Hey, nearly broke the sound barrier on that one
Greetings from Saigon/Ho Chi Minh city peoples. This is my last holiday email :( so forgive me if I get a bit emotional.
Phnom Penh was quite an experience, its so run down and smelly - its basically a third world city and I'd never seen one of those before. The people were friendly though, they dont have the hard edge you normally get from city folk everywhere else. They smile at you when you're walking on the street - insert smart comments here - but it does seem to be genuine. I found a cool bar called the forign correspondence club which was where all the journalists used to go back in the war days. Its got a real colonial feel about the place and its full of ex-pats and the food is superb and nice to have some western didhes for a change I must admit.
We also went to the killing fields and the jail and that was fairly gruesome. You could see the rags of clothes of the dead in the killing fields which really hit home how recent it was. After that we visted the school our group leader Kakada runs in his village. It would put you to shame how enthusiastic he is about education and all the things we take for granted. Its so corrupt here that the officials only want to run schools for bribes. To learn English is like your meal ticket to a decent life.
I arrived in Saigon 2 days ago after a fairly tough journey and border crossing. The heat is the hardest thing to deal with. We had our last group meal on Monday night and went our seperate ways. I've been organising day trips and city tours since myself and to be honest I think I've hit the wall culture wise. I'm a bit too tired to organise another so I'm just spending today wandering around the city. Im a rittle ronery I must admit, I miss having people around I know that I can crack jokes to but I do realise this is the last of heat and sun I'll have for a while so I'm not holing myself up in the hotel room feeling too sorry for meself. I'll be cursing I ever came home I'd say after 2 days :)
The traffic here is mental, if theres 5000 bicylces in Beijing Katie Melua, then Ho Chi Mins 6 million mopeds/motorbykes/cyclos shit all over your song. I might just write one about that when I get back. The traffic doesnt stop at pedestrian crossings - you just have to mosey on over the road and I dont think I'll get used to it. I got a cyclo this morning to the war remnents museum and the lad was constantly chatting to me tapping me on the shoulder and arm. They're friendly folk but I cant understand half of it. I got a motorbike lift back then and fuck me thats the scariest I've got yet. The tuk tuks in Bangkok have nothing on this.
Anyhoo thats all for now. Hope you enjoyed my travelogs peoples. I will be hosting a quiz when I get back so I will know who paid attention :)
Ultin tin au Thailand/Cambodge/Vietnam
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