Return to the Hostel

I spent the morning looking for all the stuff I'd lost in the Than Thoc Hotel. When I asked the receptionist if she'd seen a rolled up sleeping bag (with the aid of Van De Graf's ingenius 'point it' picture book) she looked at the picture, looked at me, and stated "no."

This was highly irritating considering there are about twelve other porters and receptionists that she couldn't be bothered to ask, she didn't look anywhere behind the desk and to top it off she couldn't even muster the strength to be polite. After asking said twelve other staff members I eventually retrieved my sleeping bag, but didn't find the earring I'd dropped, as this question was too answered with a blank "No."

Sod this shit. The tour is over and so is my stay in this hovel of incompetant morons. I hoik up my backpack, say my teary goodbyes to the group and march off to my new $5 hostel down the road.

At first I can't find it, as it's tucked behind a weird side alley behind a travel agency, but a strategically placed lady on the road points it out to me. My My Arthouse looks very basic, but the two staff members sitting at the communal table give me a hearty welcome. In a timespan of 5 minutes the gay concierge has taken my passport details, given me my key, marked out the major sights of Saigon on a map and given me prices and timings for the bus to Cambodia. He then minces off to stash my passport in the safe.

I'm enjoying the return to the hostel after two weeks. The staff act without the snobbery and pretention of hotels. The rooms are basic, but are combatted with cleanliness. You can get a breakfast, minus the silverware, glass bowls and inflated price tag.

Our tour's Saigon hotel involved a sighting of the biggest cockroach I've ever seen. It provided an expensive breakfast of rotting fruit and cheap bread. The 'secure luggage room' consisted of a net placed over our bags in the reception area.

I've enjoyed the tour- mostly for the group rather than the regimented structure -  but now I'm looking forward to the renewed freedom to make my own bad hotel choices, rather than have to suffer them at the hands of Intrepid Travel.