Ho Ho Ho

(Em again)

Spot the car

Sad to leave Hoi An today as loved it here and pretty close to being my favourite place so far. Got a taxi up to the airport for our flight to Saigon/HCMC - flight was about $40 with Pacific Airlines and was a good flight. I was particularly pleased that all women got a free gift of Vichy skincare products as its International Women's Day and I haven't allowed myself such luxuries for this trip!

On arrival at HCMC the humidity is what hits you first which isn't great fun when you are carrying a backpack. Got a local bus into the backpacker area and eventually found a cheap hotel (Tan Mai Phai for $8 a night) including a/c - a necessity I think! We are only planning on spending the night here as we came on holiday to southern vietnam a couple of years ago so have 'done' the sights. What struck us was how much more developed the backpacker area is with loads more hostels and cafes than before and unfortunately a fast food burger place on the corner of the main street (although at least its not McDonalds!) Spent a while finding the best bus trip to get to Phnom Penh tomorrow morning - will let you know if we chose correctly! Getting the bus at 8.30 am tomorrow and should arrive by 16.00 in PP getting visas at the border. Wandered to Ben Thanh market and bought ourselves another alarm clock (managed to lose our Russian one somewhere) and found our fave restaurant from last time - Restaurant 19 in the Dong Khoi area near the river - does great Citronella Chicken. Also bought some more guide books for New Zealand and Oz as they are so cheap here. Only problem now is that I am carrying round the equivalent of a library-worth of travel books.