Another long ride.

It's just after ten in the evening and I have arrived in Siem Reap. This morning I got up at 6:30 had a shower and got on the bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh. The border crossings went smoothly and the ride was quick enough that at two o'clock I found myself in the capital of Cambodia. A quick check on the timetable and another hour later I was back on a bus again this time bound for Siem Reap where I arrived at 9:30 in the evening. This is when familiarity helped out, I have been here a few times before and knew where I wanted to stay, and found myself in Front of the Red Lodge ten minutes later.
Time for a good nights sleep and off to the ruins tomorrow!

Quiet Day

An altogether quieter day today. I managed to get a few blisters while walking yesterday because I wasn't wearing any socks in my shoes and today i was paying the price for it. Not that sitting in a cafe drinking coffee is that bad a price to pay.
Tomorrow I shall be on my way to Cambodia and all being well I should be in Phnom Penh around three in the afternoon. We'll see.

Another day wandering around Saigon

I spend another day wandering the streets of Saigon visiting temples and taking in the sights. The complete collection of Vietnam photos can be found here but these are some of yesterdays highlights.

A family having breakfast just down from the hotel I am staying at.

These two cuties posed for a photo in a temple forecourt then promptly demanded payment! I declined.

Worshipers in the "Jade Emperor Pagoda"

A sobering tale.

I visited the museum of War Remnants previously known as the museum of American War Crimes. Apart from a display of the usual collection of tanks and airplanes this museum lays out in gruesome detail some of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam war.
Display after display shows soldiers either torturing people or killing the innocent. Particularly bad are the photos of them posing with people that are blown up or that they have beheaded.
People that think Abu Ghraib was an isolated incident of a few deluded souls and these things normally don't happen should probably visit this museum.

Saigon

It took eleven and a half hours but the bus made it to Saigon where we arrived in a tropical downpour. Luckily I was prepared for that and had my umbrella handy. My backpack has a waterproof bag inside it so everything was dry as a bone.
Tomorrow we'll see what the city has to offer.