Miss(d) Saigon

27 August - Bussed into Saigon last night, leaving Nha Trang at 8pm. Apart from an issue where they had to change a tire in the middle of the night it was probably the most pleasant overnight bus journey i've had on the trip. The bus didn't completely fill up and I had two seats to myself. Still couldn't stretch out probably, the two French girls in front of me (only other foreigners on bus) had their seats pushed right back, but, in the end got a little bit of sleep and woke up in Saigon without too bad a crick in the neck. My cold seems to have gotten a bit worse and my hearing is a bit crap but can't really complain. Had a bit of trouble finding a hotel this morning - all of them either full and/or super expensive. One of them (that i'd been recommended by my last hotel) said they had one for 40 us dollars - i'm sorry, do you see my butler carrying my rucksack??? Found a cheap place on the fifth floor - however, if i'd happened to walk the other way I would have found heaps of them bunched together. Bit far away from everything but I don't plan on staying long.
Went on a visit to Cu Chi tunnels this morning - full bus of tourists but one of the best guides i've had on the journey. The microphone he used on the bus to explain had some weird echo effect and I kept on thinking he was going to break into song. He was very informative and he shouted and bowed a lot. Very eager to tell of the American atrocities and the heroism and ingenuity of the Viet Cong. The tour was excellent although a bit too bloodthirsty - the documentary video we watched talked about the honour of 'American Killer Hero' and 'American Killer Heroine'. Also, there was the opportunity to shoot from a machine gun or M16 near the end, which I declined. The noise was far too annoying from a distance, let alone up close with my ears. Went through 90m of the tunnel network (three levels, all joined, this means it is a NETWORK!!!), which was very claustrophobic. Very interesting and worthwhile tour though.
Have also decided to kill two birds and head to Cambodia via the Mekong tomorrow morning. Time is slowly running out and I feel it's time to say goodbye to Vietnam. Whilst on the bus to Cu Chi this morning I was reading the Lonely Planet and I came upon a small titbit of information that had eluded me up until now. There are no ATMs in Cambodia at all - which means I had to sort out money today (which is a Saturday and therefore all the banks are closed). Found an ANZ ATM over here and withdrew the maximum amount (2,000,000 dong) then waited two minutes and did it again and then waited two minutes and did it again. The notes all came out in 50s so my wallet was so thick it couldn't even close. Very satisfying in a way but also made me a little bit nervous but I managed to get it changed into US dollars (Cambodia's first currency) and i'm hoping it will last me the full time while i'm there.
Found some pseudoephadrine this afternoon so i'm hoping i'll feel better later on - it's about to start raining so I think I have to go kill a few hours indoors somewhere.
Now that i'm heading into Cambodia i'll probably have much less access to the Internet so updates will be fewer and farther between.