After a very lazy second to last day in my hotel where I did nothing more than watching a complete series of 'House', this left my final day in Phnom Penh due to be a bit of a rush as I had lots of last minute things I wanted to do and little time in which to do them.
The hotel where I was staying in was a tuk tuk away from my friend E's guest house was situated and yesterday we have agreed to go swimming in the water park one final time before I left, both as it was lots of fun the first time we tried and because it was closeby and would be a good way of escaping the midday heat as I would be unable to take a shower any other way before making my way to the airport.
Days before I had had to leave my passport with the travel agency in order to get my visas for Vietnam and China and when I called in to pick it up I was told that it would not be ready to collect until around 2pm, which was leaving it very tight in terms of chasing it up should there be any further delayed as my flight was due just a few hours later.
I dropped my rucksack off at the guesthouse and agreed with E' to meet her at the water park and then set off thinking that I would be able to pick up a tuktuk a little way down the road, but as fortune turned out there were none and so I ended up walking and walking. I passed many locals who all gave me strange looks, and I bet that many of them thought that I had lost my marbles as the water park was a little way out of town and nowhere near any hotels, hostels or restaurants.
There was no doubt in my mind that I was heading in the right direction, as I saw plenty of familiar landmarks and buildings, but I had no idea of exactly how far out the place was and so after about fifteen minutes walk it was a very welcome relief to spot the parks ramparted walls rise round the next bend in the road, signalling that I was not suffering from sunstroke and had reached my goal and not a moment too soon as I spotted E' walking from her scooter to the ticket booth right infront of me.
We met up, got changed and after picking up an inflatable ring dived into the big pool only to have the pools miserly lifeguard have a go at us and another couple for takig rings in the pool. I have no idea why he was pissed at us, as the pool was huge and apart from us and the other couple there were only another three people in the pool and I am sure they would not have minded in the slightest.
Floating lazily about in the pool I got out only long enough to get a couple of ice creams before then suggesting that we try the water slides where we had so much fun the previous time, only to be further dissapointed as the electrici water pump here was malfunctioning which made using the slide all but impossible. Giving up and going back to the main pool we splashed for a bit longer before playing tag with a young couple that were enjoying the refreshing coolness of the pool before the clouds came out and it started to get a bit chilly.
Wanting to make the most of my last few hours here I then suggested that we go for a nice meal and made the mistake of mentioning the local pizza place which ended up switching our orders and so I got a vegetarian spaghetti!
The tuk tuk ride to the airport was only a few minutes away than the water park so I was there in plenty of time to catch my flight to Ho Chi Minh City, formely called Saigon.
The airport looked more modern and well tended than most of Phnom Penh that I had seen and after passing through check in ( followed by another US $25 departure tax ) and finally customs was very shocked to see that they herded us onboard and even took off about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The flight over was barely forty five minutes long, and went very near an electrical storm that lit up the sky around in from of us, throwing up plenty of dips and turbulence into the short hop over the border.
Immigration at Vietnams border was slow but organised and then I had to call my friends to ask what hotel I could stay at, as my pre-arranged hotel had just emailed me saying that they were unable to find space for me as I was arriving days earlier than my booking.
I have two friends here in HCMC, one local and the other on short term contract but originally from the Philippines, and together they contacted me and made me know that I had choices and alternatives and not to worry. Feeling relieved I waited and J' met me and suggested that I try the hotel where she was staying as it had rooms available while the other said that they would be happy to meet me the following afternoon and show me around the city.
It was still early and so J' and I went for a bite to eat around nearby at the market before heading on back and me taking a quick shower in order to feel cool enough to get an early night sleep as tomorrow I had no fixed plans but I was too tired to update my blog with the days events.
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