Some old guy somewhere said that but it is the truth. I've had the last week of September off because it is the Fall holiday in Phnom Penh. It was perfect timing because I needed to leave the country to renew my visa. I decided that I would go to Saigon. This whole first step was a learning experience for me, all I knew was I wanted to go to Saigon. I would stay in a guesthouse for a couple of days and come back. Aside from that, I had no itinerary outside of "explore the city". The next time I go (there will be a next time because it was cool), I will make an itinerary and I won't leave on such short notice. I got my visa for Vietnam, everything was fine (for the most part) an I left on Saturday.
I woke up and grabbed my bag and my driver took me to the bus station near my school. The school took us to the central bus station (conveniently located near central market 6 blocks from my apartment *facepalm*). Meaning that the whole first leg of the journey was utterly pointless *sigh*. I was told it would take about 5 hours to get to Saigon, I was on board with that. Coincidence struck and I happened to be on the same bus as one of my grade one students! This helped my traveling anxiety a great deal because I was with someone who could give me a little help. But it was that awkward moment when you are on a bus to Saigon and you see one of your students and you have no idea what her name is. I have 100+ students, I haven't memorized all their names or what class their in, give me a break. I talked with her mother and she was very nice.
We travelled for a few hours until we reached car/moto/touk touk/truck armageddon. This was the beginning of an 8 hour traffic jam, I'm not joking about that. We were held up at the ferry, there is a tiny ferry that goes across the river to the next province near the boarder. I should also mention that I happened to leave on the day of the week that everyone leaves, it's like an airport on Christmas Eve, only it's hot, really hot. My student's family bought me lunch and frankly my student was a godsend in this situation. I learned something about myself in this journey, no matter how tired I am, no matter what mood I'm in, no matter how anxious I am, kids cheer me up, plain and simple. I hung out in a coffee shop for a little while then got back on the bus.
We reached the boarder at 10:00, where a little drama ensued for me. My only minor issue is that I did not have a departure card. A departure card is something that you fill out when you leave the country so the boarder can keep track of who comes in and out. I got one when I first came to Cambodia but I filled it out with my return flight information (silly boy). The folks at the boarder were a tad puzzled with me not having one but I got a new one, filled it out and all was well and good.
We got back on the bus and travelled for a couple more hours, we finally pulled into Saigon at 12:30. This was when the most amazing thing happened (I was still with my student's family). They gave me their room! That's right, the hotel they were going to stay at, they gave me their room. They switched at the last minute. In my barely conscious state I was absolutely stunned. I wanted to thank her but due to some stupidity involving my phone and a Vietnamese sim card, her number was deleted so I couldn't see her again. I was shocked and grateful at their kindness.
My actual stay in Saigon was truthfully uneventful. I checked out a mall where I ate several times, and bought a couple of things. Pokemon exists there so I got some pretty cool Pokemon related trinkets (three figurines and three pins, these were written in Vietnamese). I also checked out the big central market called Ben Than (this was definitely the highlight of my trip), there I bought some green tea, and a really nice fan.
Sadly this wasn't exactly a pleasure cruise for me as I was terribly anxious the whole time. Why? I was in another country where almost no one spoke English, and I didn't have any plan of what I wanted to do. Other things that contributed to my anxiety, the hotel had my passport. I just get nervous if anyone has my passport and it didn't occur to me to bring a copy. The visa situation, I was 99.99999999% sure that I would have no problem getting a visa but what made me nervous was simply what if something went wrong? I was very tense the whole time but despite that I had a good time. The trip back to Phnom Penh was uneventful, it took 7 hours instead of 17. Now I'm back home and I'm more calm now.
Till next time.
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