The 30th of August saw the end of my Laos and Cambodia travels, and also the end of (for now) hostel life. This meant one thing: I was heading back to HCMC to not only meet my parents, but to also say my emotional goodbyes to the friends who had become my Vietnam family.
Though I finished working for Major English Centre at the end of July, I tagged along to one of their work parties when I arrived back- a bit weird seeing as I never actually attended one whilst I was working there. This felt like a bit of a 'you don't even go here' Mean Girls moment, but I was just going with it.
Anywaaaay, I reunited with only a handful of my old friends who still work there, and around 20 new people. It was a bit surreal to see how it had changed so much in such a short space of time I'd been away, but I soon came to realise that most of them were pretty wicked.
Also I had timed my visit back pretty bloody well, seeing as I was staying during a national holiday meaning everyone was off work! I stayed with my best Vietnam mate Phoebe and we had the greatest/drunkest week and a half ever.
For the first few days we took a trip to a campsite about an hour and a half away from Saigon, which included a little ferry trip. Going in a convoy of about 25 bikes was a logistical nightmare, and setting off about midday in a hungover state was probably not the wisest plan. We got there to basically find there were no tents available, and the last ferry back was soon to depart.
Luckily we somehow found a motel in the middle of rural Vietnam to host all of us for around 60p a night each. Ridiculous. And over the next few days we basically had one big school trip for teachers (well... including one ex teacher).
We ventured back to this campsite/water park place the next morning, and it was unreal! There were sumo suits, zip lines and this massive cushion in the water which you could jump down on, to then send the other person flying. Phoebe managed to fly I swear about 20 metres in the air, only to then enter the water on the worlds biggest belly flop. She genuinely looked like she was flying. The tears were worth it though Phoebs, it looked so cool.
That evening we spent at a little restaurant place who did us a big BBQ. At around 1am I walked down the road to try and find some vodka in what appeared to be a deserted village. I saw a local woman sitting outside her house and said 'voddddkaaaa?' After walking around with her and knocking on several peoples doors, she managed to wake up her mate who opened their shop just for me. Seriously, this would only happen in Vietnam.
It's little weird things like this that has, over the past week, made me wonder why I'm leaving to go back to a western country, which is going to be at least over four times the price than here.
I think it's just change. Something which I tend to not like at first. Moving to Australia after living in Vietnam for 8 months is going to be a massive change. No more motorbikes, no more street food and no more being able to live off £30 a week.
But I know that reluctance to change is normal. Moving out to Vietnam in January was fucking terrifying, but I soon realised it was the best decision I could have ever made. If people were always too scared of change, life would be pretty dull.
It's been an emotional past few days. Obviously seeing my parents after 7 months was very surreal. My mum pretty much dropped her suitcase in a crowd of Vietnamese travellers and ran towards me. It was definitely a Love Actually moment.
However, saying goodbye to some of those who I've known since the beginning of my South East Asian adventure was emotional to say the least. There were a lot of tears involved (as well as a few vodka buckets) and it was all pretty sad.
I also went to see the smoothie lady where I used to live in District 7 to say goodbye. She still can't speak any English, and I can still only say a few words in Vietnamese... but I think she kind of got the idea I was leaving. She got her camera out and wanted pictures of Mum, Dad and I. Though the smoothie lady makes me look like the BFG, it was the cutest thing ever.
It's now time to head up Vietnam for the next two weeks with Tony and Lou before I head over to Australia and leave them for another year. Staying in nice hotels rather than $2 a night hostels, and being spoilt by them has also made me feel like a new woman! Though these malaria tablets have started to make me do some odd things. Naked sleepwalking at Phoebes house for example, but we won't go into that...
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