavy boxes into the loft. It had been niggling at him a bit so we managed to find an American Chiropractor, based in Ho Chi Minh and hoped we'd be able to get an appointment.
We rocked up at the clinic and explained to the receptionist about Steve's neck. She said she was very sorry but Steve would have to wait to be
seen. "How long?", we asked, having visions of phoning the Doctor at home and be told to wait 2 weeks. "About 10 minutes", she said. Fantastic.
Steve's Chiropractor was called Dr Wade Brackenbury. We only saw him for about 15 minutes but in that time learned he had broken his back when he was only young and had to have home schooling, he had been a photographer and interested in human rights, travelling around China many years ago and written books about Nepal, he was a trained acupuncturist and he and his wife "took early retirement" at the age of 37 and went travelling for years, he speaks numerous languages, had lived in Thailand and now has his own chiropractor business in HCM City. We felt so uninteresting in comparison. At least Steve had a bad neck - we should have made up some interesting story about how he'd injured it!
Anyway, Dr Wade was very nice. He proded Steve's neck and upper back and said he could feel where the problem was but wanted to send him for an x-ray as well. He then told Steve he would do some work on his back there and then
but also wanted to see him the next day, to check the x-ray and do a bit more manipulation. He sat Steve down, put his thumb on one of his neck bones then twisted his neck. Orla yelped with the sound of the crack! Steve just looked shocked.
He then got Steve to lie down on a special table. Dr Wade seemed to have all his body weight squashing down on Steve and rocked him back and forth. A bit more cracking of bones, then Steve was allowed to sit up, looking a bit flushed and bewildered.
Next, Steve was sent into another room to have some massage and electro-therapy treatment. It was all quite exciting (for Orla, anyway!)
We took Steve's note from Dr Wade round to Victoria Hospital, which he had recommended for the x-ray. We kept thinking about the cost but it only cost about 10 pounds and again, Steve was seen within minutes.
We felt, having had a day of chores, we should really try and see something of Ho Chi Minh City, so we made a visit to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, which was near the hospital. It was quite nice
but we had passed other, more beautiful pagodas when walking around the city so weren't sure it deserved the special mention it had in our guide book.
Weary after walking to the chiropractor then the hospital and, for Steve, after being battered around a bit, we decided to get a cyclo back to our hotel. It was now rush hour and dark and our little cyclo was wedged between a million motorbikes. Bikes are so much more sociable than cars. People were chatting to each other in the traffic jams and saying hello or smiling at us, as they cut us up on the outside 'lane'. The fumes were fairly hideous though and we were glad to get off near our hotel, even if we had had a mini-tour of the city, driving past the beautiful Notre Dame cathedral and via the central market. Our cyclo driver had also tried to point out various other sites but we couldn't understand his accent or hear him over the noise of the traffic!!
We found a really nice place to have dinner that evening, 'Little Saigon', up a small side-street not far from our hotel. There was no traffic and
it was quiet - if we ever went to HCM again, we'd try to find accommodation in that alley.
Next morning, we had to be back at the chiropractor for Steve's 8.30 appointment. He did a bit more 'work' on Steve's back and checked out the x-ray, telling Steve there was nothing seriously wrong and that, actually, his spine was in good shape for "someone his age". Steve was pleased and slightly miffed at this comment at the same time.
We had to get back to the camera repair shop, opposite our hotel, for 10 am to collect Steve's camera, about a 30 minute walk from Dr Wade's. When we got there, it wasn't ready. This seems to be the way in Vietnam. Time is of no essence. It makes Orla look like she's always early!
