May Hotel Ho Chi Minh City

... roads now, overland journey from one country to the other is less arduous than ten or twenty years ago when overland travels were not only difficult and time-consuming but were also very risky particularly when going through less-traveled routes.

I took a bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City.The journey took about 6 hours with about 4 hours spent on Cambodian soil and the rest through Vietnam densely populated areas before reaching Ho Chi Minh City ...

... They all have a similar type of USDA certification. They were saying that the ship uses 3,000 eggs a day & they cook 400 lbs of rice a day for the 600 Asian staff members. The Concessionaires (casino, stores, entertainment staff, etc) all eat in the Lido deck eating the same food as the passengers. The rest of the staff which is an even split of Filipino & and Indonesian eat in their staff area & have their native food. The staff gets a committee together ...

... need cheap room?!" I ignored them, though as I was in the process of retreiving my bag I had to tell one particularly pesky old bloke with a hideous sprig of hairs sprouting from his chin five separate times that no, I did not need a hotel, as I already had one. An American guy who had been sat next to me on the bus and who lived in the city pointed to where we were on my map, and I discovered that I was but a short walk away from the hotel. I set off and five minutes ...

... Jack isn't available here) box
- Busy sidewalks - used for motorbike parking, for stalls selling food and various wares, for cafes and restaurants and for sleeping (yup, smack on the sidewalk, to rest in the middle of the day... we're not talking about the homeless here...)
- Gargling and spitting in public, whether it be in buses or in the streets; nose-picking, white hair removal and pimple popping should also be done indoors, preferably behind ...

... and then walked to the War Museum. This museum depicts the effect of what the Vietnamese call the 'American War' of the 1960's and 70's on the country. The whole visit turned out to be quite harrowing as we wandered around the 5 rooms stopping to look at the photos on the walls. The photos ranged from shots of war wounded to shots of people suffering the after-effects of agent orange poisoning.. not good. There were deformed limbs, faces and babies in jars of alcohol ...

... our way and thrusting shirts and pants at us, shouting that we must buy, pulling on our arms when we went to move past. Crazy. At one point I paused to buy some deodorant (note to self: always pack more than you think you'll need), and when the seller handed back the change, she tried to pass a phony play money $10,000 note which sharp-eyed Bill immediately noticed and challenged her on.

Both hungry, we located a restaurant called Quan An Ngon. Apparently ...

... c'e' chi porgendo la sua scodella avra' spaghettini in brodo e fara' cosi' colazione. Lasciato il mercato percorriamo un canale tra folta vegetazione con ponticelli e passiamo vicino alle innumerevoli abitazioni costruite su palafitte fatte di lamiere e legno. C'e' chi si lava i denti, chi lava i panni e stende, chi fa colazione e chi lavora. Ritornati all'hotel vorremmo far colazione prima di ripartire, ma a Can Tho e' una bella impresa. Negli innumerevoli caffe' della citta ...

Sinahoukville in Cambodia was a good night, but the rain was brutal. Bus'd to Phnom Penh then over the border to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).
The next day we walked the city, visiting the Reunification Palace, War Remnants museum, a Pagoda and the city Zoo. Many a tank, chopper and guns on display, as well as the horrific nature of ...

Hi all,
Even though it's been 2 weeks since my last blog I think this one will be short as all I've been doing for the last 2 weeks is partying hard with an amazing crew of people.... so a lot of what went on was just in-jokes that nobody outside the group would get (and what happens on tour stays of tour of course!).... and a lot of it is an alcoholic haze.... but I'll try and remember as much as I can....

So I was in Siem reap, Cambodia, the home of the biggest temples in the world ...

... Y" va dire quoi??? Je peux pas y parler, à "Y"???

Sinon, journée de travail tranquille aujourd'hui. L'équipe du Alarm Center, avec qui j'étais en guerre (décidémment, il est temps que je parte) il y a quelques mois sur une question de procédures d'appels, m'ont demandé ce soir qu'on se fasse un souper d'adieu avant mon départ. Moi qui pensait les avoir brusqués... Mais ça, c'est bien vietnamien. Ils chiâlent comme des maudits, puis ...