Success at the gee gees

After saying goodbye to those who were catching their flights yesterday I took myself back off to bed for a couple of hours for a bit of R&R. Was so utterly exhausted after not really catching up on my sleep since the homestay and having late nights and more booze than I cared for. It was a good restorative sleep with a crappy 80s film on in the background. Didn't realise quite how zombie-like I felt until afterwards.

I headed off back to the Benh Tahn market after going there in the morning and bought a couple of very cheap dresses that will pack nice and small in the old rucksack. No one else was really around for dinner so I headed off on my own to the same restaurant as before, heading past the same spot of the attempted mugging the night before. I clutched my new, more sensible bag extra tight just to be on the safe side but nothing scary to report. Later on I met up with Greg, Chris and his wife at the Acoustic cafe for a spot of live music after Sylvia popped along but didn't stay as she needed some fodder and a good night's kip. The bar was rammed but a good selection of music - western covers as well as some Vietnamese favourites (according to those in the know). I've been missing the live music so it was good to get a bit of a fix.

Relished a lay-in this morning at long last then sorted out my alternative arrangements for the rest of this week. I've changed my itinerary a bit as I'm liking Vietnam so much I fancied staying a bit longer rather than heading back to Thailand so soon. So I've booked a flight to Hanoi tomorrow and hope to head to Halong Bay or Cat Ba Island to see all the amazing limestone rocks and idyllic bays while I'm there.

Then headed out for a spot of breakfast and a wander round the main sights of the palace, museums and opera house, plus the posh shopping district (where I refrained from purchasing). Feel like I've walked miles today but I did get my first bike taxi. It wasn't as scary as I thought and was rather enjoyable.

Met up with Greg and Chris and his wife again today to head over to check out a day at the races in Saigon. Definitely an experience off the tourist trail which was great. I even won one of my bets: result! It was only worth about 87p but who cares when you're victorious. It definitely didn't have the pomp and glamour of going somewhere like Ascot but was a great way to spend the afternoon. Then headed out in the evening for a bit of street food at the market again with the guys and Derek for a final farewell. Definitely feel sad to say goodbye to the last of the crowd. I guess I'm going to have to get used to goodbyes on this trip!

So on to the next phase...