We decided to walk back to the market to have a look around. Inside, a woman said hello to Orla, asked where she was from and if she could ask her a question. "Of course", said Orla, only vaguely noticing that the woman was edging her back into a stall. Next thing, Orla was surrounded by 3 other women, shoving
clothes in her face and asking her to buy them. They were all touching her and blocking her path as she tried to get out of the shop. In the meantime, another woman had collared Steve just outside the stall, telling him Orla wanted to ask him a question. He started to walk into the stall too, asking Orla what she wanted but it was all just a rouse to get him in the shop as well. Orla had to physically push the women away from her and we legged it away from the stall. It was horrible. It was the only time we felt vulnerable and were worried they were trying to pick our pockets. As we walked round more of the market, all the ladies were grabbing at Orla and trying to stop her by their stalls. Most of them probably don't mean any harm. Orla lost her temper at one point and shouted, "Too much touching!" at a lady who had held onto her arm. The lady apologised, but the whole experience was unnerving and uncomfortable. We left after that, deciding we wouldn't be going near any more markets in HCM.
We went to wind down
in the lovely 'Highland Coffee', in front of Notre Dame Cathedral, for lunch, then popped into the impressive Post Office building to send more photo CDs home. Steve's Dad is kindly spending hours sorting them all out for us - thank you!
Just near the post office, there was a massive department store so we went for a quick look round. It was really expensive and there were no shoppers in there at all!! We're still not going back to that market though!!
We walked onto the War Remnants Museum. There were various bomber-aircraft and guns on display, a video of people talking about the impact of Agent Orange on their families, photos of various atrocities carried out in the war, pictures of children and adults and also preserved foetuses in jars, demonstrating the malforming effects of defoliant sprays, photographs and stories of journalists and photographers killed in the war and also information about evil acts carried out by Ngo Dinh Diem, anti-communist President of Vietnam at one time, who attempted to eliminate all his opposition and was responsible for imprisoning, in terrible conditions, and murdering many Vietnamese. It was tragic and depressing.
One nice part of
the museum, which lifted our spirits, was the display of paintings by children, under the theme of world peace. They were all so simple, innocent, colourful and full of hope. It was a nice way to end the visit to this interesting but grim museum.
Back at the camera shop and still no sign of it being returned to us. The shop owner said just another hour. We began to worry if we would ever see it again. We nipped into a bar nearby to wait, 'GO2'. While we were in there, we spotted another traveller dropping some money on the floor. A waiter came up behind him, picked it up and pocketed it! We weren't impressed and told the traveller and waiter that we had seen him. The waiter tried to deny everything but eventually gave the guy his cash. Cheeky so-and-so! The waiter then told us that it was very bad to steal and lie so he gave the traveller double his money back. We think that was a lie too though!
We got the camera back and, to our amazement, it was actually fixed. Hooray! Next was dinner in the cheap and cheerful 'Kim Cafe',
where they also had lovely, bargain cocktails. Yum!
Well, even the cocktails didn't help us sleep through the party going on up the road from our hotel. They had a brass band playing until 5.30 in the morning. Yes, BRASS band and 5.30!! We were so tired. We had to get up at 6.30 to leave Ho Chi Minh City and an hour's sleep was not enough!
Grumpily, we got our luggage winched back down to the ground floor of the hotel and made our way round to the STA Travel Office, to join a tour that would take us to the Mekong Delta. For us, it was mainly a means of seeing some of the area whilst making use of the transport provided, as we planned to stay in the Mekong Delta for a few days, en route to Cambodia. Just as well, as the tour wasn't up to much. The guide was a bit of a 'Jack the lad' and just seemed totally bored with his job. He strutted about, didn't give his group any information and spent most of the day chatting up the girls that worked in the various places we visited. Such
a contrast to Hangs in Halong who just couldn't do enough for us.
When we had booked the tour, we told the agent we wanted to stay on in My Tho and not come back with the group. She said that was fine and that our guide would be able to help us, advising us where to stay and how to get a bus to our next location. Our guide, of course, was rubbish! He didn't offer any help at all and couldn't or wouldn't helpfully answer any questions we had. Thankfully, when our minibus got to My Tho, it stopped outside a budget hotel on the riverfront that was recommended in our guide book. While everyone went to use the toilets, Steve quickly looked at a room, we checked in and dumped all our luggage there. Phew!
