sai-gone

Woot! We made it to Darwin without much incident. The pilot did turn on the seatbelt sign at one stage, and we were all going to die, but it turned out ok. We filed off the plane to the sirens of the fire alarm, and were informed 40 minutes later that we didn't need to evacuate. Baggage took a while but not too long, declared all my wooden tidbits to the amusement of our friendly swat team guy. This time only the Asians were drilled about their business in Vietnam and Australia, it's nice to see some racial profiling by a (ginger) security worker every now and then. Meanwhile, at the Darwin domestic terminal, Paul and I are stalking Paul Macurio (I don't know how to spell his name... I'd google it, but he might see. *edit: It's Mercurio) Paul is more interested in the camera guy and his equipment(pun intended). We've spent more money than we have in a week on a coffee, a juice and a sandwich, despite the fact that we're getting breakfast on the plane in half

With only a few hours until our exit from Saigon, I think it's time to reflect, summarise, and make sweeping generalisations about the three countries I have visited. 1. Cambodia has a garbage problem. A big one. A waist deep one. As soon as our mega bus crossed the border, we started noticing roadside rubbish piles. The cleanest spots we found were probably Serendipity Beach in Sihanoukville (I will mention the conditions of this statement momentarily) and the Angkor temples. So Sihanoukville did have a rubbish problem, but it also had big bins for businesses and we did witness a garbage truck actually collecting garbage. I say Serendipity Beach was clean, and it was, and we were surprised by this. The however is a large one and it comes when you walk down the beach beyond the wall to wall restaurants and you see some sand. This is where the rubbish ends up. It spreads until the tourist spot starts up again 4km down the coast. The bottles and cans are collected by very young child

The sale of this tee paid for about two thirds of a night at the following guesthouse. NHU Guesthouse Saigon, Vietnam $8 USD per night Includes: A sign! A precarious three story climb up ladder steps. Two single beds (can be pushed together!) Hot and cold water showers An adorable basin A balcony A bird's eye view of the alley Cable TV A table!

The sale of this tee paid for about two thirds of a night at the following guesthouse. Nice Dreams Guesthouse Dalat, Vietnam $11 USD per night Includes: Complimentary buffet breakfast. Homely kitchen. Early morning sunshine. Banana pancakes! Snazzy bathroom with NO ventilation and a funny smell. Hot water and functional toilet. Cable TV with three movie channels! Swavo dresser, big bed, mosquito net. A nice chair and a not external window. A complimentary hairbrush with complimentary hair. Gross. A water feature with six goldfish and two dead turtles, also with a funny smell, left on the rocks for decoration.

Four days in Dalat and we can't wait to get home. One afternoon in Saigon and suddenly we're in no hurry. We found (were shown by a crazy lady in a blue shirt with a badge on it) an awesome little guesthouse down three alleys, each one smaller than the last. We're up three flights of tiny ladder stairs (I have no idea how we're going to get our bags back down!) in a room with cable tv and hot water and a tiny balcony from which we can jump to three of the neighbouring buildings. Two opposing fans create a nice tornado above our bed. This is good as it is really hot again. Saigon apparantly has two seasons, wet hot and dry hot. There are two long term guests staying in the other rooms, a Canadian on the second floor and an Australian on the first. Tomorrow we will eat as much Pho as possible and maybe take a sun sauna. Good for the complexion. Bec, Saigon

Today we catch the 7.30am bus to Saigon. Our ticket says we should arrive at 3pm. It will be a long day! We're hoping to squeeze in breakfast or risk starvation.