Saigon

This morning we took a bus from Phnom Penh to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City). The bus was nearly identical to the bus that we took from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, including duration (~6 hours) with two very important differences: 1) We were seated way in the back this time, so we were relatively clueless as to how many moto drivers, bicyclists, cattle, and pedestrians we nearly killed, and as to how many times we veered dangerously near to not actually being on the road. 2) This bus did NOT utilize the dvd/tv set up, so we were thankfully NOT subjected to 6 hours of bad Cambodian karaoke videos and weird sketch comedy shows. (also thankfully, on the last bus no one sang along. I would say that I cannot even imagine the torture that would have been, except I kind of can since the girl at the internet cafe last night was wearing headphones and singing along with the karaoke on the computer screen. odd).

When we got on the bus we gave the bus operator (not the driver) our passports so he could do our paperwork. Very convenient, and I appreciate the service, but I wonder if the fact that my entry card is "signed" IGE will come back to haunt me...(the last three letters of my middle name of all things... JoAnn's is similarly signed "Meri" which is actually her whole middle name). I think the whole name order thing confuses them as much as it does us.

We did actually have to get off the bus and go into the border station, but I really think that was only so that we could pay our 10 cents entry tax, because our operator handled our passports and got everything stamped and then called our names (Paige? Meri?) and herded us through to the pay booth.

Once in Saigon we went to our hotel, the Ngoc Dang (pronounce that!), which has a bootleg CD/DVD store downstairs (any requests? seriously... even movies currently in the theater). Our room is large, has a spotless bathroom, a fridge, satellite tv (including a few English channels), and is only costing us $16 night, total.

Granted, the beds are incredibly firm and we're on the 4th or 5th floor and there is no elevator, but it's very very very nice.

We were kind of exhausted from the past week, so we took naps and just chilled for a few hours. then we went to dinner, booked a city tour for tomorrow, and went for a few drinks.

Our hotel, in addition to being both nice and cheap, is also in the backpackers haven. tons of restaurants, bars, hotels, guest houses, and shops, all within a few blocks.

We started out at this very western-esque bar where the beers were 25,000 dong (~$1.70), and where our waiter asked if we were lesbians, said I looked like Katie Holmes, and then told us a few kind of dirty jokes. we were about to call it a night when these two guys came over and started talking to us and asked if we wanted to walk down the street to a local establishment with them. Since we've really only talked to ourselves and service sector personnel, we said sure!

We ended up a block down the street where the tables were on the sidewalk, there were Chihuahua puppies on the way to the bathroom (you essentially walked through someone's living room I think, but it was all high ceilings, marble floors, and very open), and a litre of beer was 7000 dong (less than 50cents).

Our drinking companions were very 2 very nice Israeli guys in their mid 20s. They've been travelling for like 8 months!!!!

Both have finished their military service, and one just graduated law school like us and has a job awaiting him back in Israel, and the other is a ski instructor. (who knew there was a mountain that gets snow in Israel? not me...)

We also ran into this Japanese guy who speaks Hebrew, English, French, and who knows what else, who had been at the same restaurant as us for dinner, and who knew the 2 guys from meeting them yesterday. Small world.

We had great travel convos, steered clear of politics, and parted ways since we all have early morning plans.

Tomorrow JoAnn and I are taking a city tour of Saigon. we're going to take a Mekong Delta day tour the following day, visit the tunnels of the Viet Cong the next morning, and hopefully head up to Hoi An by train that afternoon.