The tour started with a boat trip to Unicorn Island, where they make honey. Steve was brave enough to stick his finger amongst the bees to get a taste of the honey. Orla opted to take a photo instead. There was also a random python on show, which some people had their photo taken with (we didn't bother). We think
it was just there for the tourists although we did spot a snakeskin handbag on a stall nearby.....
This was really a selling opportunity for the local community but they gave us lots of free samples so we were happy! We tried honey and lemon tea, rice wine (not as strong as the moonshine we'd tasted on our Dalat motorbike tour and certainly more enjoyable), banana wine (very pleasant) and sugared coconut, lotus fruit, ginger and banana. After scoffing as much of the free stuff as we could get away with, we bought a bag of the sugary ginger. Our guide then shoo-ed us onto the next stall where we sat and sampled some of the local fruits. He instantly disappeared so we had to eavesdrop on another tour group to discover that we were eating dragon fruit (delicious, the flesh looks like a white kiwi fruit, with a pink surround), jack fruit and papaya. There was also pineapple and melon, with a bowl of chilli and salt to dip the fruit in, like we'd had in Dalat. We were feeling suitably stuffed when the staff who had served the fruit suddenly started playing traditional music and signing songs.
They sang 3 or 4, then everyone got up and was paraded to the next place, to see where they make coconut candy. It was made by heating coconut milk and had a toffee-like texture. We tried various flavours - plain coconut (nice), chocolate (not so good), banana (ok) and grass (!! horrible!!)
From there, we were taken to a small boat-landing, where we clambered aboard small rowing boats to be taken through narrow canals overhung by water coconut trees. That was really nice but there were so many tour groups, we were in a major procession along the waterway.
Back on our bigger boat, we continued onto Ben Tre, the area we had really wanted to see whilst on the tour. We had lunch in a small restaurant here and sat with a really lovely couple from Brazil, Claudia, a solicitor and her husband, a policeman. Then our guide told us there were bicycles waiting at a nearby hut for us to use and told us he would see us in an hour and a half! There was no map and when we asked him which way was best to cycle, he just shrugged. Totally disinterested.
The bikes were in a terrible state. Orla's had a buckled front wheel, another guy in our group had a bike with no brakes and his friend had a flat tyre. There weren't even enough bikes to go round the group but luckily some had decided to walk (maybe they had inside information about the state they were in!)
We cycled about a bit but it was boiling hot, we didn't know where we were going and we weren't sure how far our bikes would take us. We did stop at 1 point to have a look at the river and spotted a puppy drowned in the water. That was enough. We decided to head back to the restaurant for a beer. When we got back, the other 2 guys with rubbish bikes were already there. They'd cycled about 10 minutes before getting fed up and returning to base.
Back on the boat, we started to head back to My Tho. We would go back to our hotel from here, whilst the rest of the group would re-join the minibus for Ho Chi Minh City. Our guide finally bothered to speak to us. He told us he had
arranged a very special trip to the market, further along the river from My Tho and that his was the only group that would get to go there. He tried really hard to convince the 2 of us to stay with the rest of the group for this market visit and to try and make us feel guilty that he had gone to all this trouble for everyone. We told him "No". We were sick of him and felt sure his desire to get us to market would be linked to some commission scam.
The tour had been ok but we were glad it was over and especially that we were rid of our useless guide. He is definitely in the wrong job!
