Good Afternoon Viet Nam

My trip started out in Phnom Phen where I had a ticket on the 7:30am bus to Ho Chi Minh city in Viet Nam. About a 6 hour trip, I was going to arrive in day-light hours with plenty of time to find a great guesthouse for the next five days.

The mini-bus picked me up at about 7:15am and arrived at the bus terminal thirty minutes later. I stood as people were pushed onto different buses, bound for various cities in Cambodia. A woman looked at my ticket and, sounding a little shocked, said, "Oh, Viet Nam. One moment." I stood, never to hear from her again. Two young Swedish guys were also standing by me with Viet Nam bus tickets. A taxi driver told one of the guys that our bus already left. We stared at each other,
not quite sure of our next step when the taxi driver, rallying his friends, began grabbing our bags and throwing them in the nearest car. "You give the driver $2 US!" He shouted as he pushed us into seats. Another guy standing on the curb jumped in the back, pushing me into the middle seat. We raced through the crowded streets, filled with people on their way to work, school and market.

The taxi eventually caught up to the bus and began honking frantically, not an unfamiliar sound in the city. Our driver and his back seat side-kick waved out the window to the bus driver who eventually got the message and pulled over, nearly taking out a family on a motorbike. The three foreigners were quickly transferred onto the bus, our luggage safely stowed, and the bus resumed its trip to HCM.

We arrived without much else excitement to the motorbike clogged streets of Ho Chi Minh, or Saigon which the locales still say. My new Swedish friends and I caught a taxi to the backpacker area and said our good-byes as we headed off in different directions to find a guesthouse. For those of you who've walked into a popular backpacker area with a child-size growth attached to your back, you understand the target you become for money hungry tauts. I started following my Lonely Planet map in search of a few appealing guesthouses listed in my book. The first on my list is now a bank. So, I headed down the busiest street and right into a short, sinewy woman weighing not much more than my upper thigh. "Lady, you need a room, lady. I have cheap room. Where you go lady?" I tried to brush her off with my expert side-waisted wave, a shake of the head and "No. Thank you." retort. She was a persistent one and followed me for a few more yards continuing her lines. I stared straight ahead, kept walking and repeated, "No." She responded with, "Have a nice day." Ah! I thought to myself, what a fresh approach! Just as I was getting out my, "Thank you, you too." she quickly followed with a powerful "GO TO HELL!" Somewhat taken off guard, I gave her a quick, surprised look but moved on. I laughed after it set in a bit more. Unfortunately, my zig-zag approach to the Lonely Planet guesthouse hunt put me in her path again. She spotted me perched from a motor bike and again screamed, "Have a nice day! Go to hell!" I cringed the third time I had to pass her. This time she left off the "Have a nice day." Nothing like a warm welcome.