Saturday 16 March 2013

Vietnam, the land of broken promises, strikes AGAIN

So today we were supposed to be leaving for Chau Doc for the border crossing into Cambodia tomorrow. First we checked out and then went to the post office as we both had to post a few things home. It took me an hour to get mine packaged and sent, because it took 4 attempts to tell the man how to pack it. I eventually had to show him, for him to completely rearrange it all, for me to tell him over and over again, it's packed like that because it's FRAGILE. Dear god. So I packed it again and then he shoved a load of polystyrene in and finally got it, though whether the items would reach home still intact is a whole other issue!

We then went back to the hostel to enquire about booking the bus, they told us where to go and oh look, we were told the wrong information AGAIN by the tour rep lady. SERIOUSLY! It turns out the bus was actually 7hrs, not 4, we couldn't get one til 3pm which would mean getting there, only spending a night before heading across the border at 7am the next morning. We discussed this issue over lunch and eventually decided that it was more hassle, travelling and costs that we could do without, and with our last few days in Vietnam being a little shitty, wanted to get to Cambodia sooner rather than later. So we went back and booked a night bus out of HCMC that evening to arrive in Cambodia the next morning (with a 4hr wait at the  border until it opened but it was ok because we were assured it was a proper night bus and we could just sleep through until then).

Then we spent the day at the main market, got ourselves some bargain purchases on MAC makeup and Chanel perfumes. Went for a last Ice Cream at Fanny's, walked to the Sky Tower to see if we could have one last coffee at the best street place in the whole of Vietnam, but the two ladies weren't there today - sad faces! Then we headed back to the hostel and sat around until 7pm when there was a 'crazy rooftop party' at our hostel. Decided to check it out, mainly because there was free food and some crazy games! Turned out to be alright, met a Danish guy and Scottish lad and sat and chatted, ate and drank together for a bit. Then the crazy games started, the first one we sat out of but the Danish guy jumped at the chance. It involved 10 guys and 10 girls, and each team had to pass down limes on spoons using only their mouths and put them in a bowl, whichever team managed to collect the most got a free drink. Danish's team won so he was chuffed.

Then the next game we decided to participate in. It was called Italian Kisses, and involved 5 guys and 5 girls, paired up, and the girls had spaghetti, the guys had straws, and you had to get the spaghetti inside the straw using only your mouths. It was hilarious, especially as when they blew the whistle to start, Unchained Melody played over the sound system, which had us all in fits of laughter. I was regularly snorting, and breaking spaghetti strands so me and my partner didn't get many in surprise surprise. The winning couple got a free night of accommodation, so you can imagine how ecstatic Danish was when he and his partner won. They then left after a bit more drinking and chatting, and we went to freshen up for our night bus which was supposed to leave at 11.30pm, but didn't arrive until 12.30am. Sigh...

The guy wanted to collect all our passports for the visas at the border crossing, but I won't trust anyone else with my passport, he may be trustworthy, but at least if I have it, I'm in control and only have myself to blame if anything happens to it. He refused to give it back so I had to go storming up and unzip his bag to get it. We then walked to the buses...and guess what? They weren't proper sleepers!! SIGH...Vietnam strikes again.

So with some sleeping pill aid, we slept until we were awoken at 6am at the border crossing. 

No comments:

Post a Comment