That evening, we met an elderly couple who were also staying in the hotel. They had been there for a month. The man was Norwegian but his wife was Vietnamese and they were on holiday from Norway to visit her family. They were such a nice couple. The man couldn't speak much English and just seemed to sit out in the corridor all day, waiting for people like us to wander by so he could
Cai Rang floating coffee shop
Preparing our early morning brewhave a chat. The woman spent a lot of her time exercising, speed-walking up and down the corridor and flexing her hands. They recommended a nice fish restaurant across the road from the hotel, 'Chuong Duong', so we decided to give it a whirl. First though, we needed to get some money from the cashpoint. We'd seen 1 right next to the hotel but when we got to it, it was only in the process of installation. We asked a man if there was another 1 and he gave us directions to the main bank. We walked for 15 minutes and could see the illuminated ATM sign as we approached. But when we got there, it was also only part installed with a booth but no machine. Bugger! If we bought dinner, we wouldn't have enough money to pay for the bus the next day or any of the activities we wanted to do before we got to the next major town. We walked back to the restaurant. It was linked to a smart hotel so we felt certain they would take visa. They didn't. We begin to picture eating a bag of nuts for dinner, when 1 of the
waiters understood that our waving around cashpoint cards and saying, "ATM" meant we needed cash now! He wrote down an address in Vietnamese and managed to communicate that it was quite far away. One of the many men that tout lifts on their motorbikes offered to take Steve to the cashpoint for 10,000 dong. This was eating into our fund for that bag of peanuts so Steve told him, "No ATM, no money for you". He said, "Yes, yes" but we didn't really know if he understood. Luckily, we didn't have to have that argument. Orla waited near the restaurant and 5 minutes later, Steve was back, smiling and waving cash in the air. Phew!
We had a lovely dinner of spade fish. We'd never heard of it before but the waiter said, "Elephant ears". Steve was ready to punch him, but then realised he was talking about the fish! That clarified everything!!
The next day, we had to get up at 6:15 to get the 7 o'clock bus to Vinh Long. The lady in the tourist office connected to our hotel had told us where the bus went from and at what time. Except she didn't
know what she was talking about. We got a taxi to the bus station only to be told by a motorbike (moto) driver that there was no bus. We tried to speak to a girl on the bus ticket desk who completely ignored us, so we had no option but to trust our friendly, English-speaking moto-driver, or at least let him rip us off. He told us there was a minibus at 8 o'clock from the highway but it was a long way and we would need to go on motorbikes. We weren't sure if it was a con but he was right. There was no way we could have walked all the way to the highway with our backpacks. He and his fellow moto-driver plonked our bags in front of them as we sat on the back and they took us to what, we imagine, is the Vietnamese equivalent of a trucker's cafe. He told us a fixed price for the motorbike journey and the bus trip, which was probably 10 times the actual price but we knew we had no other options. We sat in the cafe until 7:45 when he flagged down a passing minibus for us.
A Safety Manager's nightmare
This guy was being swung about by the crane driver, then dunked in the river! The 'conductor' on the minibus took 1 look at us and our backpacks and looked totally unimpressed. He seemed to be refusing to take us and a row ensued between him and our driver. We stood there like lemons until the moto-driver said, "OK. Get in". Some money exchanged hands between the conductor and our driver, everyone taking their cut we're sure, and then we were off. We were just glad to be on our way.
The people on the bus were really frosty at first but gradually warmed towards us. There was an elderly lady who could speak French and she started to talk to us a bit and ask where we were from and where we were going. We even got a smile out of our young conductor. He wanted us to go to Can Tho, where everyone else on the bus was headed but laughed when we said no, Vinh Long. We stopped at a cafe on the way and people were quite friendly there. We don't think they get many tourists. One man brought his small child over to point and look at us. The toddler just cried and ran away. Who could blame him?!
Stilt house
Deciding to build an extension when drunk?! The minibus dropped us at a roundabout just outside Vinh Long town and we had to hire motos to get into town. We were deposited near the riverfront and found an office called 'Mekong Tours', where we booked a river trip to leave straight-away. We were really pleased with the timings as it meant we would be able to get another bus later in the day onto Can Tho, where we wanted to spend the night. We left our backpacks in the tour office while we went on our boat tour. We booked a tour without a guide but 1 showed us through the market to where our chartered boat was waiting for us. The market was interesting. There was all sorts of fruit, vegetables, rice, fish and frogs for sale.
