Phnom Phen and HCMC the city never really sleeps

Yes that is an elephant in the center of Phnom Phen
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This Morning we decided to do a morning full of Khmer Rouge stuff.  We first went to the prison, SR 21, that is now a museum.  We watched a movie about the Khmer Rouge and how life changed in Cambodia, we then walked around and looked at the horrific pictures.  We then went to the famous killing fields where the Khmer Rouge killed many prisoners.  It was very sad to see all of this and it is also sad that these are the tourist destinations in Phnom Phen.  When we got back to our hotel, The Killing Fields was playing in our hotel lobby.  It seemed fitting so we stayed and watched.  When the movie ended it was dinner time so we decided to venture out.  We were all sick of rice so we went for some Mexican food.  I know we are crazy to try it.  But the owner came out and he was from Santa Barbara, so we were like oh, this is legit.  He was also really drunk and really excited to learn that we were from California.  So we sat down at the table next to his and started chatting.  Within a few minutes this mysterious "Al" is telling stories.  We are all giving each other looks like this could be Al Rockoff, the same character from the movie we just watched.  After some round about questions we figure out that it his him and at the table is the editor for the Phnom Post and other scholars and academics of the Khmer Rouge and Cambodia.  We were totally excited cuz we just watched to movie and did all the killing fields stuff.  After many of their stories we are getting tired, so we head out.  We have to be up at like 7 for a bus to HCMC.  The owner of the restaurant buys us a shot and sends us on our way.  We are all sad that we are leaving Cambodia tomorrow.

Food Market in Phnom Phen
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The bus ride across the border to Vietnam was a lot easier than the one from Thailand.  The road was paved and we didnt have to find new transportation once we were across.  However, we did have to be a suspicous quarintine fee.  The country in southeast asia is beautiful.  It is green everywhere you look.  It is maily rice fields and cows, with a few squater villages in between.  I really enjoy the bus rides even though the horn is blown about every 4 seconds for the cows, people or motorbikes to move over.

Street Vender Phnom Phen
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We got to HCMC in backpackerville and it was pooring rain.  This is the first time I wish that I had a backpack and not a wheely bag becuase there was no where to wheel it.  There are people, motorbikes and just stuff everywhere.  Oh well.  I decided to just wheel it around anyway.  After about 10 guesthouses we find one that we like.  It is brand new and a few blocks away from all the hectic De Tham road.  It is in this huge block, where you have to take a alley to get to it.  It is around lunch time and we are starving.  We head out to De Tham road and go into one of the really cheap Western/ Vietnamese food places.  When I mean really cheap it is like $1.5 for a noodle dish.  After that we head over to the market.  This market is HUGE.  We spend about 3 hours there and I walk away with a much needed t-shirt.  I am very proud that I paid 3 dollars when she first asked for $10.

Sr-21, Phnom Phen
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For dinner we went to this really funny bar/restaurant called Allez Boo.  It was alot of fun and we played cards for a really long time.

The next day we slept in, went to the war museum and walked around the city.  This is a crazy city.  It is really loud, a lot of traffic and motor bikes everywhere!  There are no lanes, no traffic lights and basically no rules.  We learned that if we wanted to cross the street we just have to start out and just slowly walk in to the mess and hope that they swerve around us.  We were tired at the end of the day and just went out to dinner around our guesthouse and then went to bed.

Cu Chi Tunnels
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The next day we went on a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels.  It was really cool to see what the vietnamese lived in while the US bombed the area.  We had a really funny tour guide that made fun of himself all the time.  We even crawled through the tunnels, it was only 90 meters long but we were sweating to death at the end.  It was hot down there and we had to crouch the entire time.

The next day, friday, we took a tour of the Mekong Delta.  We took a tour bus to the town of My Tho and then took several different boats around to a few different islands in the delta.  The tour was really touristy and not that much fun.  But it was still fun to go in the little row boats around one of the islands.  We could really see why the US lost the war...it would have been impossible to see the Vietnamese anywhere in that terrain.

Booby Traps
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On Saturday we left for Mui Ne in the morning.  We were all really excited to get to a beach and relax.  We arrived mid afternoon got into our hotel and headed down to the beach... or more like a dump.  There was so much trash everywhere!  We could not beleive it.  If it were in Cali if would be an F------.  So for dinner we decide to head into "town".  When we get there we search all the restaurants for people and go to one that has a really cute puppy and a few people eating.  This dog was so cute.  All of the beach towns are filled with really ugly dirty dogs, so I was really excited to see a cute puppy.  During dinner we decide this town is too boring and that we are leaving in the morning.

PS sorry for all the spelling mistakes, I am writing this as fast as I can because I am dripping in sweat!