After two weeks in Vietnam during which time we'd travelled the length of the country from Hanoi in the north through Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and the Mekong Delta in the South, our last day had finally arrived.
We left the homestead in the Mekong Delta early that morning and, after visiting the floating markets that sold just about anything you could possibly need and seeing how rice paper and rice cakes are made, we said goodbye to our guide Nam and our trusty riverboat and caught the bus back to Saigon.
Our free afternoon was spent seeing the remaining sights of the city that our packed itinerary had so far not allowed us to see. We headed to the Reunification Palace, a time warp of a place stuck in the 1970s and the War Remnants Museum where tanks and planes and heavy artillery were packed into the museum forecourt.
That night we were meeting five new people who would be joining the tour as we travelled into Cambodia. After two weeks together, the group had definitely bonded and friendships had begun to develop. The group had found its groove and we were interested to see how the new people would fit in. Very well as it turned out. Some Aussies, a Canadian and another Brit were added to the mix and that night at dinner we chatted and got to know each other.
Vietnam had been an amazing experience. I was genuinely sad to be leaving but excited to be going to another country. Vietnam surprised me. It was more beautiful and more diverse than I expected and while the natural character of the Vietnamese strikes you as being somewhat aloof, sometimes to the point of arrogance, away from the big cities I found Vietnamese people to be really rather friendly.
Halong Bay, Hoi An and the Mekong Delta were all highlights for me, though to be honest pretty much all of Vietnam was a joy. Hanoi was in your face and crazy but after a while it grew on me. I didn't feel like I spent enough time in either Hue or Saigon, but then Vietnam is bigger than you think and we had a lot of ground to cover. Sleeper trains and sleeper buses were certainly an experience and not something I'd want to repeat in a hurry but it was a part of the fun of travelling in Vietnam. As were the boats, the junk in Halong Bay and the riverboat on the Mekong. And you can't come to Vietnam without mentioning the motorbikes. The ubiquitous form of transport in Vietnam, they are as much a part of the Vietnamese identity as conical hats.
Food was another highlight and another surprise as we sampled different cooking styles in the different regions we visited. Simple claypot cooking that I sampled in Hoi An and Nha Trang was delicious and probably some of the best food I ate while in Vietnam. Soup, noodles and spring rolls became our staples and I got used to having fried rice and stir fries for breakfast.
Next stop was the Kingdom of Cambodia. Having heard so many things about the country I was keen to see it for myself. Angkor Wat was one of the things I was particularly keen to see. And tomorrow, we'd be on our way. I was nervously excited.