The boat trip was excellent. There was just the 2 of us on a longboat and it only cost US$10 between us for 3 and half hours. Also, our 'guide' (the lady who captained the boat) was much better than the bloke on the Ben Tre tour, even though she couldn't speak a word of English. She managed to explain bits and pieces through sign language and
was really friendly. She took us to a brick-making factory then onto An Binh Island, where we had a cup of Vietnamese tea and some coconut candy. It was much more relaxed than the Ben Tre tour where we were herded from 1 thing to the next. We did some more cycling but this time, the bikes were in good condition, there was an obvious route to follow and there was more to see. We cycled to a church, then through a market where Steve bought a cheap t-shirt, then back down a narrow path to the bonsai garden where we started. Steve's mom won't be too surprised to hear that Steve instantly lost the new t-shirt, leaving it on the bike and not realising until we'd got into a small rowing boat. Luckily, it cost about 35p so we didn't worry about it too much!
The water levels were low so the small rowing boat took us back to our longboat. The lady rowing the boat was baking in the mid-day sun so we felt a bit guilty but she laughed and joked and chatted away to us in Vietnamese, giving Orla a flower she pulled out of
a tree. Once back on the longboat, it was straight back to Vinh Long for lunch at a street stall, which was delicious and, of course, cheap!
After lunch, we walked back to the Mekong Tours office to collect our bags. The girl in the office told us it wasn't far to the bus station but that she had arranged motos to take us for '"free". We just needed to give 20,000 dong each (about 66p) to the moto-drivers when we got to the station and they would buy the bus tickets for us and put us on the right bus for Can Tho.
The second we climbed off the motorbikes at the station, a woman conductor intercepted us, asked if we were going to Can Tho and piled us onto her bus, which was just leaving. Fantastic timing - we were on our way! The moto drivers shouted to us to get off the bus. The penny dropped! Of course - the moto ride wasn't for free. They would buy our bus tickets but pocket whatever their cut was. But did they think we were mad?! We were on a bus going to the place we needed
to get to. We weren't about to get off that bus! The bus started to move off and they shouted something to the conductor. She laughed but we kept going regardless. However, the moto- drivers got back on their bikes and chased the bus down the street. The bus came to a halt and the conductor asked us for our money. We gave it to her, then she gave some change, out the bus window, to 1 of the moto-drivers. The bus sped off again as the guy looked into his hand and look suitably cheesed off. The lady laughed. We think he had just been scammed by 1 of his own!
The bus, unfortunately, didn't go all the way to Can Tho but terminated at a place called Binh Minh. Luckily, we had read in our guide book that this was a possibility and that we would need to get on the ferry, in front of the bus station, for the 5 minute journey across the Mekong to Can Tho city. As soon as we got off the bus, we started to be hassled by motorbike drivers. One guy tried to tell us it was 61km to Can
Tho. We politely told him to shove off. It gets a bit wearing people trying to scam us all the time. He started trying to tell us we were in a different place but eventually shut up when he realised we knew we were in Binh Minh. No one would help us and tell us where we could buy tickets for the ferry. Unless we were willing to pay them an extortionate amount of money to take us on their motorbike, they weren't interested. We were fed up. Then another guy approached us and asked us where we were going. Here we go again! Steve gruffly told him but next thing he was taking us through the ticket check-point and onto the boat. A guard approached but the man waved him away. Orla asked him how much the ferry cost and he said, "It's free". "Free?? Nothing is free. Why is it free?" He just laughed and said, "I don't know why it's free. It just is." He told us to go to the upstairs seating on the ferry. The road vehicles used the lower deck. We were fully expecting that he had a motorbike on the other side of
the river and would be offering his services and asking for our cash when we docked, but when we looked around, he'd gone. We noticed that lots of other passengers were in a holding pen, having gone through the ticket desks and were now being allowed to board. The ferry started to pull away and the man was still standing at the port. Steve waved to him and he just nodded back. We couldn't believe it! Someone had actually genuinely helped us. And we hadn't even had to pay for the ferry, like everyone else. We don't know why he was nice to us. Perhaps he had seen us being hassled and decided to restore our faith in the Vietnamese!!
