mikes midlife round the world in 96 days

As ususal the bus left 1 hr late and reached Mu nie late afternoon.the weather was dull,the place was not what i expected and luckily the next bus to Nha Trang was pulling up when i gave up looking for a reasonable place to stay so i hopped on.
Arrived about 9 ish in pouring rain,walked about looking for room but being holiday weekend everyplace was full.A moto driver offered his assistance and after driving about for 1 hr i had no alternative to book into 4* Asia paradise hotel.At $62 a night and against my budget i was pretty pissed of,even though my suite was nice.
Following day i went to monkey island and a few sights with my new friend the moto driver who must have been sleeping outside the hotel all night to catch me in the morning,I.m finding in Vietnam the language is a problem as most of the people i encounter has little english,unless they are trying to sell to you.
I treated myself to spa at hotel a couple of times before i checked out after 2 days.Booked into next door 2* at $40 for a night,again overpriced because of holiday weekend.Quality was that bad i should have tried to negotiate discount at Asia paradise.So again i.m moving to another hotel today at $25 a night,still over my budget.
From talking to other travellers i agree that Vietnamese people are not too friendly,most try to rip you off and the cost of travelling here is expensive compared to other se asia countries.
I;m staying a few more days to enjoy some time with my masseuse girl,who took me for some street food last night which i found interesting,it seems to be all locals eat like this each day for their meals. but really i need to move on and quickly finish Vietnam and head elsewhere.
Tonight i met a guy from HCMC who was on vacation here,both being hungry decide on food but then i realised that overspending at tourist resturaunts has been a bad habit i need to stop doing,We went to an offstreet cafe set up each evening to cater for locals and had a good cheap meal less than half the price i have been paying here.

Again you have not to believe everything you are told when booking bus's especially going through border crossings.Our 8 .30 am departed at 9.30 after mechanical problems,our vip bus was not as described with poor air conditioning,at Vietnam border we had to leave bus and unload backpacks and walk through customs(not what we were told,however we did have our doubts when told we stay on bus through customs) and our 6 hr journey was turned into a 9 hr one.Oh well!!!
HCMC! wow.this place is full on,noisy,chaotic but has a buzz bout it i like.So many mopeds,scooters,push bikes and not one accident i saw.They weave through traffic head on anf rom all angles you would not think its possible to avoid each other.Crossing the road is an expiereince you do not forget and at a certain roundabout i crossed in all directions for the thrill and loved it.
I took a cyclo one morning and the ex war veteran slowly weaved in and out the traffic with me in his chair in front.Pretty physical work for him and the rest who are all over 40/45 yr old,have no registration cards so cannot get homes or proper jobs(even though many are professionals and skilled) due to their career before north and south joined into one country.
I visited the co chi tunnels and the war museum and both were interesting and somewhat shocking xpieriences.The damage done in the last 50 yrs with wars has impacted but this country has survived and is prosperous unlike its neighbour Cambodia who suffered similar fates.
So 3 days here is enough at moment,especially the constant peeping of horns each 10 secs,and im off to relax for a few days at the beach.

I took the 9am bus from seim reap on monday morning and arrived about 3pm,and reluctunctly agrred to go with tut tut driver to his recommended hotels.Prices more expensive for less quality than my hotel in seim reap.Both being hot and tired from journey we decided to take 2nd hotel,plus we were only going to be there 2 nights.
The hustle and bustle of this city,more child beggars and more touts we quickly arranged for our tut tut driver to take us around the next day.
First stop the unofficial gun ranges,where i felt the menu was over priced.I was tempted for the rocket launcher at $200 but we would have had extra drive in jeep into mountainside so i declined and settled on anti aircraft machine gun,which for 50 bullets,lots of jamming of the mechinism and $65,5 mins later i was done.
Next was the killing fields with its monument to the dead,inside encased in glass was the remains of thouands of skulls,mostly cracked from being executed with clubs and spades.Only some of the graves have been excavated with many morer untouched at the moment.
Onto the S16 prison,the former high school before pheom phen was cleared in april 1975,with its grisley reminders of cells,beds,torture instruments and many photos of the ones who were held there before their deaths at the fields.
Organised visa for Vietnam and onto royal palace then thats was our day completed and ready for the journey to hcmc on wednesday

Well my final day consisted of lazing about the town,talking and joking with one of the child beggars i;m freindly with and a confrontation with a man whom i suspected of being a peadophile.
Later that day back to orphanage to say bye then more relaxing in the scorching humid heat.
I had bought lots of t shirts from some of the sellers at the temples for the kids,but felt that it would have been unfair to give to some not others,so gave them to the waitress/cleaner at my hotel.For a 16 yr old she works from 6am to 4 pm,7 days and is paid $40 a month.She does this to support her parents and 4 younger broythers/sisters and also to pay to learn english.
I have decided to return here in 3 weeks after Vietnam and see some more of Camodia,a place and people i really like.

Well i've finally managed to be able get to go to the temples,even though i'm still in semi plastercast and having to walk at slow pace.This is something you need to do slowly as the heat at the moment is around the 40 mark and you just drip sweat constantly.
So many temples,so many steps and passageways after a while i needed to give up for the day.Buying the 3 day pass is the only option to go at a leisurely pace and see all the important sights.Having your guidebook does help you understand each temple.
Lots of japanese/chinese/korean tourist busloads so be prepared for them taking over the temples and your space.
My second day was more of a stroll(not),however i visited the orphanage at sras srang north village after meeting a few at one of the temples asking for donations.
Third day started of with a visit to the orphange with some gifts and reading books/pencils and to return later that day to find out more about the organisation which is newly established and does not recieve any government help or private sponsorship..