We headed via bus from Cambodia to Vietnam from Phnom Penh. It was a longer bus ride, and even included a ferry. All in all, with the border crossing I think it took us about 7 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). When we arrived we needed to find a hostel for the night so we headed off down the street from the bus stop. There were more than enough hostels and they were all reasonably priced. After we saw a couple of rooms we took the next one for fear of losing part of our exciting evening by hostel hopping with our packs.
We landed right near the busy area of HCMC where there happened to be a huge New Year's Festival with dancing and music. There was even live theatre in amazing gold and red costumes. This was the life.
We grabbed ourselves a couple of local beers and watched some of the entertainment. I even hopped right in to a dancing circle for a short bit after watching some traditional dancing. They sure know how to party in HCMC!
After this, we decided we were due for a nice large meal so we headed to a tiny little restaurant that served up everything imaginable. I grabbed a nice spicy noodle dish that was recommended to me by the wait staff.
(Usually you can tell wether or not to trust the recommendation of the staff. I have realized that when I have been traveling, more often than not they are very honest with what you should try not based on price. They want you to really enjoy the food they serve you in their country. It's not like in America always where they try to upsell...sometimes. You have to feel it out)
I decided I would head out the next morning and catch a bus to Mui Ne Beach alone and Gordon was going to stay in HCMC for another day or so. I was really looking forward to getting out of the city into a more rural area, with a beach.
The bus ride from HCMC to Mui Ne Beach was quoted at 4 hours but took 6. Times in SE Asia tend to be off so I would always add an extra 2 hours to any quote you get just in case. The cost was an awesome 6 dollars.
I was lucky because this bus was not very full and I was in a front seat so I had a nice view of the area. However, upon leaving the city I witnessed something very unexpected; intense road rage. A man cut off another man in his truck right in front of us. The man who was cut off then proceeds to get out of his car in standstill traffic and pull the man and his passenger from the car beating them with a lead pipe. Only when the traffic started to move did I see the man return to his truck. WOW. Both of the men who were beaten seemed to be okay and they drove off with blood covered faces. I never want to drive in Vietnam.
The countryside was beautiful and the rise and fall of the mountains was something straight out of a movie. We were nearing our approach to the beach and you could tell because the unmistakable smell of salt and fish lingered in the air. I had read somewhere that this town was famous for anchovy spring roll sauce and the town smelled of the small silver fish. They weren't joking!
The fishing boats at the harbor were so picturesque that I was blown away with their bright colors of blues, reds, and yellows. Some fishing boats looked like baskets with one person paddling. It was simply amazing. They had huge nets set up to catch the fish an old fashioned way and I was just blown away by how amazing and precise their technique was.
I arrived at the hotel and got settled in, laundry and such organized, then I went and got a motorbike and cruised around the town. I stopped at the harbor overlooking all of the hundreds of fishing boats for sunset. This is where I was greeted by the most amazing little girl I have ever met. She was selling shells and bracelets and couldn't have been older than about 9. I called her over to buy something from her and she happily ran over. She spoke wonderful English and was such a happy girl. I was amazed by her. She sat down next to me and told me I was really nice and she liked to talk to me so she was going to take a break. Then she grabbed her friends and brought them over to me as well as her mother. They all came and sat with me and we watched the beautiful sunset together. She gave me a shell and told me to remember her forever. I promised to come back the following day to see her again and headed back to the hotel for dinner and some sleep.
What an amazing day!
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