Once off the boat, we got in a pedicab to take us to a hotel in the city centre, 'Tay Ho Hotel'. Our guide book said it was cheap but good. Unfortunately, when we got there, the owner told us it had been upgraded and it was now out of our price range. Instead, he took us round to his sister's hotel, which was cheaper. We had a nice big room, en suite, top floor again. We're getting plenty
River life
Mekong delta at Can Tho of exercise climbing stairs on this trip! The man from Tay Ho quickly sold us a boat tour which was pricey but it covered everything we wanted to do, sounded good, would just be the 2 of us again in a boat with a roof for shade and, anyway, we had had a long day and couldn't be bothered traipsing around agencies investigating tours.
We went for a little walk down to the riverfront and through a touristy market, then went back to our hotel for another lovely seafood dinner. Then it was off to bed, ready for our early start the next morning.
Sunday 3rd December and up at 5am! Our guide for the day, Hang, picked us up at our hotel and we walked down to the riverfront, where his wife, Ha, and dog, Dolla, were waiting for us. Hang told us he is a fisherman when there are no tourists about but that he takes his dog with him on the boat everyday. He was worried that, if he left Dolla at home, someone would take him to eat him!! There was no fear of us doing that!
As we made our way
to the river, the rest of the city already seemed to be awake. Hang told us they usually rise at 4am, mainly because it is cooler then, and they all take cover in the heat of the day.
Hang had bought us bread and bananas to have as breakfast on the boat, as we sailed along the Mekong to watch the sunrise. It was peaceful and quite lovely.
After sunrise, we continued onto Cai Rang floating market. There were all sorts of fruits and vegetables for sale. As we floated near the market, watching people in boats buying from the floating shops, a cafe in a rowing boat approached us. The ladies were selling cans of soft drinks, beer, tea and coffee. They had a small burner in their boat to boil the hot water. We opted for coffee while Hang had a beer. Beer at 6:35am!!
Ha bought some pineapple to share with us and then we sailed on from Cai Rang to visit a noddle-making factory. As we got off the boat, Hang told us he had to buy a can of beer to give to the factory owner, for allowing us to visit. We
Chau Doc
Guess they all have TVs! That's 'Thaun Loi' hotel and floating restaurant in the middle. went to the factory, where Hang promptly opened the can of beer, took a swig then offered it to the factory man. Mr Factory refused so Hang knocked it all back himself. Our guide had finished his 2nd beer by 7am and was giggling away to himself. Great - we had a drunk guide in charge of our boat. We wondered how many more beers he'd get through in the day.
The factory was interesting. They start work early - about 5am - making the noddles. By 8am, the noddles are outside drying in the sun and everyone gets a rest until mid-afternoon, when it's time to start cutting the noddles, ready for sale. They had pigs on site that get to eat all the waste.
We got back on the boat with the tipsy Hang and set sail for Phong Dien floating market. This was bigger than Cai Rang and we stayed floating amongst the 'shops' for an hour or so. One of the sellers told Hang that Steve was handsome, but he still didn't buy anything!! They were selling fruit, veg, meat, sweets, buckets, washing up liquid and other household goods, large blocks of ice and
Preparing a fish dinner
Not sure what had happened to this guy but he has circles all over his back! all manner of things. It was nice bobbing about amongst them and watching the transactions going on before us.
Hang didn't have any more beer. Perhaps he likes to have a couple of cans to kick-start his morning, a bit like other people have coffee! He sailed us through quiet canals, passed stilt houses, and it was lovely and relaxing. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and had a delicious fish hotpot, then it was time to head back to Can Tho.
