30th October: Vietnam
I am now in Vietnam on my own and it feels very strange. I don't know quite what to do with myself now that I don't have a routine, a role and people around me 24/7. It feels very decadent to just wake up in the morning and decide whether to go and visit some ancient temples, a museum or just get on a bus to another location.
I arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) on Monday after a 6 hour bus journey from Phnom Penh. I thought Phnom Penh was full of motorbikes until I saw the sea of them hurtling towards me as the bus pulled into town. It's crazy! I went exploring on my first day though and it is actually a rather charming place, albeit a little busy. It has definite colonial influences and is a lot more developed than PP. I visited some of the main buildings and then went on to the war museum and independence palace. I think calling it a palace is slightly overdoing it. It's a pretty ugly 1960s government building which is still in the same state it was when it was liberated in the 70s. It was really interesting to find out more about the Vietnam war that I'm only aware of from US films. The war museum was so graphic - lots of photos and descriptions of torture and atrocities committed not so long ago.
I went on a 2 day tour of the Mekong Delta on a boat. I thought we'd be getting real insight into how people live in this area but instead we were marched from one souvenir stall to another. It did improve though. 10 of us opted for the homestay option which meant that we stayed with a local family for the night. How far out of my comfort zone was I with that one? We travelled there at about 7pm, so it was completely dark and we were led through alleyways, across fields and then onto rowing boats to take us down the river to the house. We were served a delicious dinner of elephant fish caught in the river, rice (of course), noodles and veg from their land. I slept on a bed made of concrete underneath a mozzie net and tried to ignore the random noises and shadows that I could see throughout the night. Fortunately there was a cockerel right outside my window to wake me up. Unfortunately it was 3am when he started to crow! By 5.30 we were all up and checking out the rice fields, watermelon crop and the orchard. By 7am we were back on the boats to explore floating markets, more villages and so on. I was so happy to be back in my hotel room by 6pm for a hot shower and a lie down!
So many places to visit and so many decisions to make. This travelling lark is hard I tell you!
Pip x
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