welcome to the Hotel California...

We arrived in Ho Chi Min City (HCMC) about 10am and getting into the centre was relatively easy via the 109 Bus. We were staying in the backpackers area down a labyrinth of alleyways which we would never have navigated without the assistance of a local. Along the way we met a couple from Dublin (David and Suzi)  also looking for the same hostel. We were booked into room 101 so I opened the door with some trepidation. Would it be full of badly hung bunting, or worse still – Fiona Bruce! Thankfully it was a clean, fresh modern room and no signs of Fiona!. When we went back to reception we met up with David & Suzi & ended up spending the rest of the day & evening with them which was very pleasant. It's been really nice spending quality time with Mr L but it's also nice to talk to other people particularly a fellow lover of the pina colada!

The next day we visited the oddly named War remnants museum. I have been keen to learn a bit more about the American/Vietnam war and hoped this would assist. As we left the rains arrived, So we waited until it subsided before heading back to eat. We had both been craving a change from noodles so decided to go to an Indian restaurant that had rave reviews. The food was fabulous but in  our excitement we ordered far too much and could barely walk afterwards. This visit to HCMC was just a  stop off so we could head south to the Mekong Delta, a place called Vinh Long, so the following morning we were up and packed, exchanged emails & said our goodbyes to D & S and headed to the bus station in our ‘grab’ – the Vietnamese version of uber! 

We were expecting to be ‘dumped’ outside of town  but something very strange happened – this bus company actually looks after their passengers! we were dropped off right at the ferry terminal.    We had decided to live dangerously on this trip by not booking any accommodation in advance. It was making me (the lover of plans) quite twitchy but I was trying my best to be calm about it. Plus I had read the book so had a fair idea of what options there were. We wanted to stay to An Bhinh island rather than in the town. 

At the ferry ‘terminal’ (a set of steps) we met a lady offering her homestay. I asked her the name of it & she wrote it down. It was the name of one of the homestays I had looked at in the book. What a coincidence! We got the boat across she had arranged for us & even purchased a celebratory beer for the journey. The location didn't quite match the description I had read in the book & I began to wonder if this coincidence wasn't one at all. Perhaps we had been kidnapped. When we arrived at the homestay – down a series of paths that sit between rivers & ditches which serve as the main road we arrived at the homestay – not the name of the one in the book. When I asked I was told it was the same family. Hmm. I beginning to feel a little uncomfortable but when she showed me the room I moved from uncomfortable into a heightened state of anxiety. Why? Let me explain. I believe that geckos are out to kill me. All perfectly rational thinking. So when I am presented with a room that is open to the elements from about 5ft up the wall to the roof at the top  & a gap around the bottom of about four inches big enough for most animals to enter  let along geckos I froze. I tried so hard to be rational when I explained to the woman I couldn't possibly stay in that room as I might be killed. Thankfully she offered us a bungalow with solid walls from top to bottom – not much to ask for. Not what I would consider a luxury but this is the Mekong Delta. This is an island. And this is a homestay. These are all things Mr L said when he was trying to assist.I Couldn't argue. Probably not the homestay we had seen in the book but It was very pretty, pleasant and quite idyllic. We put aside our fear of kidnap & relaxed.
Dinner  was included in the price and it was really rather good although I was on high alert with geckos everywhere. When we went to bed Mr L was very patient when I requested the bed be moved into the centre of the room and spent most of the night in the centre of the bed shrouded in all of the sheet.