Our minibus to Chau Doc, the hopping off point for Cambodia, was due to pick us up at the hotel at 3 o'clock. A bus did arrive at 3 but when we asked the driver where he was going, he didn't know! Next thing, the bus pulled off without us and we started to get nervous that we'd been left behind. At 3:15, Orla got a girl in the hotel to phone the number on our ticket. She came off the phone and just said "ok". We still didn't know if we were getting a bus or not but a few minutes later, a taxi turned up and the driver gestured for us to get
Our fast boat to Cambodia
It'll only take 7 hours!! in. There was already a Vietnamese man in the taxi and we collected another business man a little while after that. We weren't sure what was happening but 10 minutes later, we were at the bus station and being shown to a bus. We squeezed into the last 2 seats, on the back row of the minibus, and it left immediately.
There were 4 of us on the back row and we were a bit squashed. Plus Orla was sitting next to a nutter! Unfortunately, we didn't realise straight away that he was mad. As soon as the bus left the station, Orla tried to ask him what time the bus would get to Chau Doc. This took a bit of doing, using our phrase book, pen, paper. He finally understood but didn't know what time the bus would arrive. Suddenly, he stretched his arm out and put it round Orla's shoulder! Asking for bus timetable information wasn't a come-on!! We glared at him and he moved his arm. After that though, he kept sprawling out into Orla's part of the seat. Steve wanted to swap places but there was no room to manouevre in the back of the minibus. Orla elbowed the guy a couple of times and he seemed to get the hint.
The bus conductor gave each passenger a free bottle of water. Our nutter threw his onto Orla's lap. Much scowling and throwing his bottle back at him. He was getting on our nerves and we knew we had something like a 4 or 5-hour trip. This was going to be a long journey. Orla kept looking at her watch, wishing the time away, but it had only moved on 5 minutes each time she checked.
The worst was yet to come. Our loony suddenly shouted something. The other passengers looked around, there was a bit of shuffling and next thing a plastic bag was passed to the back of the bus for him. He gestured to Orla that he was feeling sick. He spent the next hour burping and holding the bag up to his face. Oh no! But we both felt he was faking it. He was trying to catch Orla's eye all the time (who pretended she was reading and ignored him) and something just didn't ring true; it sounded like he was forcing it. Then he kept trying to talk to the guy sitting the other side of him; he also ignored him. He was turning this journey into a nightmare.
Two hours into the trip, he shouted out again. The bus stopped and he clambered out. We thought he had gone to threw up but next thing, the conductor slammed the bus door and we drove off. Hoorah! We looked back and the weirdo had hailed a motorbike. We could relax. It was all we could do to stop from cheering!
At about 5:45 the sun started to set. We think our driver didn't like being on the roads after dark because he suddenly started driving like a crazy man! We were flying over bumps in the road, being physically thrown in the air from our seats and he was overtaking everything in his path. It was hair-raising to say the least!
We were relieved when we got to Chau Doc at 6:30, still in 1 piece. We hopped onto motorbike taxis and stayed at 'Thaun Loi' hotel. It had a lovely, floating fish restaurant where we had dinner, watching the fishermen casting their nets from their small rowing boats.
After dinner, we went to a few travel agents to enquire about the speed boat to Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city. We wanted to have a day relaxing in Chau Doc, then travel on the 5th but when we checked, there were no tickets left for the 5th or 6th and only 2 left for the 4th! It was about 10:30 at night and the boat was leaving, from our hotel, at 8:30 the next morning so we didn't have long to decide. The decision was made relatively easy by the fact our Vietnamese visa expired on the 6th. We could have taken the slow boat, which was cheaper, but the speed boat sounded more appealing. We decided to book the tickets and get going. We could have a rest when we got to Phnom Penh.
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Pete Josephs
non-member comment
Great adventure
Hello Steve and Orla. Glad to hear about the "adventures". Memories of the tough times and crazy characters will make you laugh in years to come.