The [not so] daunting journey to Ho Chi Minh!

Day 71 - 04/08/2010 - 20:47 - Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam

So we're here in Saigon and we've made it without any major sleep deprivation or downward spiralling into insanity. Perfect. We were up and checked out by 11:15am where the hotel gave us a lift for £9 to the station in Da Nang, 30 km away. The hotel receptionist and I didn't quite see eye to eye this morning. There was a genuine mix up about the bill, nothing serious, but after I'd questioned her on it, that was it and I didn't get another smile, the bitch. Moody staff or what, I apologised as well (as the British do). She obviously shouldn't be in the service industry!

Anyway, we got to the station around 12pm, with 1hour 15minutes to spare before our train. We got some cash out and headed to a nearby restaurant which wasn't great but it was coveniently placed just outside the station and we only had to wait 20 minutes for our train to arrive after our meal. We were some of the first on the train, and the first 2 in our cabin. We waited very impatiently and we heard English voices (British, not any others speaking English!) coming down the corridoor! And it was! 2 English women, Alice and Harriet, from south London who were sharing with us. We then found out where they were going and it was only Nah Trang, the stop at 9pm, well before our 4:30am arrival into Saigon! My heart sank again, I wasn't going to know whether I was going to sleep until 9:30pm at night!

Nevertheless, we had a good day, absolutely no language barrier (and that includes the humour) was absolutely fantastic. Our first contact with British people living in England on the whole trip! We played cards, told each other about our trips, and what we do back home. Harriet and Alice both were teachers and they were travelling with two other teachers who were in a different cabin because of ticket availability at the time of booking. We met both of them too and they were really nice people. As I mentioned earlier the British humour was a particular highlight and not having to translate some words into alternative English for those whose native language is not English or is, and they are American (college rather than University being one example!) was great.

The train was late getting into Nah Trang, at around 22:15 and we said goodbye to our friends. We sat nervously waiting to see if we'd have half the family in with us or not. Then it came, two Vietnamese blokes, travelling separately. Both jumped on their berths (both on top) and settled down for the night. What an overreaction! I slept fairly well, and we got into Saigon at 5am, 30 minutes later than scheduled, but I wasn't complaining.

Then came the next worry, the taxi. The ones in Hanoi really tried to rip us off when we arrived! However, when we arrived there were an orderly line of taxis in the distance. I instantly recognised the logo, the exact same company that took us from Da Nang to Hoi An! Yes, I don't believe it! We crawled into the LAST taxi in line and got taken to our destination for just under £3, not bad for a 5km journey in the wee hours!

We then arrived at our hotel and checked in - no problems, not crashing on the sofa for a few hours, just straight to bed for another 3 hours. Bliss.

I was glad to get that day behind me, especially with such ease. We got up at 9am and showered before our free breakfast. Problem number 1 - A/C was leaking. They fixed it with 0 fuss though. It leaked again later, soon after they'd fixed it but it seems to be sorted now. Thankfully. The hotel is really smart. It's one of these boutique hotels, more like a B+B than a hotel but it's very welcome. The comfort of a hotel with the very helpful and full of information staff that you'd get in a hostel. It's cheap too. Best of both worlds. We got our bus ticket sorted today for Phnom Penh too, so we're going to be in Cambodia without too much of a fuss, I hope!

As for today itself we went to see the Reunification Palace and had a good look round there for a couple of hours before heading to the Notre Dame cathedral (French built, obviously). It's not as impressive in size as the Paris one, but it's still very beautiful!

Tomorrow will see more looking around the city!