Day 66 of The Big Adventure. 

We woke up and headed up to the roof for our free breakfast. Parker and I went for banana pancakes and Freya got the usual fried eggs with bread and soy sauce. 

We were flying back to Ho Chi Minh this afternoon and had the morning free to do what we want.

Freya and I wanted to make the most of the cheap mani pedis so we headed to a nail salon nearby. 

After a little pampering, the girls wanted to go back to l’amour the ice cream parlour we’d gone to last time we were here. 

We each got two ice creams each (they were that good) and Freya had a chocolate brownie the size of her face. 

After so much sugar we headed back to the hostel to shower before getting a taxi to the airport. 

When back in our room, there was a new boy who had just moved into one of the bunks. Freya and Parker both declared they fancied him so it was probably a good thing we were leaving before a cat fight broke out. 

We collected our things and I dashed over the road to grab a delicious looking chicken sandwich before the taxi arrived to whisk us to the airport. 

The airport was very small and Parker and Freya looked in every single and shop to compare prices. 

They came back and gave me a full report on where to buy the cheapest snickers. 

We boarded the plane and Parker had a very well documented open mouth snooze. 

We landed in Ho Chi Minh and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to the girls.

I was so sad to say goodbye – we’d had an incredible three weeks together and they’d kept me laughing the whole time. I was very sad to see them go 😦 

After a bit of an emotional goodbye, I had to rush to the departures area as I was catching another flight! 

I checked in for my flight to Bangkok and went to sit in the departures lounge on my own. 

An old German man named Frank, striked up a conversation with me while we were waiting to board. It was his birthday the next day and he was going to meet his friends in Bangkok to celebrate. 

I was very glad when we boarded and were at opposite ends of the plane. 

I had the whole back row to myself and felt like a bit of a princess. 

I looked down on the city lights of Ho Chi Minh as we took off and marvelled at just how bloody big it was. 

We landed in Bangkok 2 hours later. I was a little nervous going through immigration to say the least. Last time I’d been in Bangkok, we’d accidentally overstayed our visas and I was scared they might not let me back in. 

Thankfully all had been forgiven and they were more than happy to issue me with another 30 day tourist visa – thank god. 

The process took quite a while and I was hoping I might be able to avoid the creepy German completely. 

How wrong I was.

He was one of a small handful of people still waiting at the luggage conveyor belt. His bag hadn’t come and then he miraculously spotted it next to the belt on the floor ‘someone must have taken it off before me’.

A likely story. 
He suggested sharing a taxi because we were both going in the same direction so I agreed because it was a fair way and a taxi was going to cost quite a bit. 

It was a half an hour drive and he told me all about his crazy Thai ex wife and how he now lives in Vietnam and basically the rest of his life story. Then he mentioned it was his birthday and that he was going to find some hot seafood noodle soup and invited me along. I politely declined, as I would have rather eaten sewage. 
He dropped me outside Matchbox and we said our farewells and I scampered inside. I checked in and the lady behind the desk said she recognised me (I’m pretty much a local). 

I went up to my matchbox and it was so strange being back. Lauren and I had stayed there for 4 days at the beginning of the trip when so much had gone wrong. And then we’d stayed again when we accidentally overstayed our visas. It was almost a homely feeling to be back, even the smells were the same. The closest I had to familiarity. 

It was strange this time to be alone though. And as I snuggled down for the night in my matchbox I realised this was the first time I’d slept alone in over 2 months. It felt very strange and made me feel a little anxious.

I still slept like a log though, obv.