I returned to ho Chi Minh by bus from Cambodia. The journey was interesting in the most sincere sense of the word. We seemed to get caught in a traffic jam during some public holiday. The jam was a queue for the ferry that would take us across a large river, the ferry is the ONLY point across the river in Cambodia as they’re still constructing a bridge. After almost two hours in line we’re told to pass forward a few $USD each so we can bribe provice a donation to a police officer so he’d be inclined to shut off the other side of the road and usher our bus ahead of the queue of locals. Worthwhile as it saved us a few hours of waiting in traffic.
I arrived in HCMC much later than I had planned, I went to my hotel which had told me they had overbooked and were moving me to another one round the corner, so I loaded my bags on my back and jumped on the scooter of the hotel receptionist and we whizzed in and out of traffic - me clinging to life and the back handles of the bike.
Upon arriving at the hotel I then had to dash straight back out to the airport to pick up my good friend Matt. Weary and disoriented being so far from home he still decides the best course of action is a few beers.
The next day is spent roaming the city from iced drink to beer to water to beer as we try to acclimatise to the tropical heat and humidity of the city.
Whilst we’re down south we visit the super cool Mekong Delta and delight in boat rides and coconut farms.
The next day we travel further afield to the chu-chi tunnels, a disappointment and a rush especially as we had a bus to catch to Mui Ne. Chu Chi has a lot of history, but due to it’s distance it’s a big rush to try to fit into half a day, but realistically there isn’t a lot to do or see once you’re there - it’s a day of bus rides without air conditioning.
