Hello! Well had my last night in Sihanoukville, which was again good fun. The people i was with tried to pursuade me to stay an extra day to go on a booze cruise, but a new girl that joined the group was really beginning to get on my nerves, and if i got on a boat with her i couldnt guarantee i wouldnt throw her off the side. So i thought it best to move on. plus the mice were starting to freak me out. The night was quite eventful though, as the guest house across the road from mine burnt down! it was a bunglow on stils kind of place, all made of bamboo and thatch. we were all stood outside watching it go up in smoke and i was talking to the guy next to me and it was his guesthouse, and he had everything in there, pasport, bag, money, credit cards, camera, everything! poor guy. would have no idea what to do if that happened to me.

So got on the bus heading towards Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and met the only person goin in the same direction as me (as we had to change in Phonm Penh.). What was supposed to be a 10 hour journey turned out to be a 15 hour journey, but it wasnt bad. people moaned when we got to the border that it took so long, but i was well chuffed with it. yes we had to queue for 40 minutes, but it was simple, and no one tried to grab anything or scam us, and we walked straight through and got back on our airconditioned bus. comparing that to arriving in Cambodia it was a dream.

Well now i am in Saigon, Vietnam. I am sharing a bed with the girl i met on the bus, a Canadian called Julia. our room is nice and cheap because we are sharing, but incredible hot. just too fans which dont reach my side of the bed. in 37 degree heat its not good, but have kind of got used to it by now! Well what can i say about Saigon? Wow. Crazy crazy crazy. It is a big city with lots of neon lights, lots of shops and businesses and it is really buzzing. the main thing that strikes you though is the motorbikes. i wish i could describe it accurately but there is no way i can. there are 4 million motorbikes in the city, all seeminlgy driving towards me! i have truely never seen anything like it. you get three lanes of traffic going each way, crammed with motorbikes, it is just unreal to watch. plus there are no road rules at all (except constant beeping the horn), and i would go as far as to say it is worse on that front than Cambodia. everyone just cuts eachother up at the last possible second, and you constantly think you are about to be killed. and it is impossible to cross the street. its like dodging bullets, julia and i ran across the road early and closed our eyes, beacuse it was the only way it could be done. and the locals pointed and laughed at us. They also have romanised writing here, but that doenst make it much easier to understand! The money is in plastic (which is a genisu idea) and i withdrew 1 million Dong from an ATM yesterday, whcih is probably that last time i will say i withdrew a millino from the bank.

Today Julia and i went to a temple a few hours away (Cau Doc), where they have this strange religion and we watched a ceremony in their temple. We then went to the Cu Chi tunnels to see how the vietnamese soldiers operated their underground tunnels. we also got to go in them, and although they had been widened for tourists, i still had to crawl on my hands and knees at points. it iwas only when i was in the tunnel that i remembered that i am claustrophobic. the tunnels used to stretch from saigon to the brder, which is crazy. Havent seen any signs of communism yet, it all seems pretty western so far. I much prefer Saigon to Phnom Penh, which was like a sleepy village in comparison.

Anyway better go. oh, just thought i would mention how much i hate sex tourists. they are everywhere in SE asia, but lots here too. they are always really fat ugly middle aged men walking around with little asian girls, and it is really gross. they are everywhere here and i wish they would stop sitting next to me kissing on the bus. Will someone tell them?