Posts
My flight to Ho Chi Minh City was probably the most obnoxious flights I've ever been on. Luckily I have some patience for these sorts of things. Although I was seated next to an old Korean couple who didn't bother me, I was surrounded by toddlers and 4-5 year olds. There were two in front of me, two behind me, and one in the aisle across from us. Not to mention the dozen or so scattered about the cabin. The toddler behind me was both a kicker and a climber. He was all over the back of my seat pretty much the whole flight, about five hours. His mother wasn't any better. She was one of those awful people who think it's okay to take her shoes off and put her feet on the back of my armrest, even if I'm leaning up against it to try to sleep. At first I thought it was a kid doing it, so at one point I grabbed a foot and pinched it. Then I realized the foot was too big for a child. Sadly, getting pinched wasn't a deterrent. I wonder how Thai people deal with this sort of thing.
I had a five hour layover in Ho Chi Minh. I had considered exiting the airport and going to kill some time in the city, and get a proper Vietnamese coffee. But I figured I'd have to exchange money, pay for a ride outside the airport vicinity, and find a place to go for a while. Then I'd have to come back a couple hours before departure anyway, so I could go through security again. In the end I was just too lazy. I killed an hour at a coffee shop, another hour getting a $30 massage (an impressive price even in a normal spa, let alone an airport), and an hour wandering around the gift shops. I read a lot, too.
The next flight was just a quick 45-minute jump over to Phnom Penh, where I paid for my tourist visa and got my bag quickly. I took a tuk-tuk to my hostel and my journey was ended for the day.
This is a tuk-tuk. It's a popular and convenient mode of transportation in the cities. The price is reasonable. It was $7 for a ride to the hostel, about a half hour ride.
Here's a picture of the dorm room I stayed in at Hostel Nomads. This is what $4 gets you. My bed is the high one. There were no lockers or safes available, per se, as the website purported. The guy who brought me to my room said the building owners took away the metal lockers people were using, and they just had these orange lockers for use for guests. But he didn't have a key for my locker, so I didn't get one. I was kind of pissed about that. He offered to let me store my valuables in the staffroom while I went out and overnight. I was actually just as worried about leaving my money and camera with staff members as I was leaving it in my unlocked suitcase, but I agreed and didn't end up losing anything.
I had some curry at the hostel for supper and talked to this guy that was staying in the dorm room, as well. He liked the look of my curry, and ordered the same thing. When he got it, he said, Are these apples or mangoes in it? And I said they were potatoes, actually. Then I remembered he was Irish and said, What's the matter, don't know a potato when you see one? And I thought I was very clever and funny, of course, but he just told me to fuck off, semi-good-naturedly. I'm still having a good laugh over that exchange.
After supper I walked around a bit, but was afraid to go too far, as it was nighttime and I didn't want to get lost. I didn't see much, just a couple parks and a statue, presumably of a current or former leader.
It was very hot through the night. There were several fans in the room, but none of them blew on me. I did get a reasonably good night's sleep, though, eventually, and woke up around 8.
Here are some views from the dorm's balcony in the day:
I saw a lot of these little incense shrines around the country. I saw a row of them for sale along a road as I went by, and I thought they might make interesting mailboxes. Kind of rude.
