Monday 09 November 2015

Fawlty Towers……..As I awake on this Monday morning, I’m not filled with any sense of excitement as I prepare to head back to Ho Chi Minh City. It’s only 5.30am and I don’t need the alarm. The hotel has arranged my ticket and I should report to reception at 7am. Breakfast is from 6.30 so I have just a small window to work in but a bread roll, egg and coffee doesn’t take much consuming. As I check out I’m handed my bus tickets. OK that confirms it. Yesterday when I ordered the tickets I was charged 290,000 vnd. Initially I only asked where the tour company’s office was in Nha Trang. When I queried the price I was told now it is high season. And my uncle’s name is Fred and he sells bananas with a touring monkey troop! Why I parted with my money I never know. The tickets are overprinted with the price of 220,000 vnd, exactly as quoted in Saigon. The list of grievances against this hotel has grown and wonder whether I’m in Fawlty Towers. At 7.15am a minivan arrives to take us to the company office. Such a pity I didn’t know where it was before.
Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City……..The bus is the same as the sleeper type that was used for Dalat. At least it’s predictable. It will be my home for maybe 10 hours but thankfully I have a wifi connection and of course a bed, although sometimes I feel like I’m in a bobsleigh. As I suspected there is little to interest me from looking out the window and I can’t give a running commentary on the journey either as I haven’t a clue precisely where we are. The one thing I can rely on is the rest breaks in the normally scruffy, sometimes filthy conditions at the company offices or roadside restaurants and there is nothing to report until mid afternoon. When I load Google Map on my iPhone, I realise that I can set the location and get my bearings and approximate arrival time in Saigon. Note that I sometimes use Saigon instead of Ho Chi Minh City. This is perfectly correct as Saigon is still used to refer to a number of districts in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. With my location now established I can now follow the bus right into the city, battery life permitting. As we come in from the east I brace myself for the dramatic crossing of the Mekong River, Initially though the bus follows a curious route avoiding one of the few quality pieces of motorway in Vietnam, a stretch of about 40 km from Long Khanh. When the bus enters the city proper via an underpass of the Saigon River, it’s gone 6pm and already dark.
Sen Hotel……..As mentioned last week, Sen Hotel was booked as an alternative to Kim Khoi Hotel which lies across the park which runs alongside Pham Ngu Lao (main backpacker area). Despite this I make a pigs ear of locating it even though it’s directly opposite where the bus stops. Should have been so simple. KFC is right next to it on a street corner. With that in mind I can retire to my room safe in the knowledge that this is NOT La Mer Hotel in Nha Trang. With a KFC and minimart nearby this is perfect compensation after this grueling journey. The area along Pham Ngu Lao is busy, noisy, crowded with tourists yet as I retire to the room I can’t hear a sound. All is well now. Next Page.