Since I arrived a day earlier than my brother in Ho Chi Minh, I spent the whole day walking around the city. I had a blast getting myself immersed in a new place which hurriedly became familiar to me. From crossing the street with a sea of motorcycles whose drivers never slow down, I've become an expert in not getting ran over after a few attempts. I've also politely rejected motorcycle drivers and rickshaw operators' offer of ride, as I just told them "I'm just walking around". Which I did before retiring to the guest house and waited for my brother who arrived early morning the next day. After a short nap, we went out to the then awakening city of Saigon and had a quick breakfast in order to catch the 6:30 AM bus going to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A day earlier, I already purchased two one way tickets to Phnom Penh which costs $10.00 per person at the Sihn Tourist located at De Tham street - which is just beside both Buy Vien and Pham Ngu Lao.

I grew up watching a battalion of Vietnam War movies and TV shows. From "Platoon", "Born on the 4th of July", "Full Metal Jacket", "Hamburger Hill" and even Chuck Norris' "Missing in Action" series. I've forever associated Vietnam with that brutal part of its history. Fast forward to today, I see the city of Ho Chi Minh as a country miles away from that bloody image of Saigon during the war. The peace-time version has disengaged my mind from its former image. Better be, because the end of Vietnam War  happened almost 37 years ago. It was on the day of April 30, 1975 when a tank belonging to the North Vietnamese Army came crashing through the gates of what is then known as the Independence Palace. The ensuing short battle paved the way for the Fall of Saigon, thereby putting the control of all of Vietnam into the hands of the communist North Vietnamese forces.

I'm writing this inside our $12 room in Saigon. My brother is already snoring and sleeping soundly, while I just had the urge to write something. This is our last night on a journey that has taken us from Saigon - Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia and back again in Ho Chi Minh. It was a trip that finally morphed my childhood fascination of seeing Angkor Wat - into a reality. By tomorrow, this epic on the road experience will total 8 days, one of my longest so far, in terms of traveling in between my day job.