This time I stayed at a hostel much closer to the riverside. I spent the afternoon at the S-21 prison museum, then my spirits were lifted with some beers, dumpling and noodle soup. and great company. The evening would have been perfect except for the lovely motorcycle passenger who made a grab for my purse on his way by me. I saw it coming and managed to pull my purse out of the way. You never really think stuff like that will happen to you. I was warned a million times so I was paying attention. It really does happen people!
On about four hours of sleep, I head off to the bus station for my bus across the border to Ho Chi Minh City. At the bus station in HCMC, we get off the bus and ask a taxi driver where we are (NEVER do this!). He says we're far from our hostel and he'll drive us. I was splitting the taxi with another girl. He drives us around, teaches us a few words of Vietnamese. I've officially arrived in Vietnam!
Later that night, I was out walking around District 1 (the touristy area) and I see the bus station our bus arrived at. A ten minute walk from the hostel. The taxi driver drove us in a big circle and walked away with a lot of dollars. Rookie traveler mistake. Not the first I've made or the last. But then Alski arrived and so began our journey of eating and drinking coffee through the south of Vietnam, and I forgot all about it.
