The Final Blog...

Hello all.
I'm starting this Blog by letting you all know that it will be my last. It is with regret and extreme sadness that I have to say my Grandma passed away Thursday Morning. I am now back home and with my family. My Grandma used to love my blogs however, my mum used to read them to her and show her the pictures whilst I've been away, including while she was in Hospital. Therefore, it would be wrong of me to finish on such a downer without bringing a proper conclusion to my travels, Grandma would have wanted me to finish it. So this, is for you Lil,  I love you and  miss you so much, but I am happy now that you are no longer suffering.

My mum broke the news to my after I returned back from the WaterPark - not the best news to return home to at any time, especially after such a wicked day with the awesome guys I had met. Luckily, Archie#1 was in the dorm with me and offered me great help and support, which I will never be able to thank him enough for. understandably, I wanted to get home as soon as I could, so had to devise a plan of action to return home. This included having to search for flights from Saigon, organising a coach to Saigon and asking for extra money from Dad to be able to afford the flight (apparently lastminute.com has yet to embrace Vietnam as a destination). Every minute I was taking, I was watching the price rise dramatically - I felt like a competitor watching Apple's share rise second by second, hopeless to stop it! Eventually, I was forced to ditch taking a flight with a reputable operator and plumped for a "budget airline" of long-haul flights, Turkish Airlines.
I was supposed to be going out that night for a meal with the Archie's and the guys from the WaterPark and as much as I was struggling I knew Lil would have hated it if I had changed my plans and missed out for her. So I went out for a very nice meal, again at the guy who was cooking from his front room. He managed to prepare 4 starters and 6 meals all on two hobs on what most campers use to cook with in Devon! And this was his business! He was also the waiter, and there were two other groups eating too! All the food brought perfectly in time together! Well worth the £3.50!
We then went back to the club and met up with more people from the hostel, all of them being very supportive and kept me entertained and occupied. Ended up having a really good time, beating 3 girls in a game of pool (oh yea, We're hard) and having a bit of a skank to the Dubstep (it's a kind of Dance Mum and Dad, before you get worried) before settling down for a chat in the last bar getting to know everyone, as well as set a few of the guys on course ;). Charlie and The Archie's (Sounds like a 70's band) were a particular great help and It was really great getting to know them over the last few weeks.
The next day was mental. I was supposed to get the bus at 8am, but it didn't leave til 8.45. This was slightly alarming, because although my bus was supposed to arrive with a plenty of time before my flight, still left me a little anxious. However, I recently had put onto my phone Shrek, Puss in Boots, Rush Hour 2, Jimmy Carr and Blackadder all put onto my phone to watch, so I was sufficiently relaxed in my extremely uncomfortable bus - it was another sleeper bus, another one designed for people 5ft and under and with no legs. We stopped off eventually at another classic Vietnamese Services, which was a "restaurant" and shop in the middle of nowhere - literally - and with animals just running around freely. And apparently these "services" didn't believe in toilet paper either.
Back on the bus, we passed through Mui Ne - which looked nice, with the famous waves and sand dunes set an awesome setting. The trip until now had gone quickly and well. However after we passed Mui Ne, this is where it all went wrong and I went into Freak mode. I'm normally quite calm and laid back in most situations, but things like this make me panic a tad. The bus broke down. I don't know what was wrong, because the drivers didn't actually tell us we had. In fact, they didn't really say anything at all (as per all bus and drivers in Vietnam, they didn't speak any English and were in fact complain morons, for want of a stronger, publishable way). All I knew was that after about 20 mins I noticed that we hadn't moved for...well, about 20mins (I was way too engrossed with Puss In Boots, which was actually a good film!) and all I could see was two guys and what looked like pneumatic drills going to and from the rear of the bus, clearly in no hurry to finish the job (again a trait of the Vietnamese - don't get me wrong, they are very friendly people, but won't rush anything. Not in a perfectionist kind of a way, more like a CBA kind of way). It was at least another half an hour or so before we moved off.

When we reached the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh (do you mind if I call it Saigon? It's easier and everyone knows what I mean by it! Just don't tell anyone) I realised I was in serious trouble. The traffic was horrific - crawling pretty much all the way. We were gonna be late. Very late, as in too late to catch my flight. Bugger (I may have said something stronger). It was then a mad panic to organise on the phone with Lucy, and Mike (Brother Mike not Leeds Mike) a new, later flight and more money to buy it (this was made even frantic as I had very little battery left (damn those Movies)). After a lot of faffing, it became apparent it was too late to book over the internet, so I'd have to take my chances at the airport...if I ever got there.
We did eventually arrive, and I jumped into the first taxi I saw. Despite the airport only being about 15 mins away, it some how took 40minutes to get to the airport...bloody traffic. On top of that, it was 8pm - according to the taxi driver, 7-12pm in Saigon was Overtime, enforced by the government (fitting that my last contact with Asia would be yet another scam) so I got absolutely ripped off - about £15 for a 15 minuted journey (of actually moving time - it was like being back in Bristol!)
After searching the airlines, I managed to get a flight with Vietnam Airlines direct to Gatwick, which made the journey much shorter. It also wasn't quite as expensive as I thought it would be (not that it was cheap by any means) -  Finally I started to relax. I was coming home.  That wasn't the end of the drama, however.

As I was going through Immigration, just as the officer was about to stamp my passport, someone else in a uniform shouted and took my passport for "inspection". Shit, they'd finally caught up with me!
Haha I'm only joking, I was actually Bricking it. There was absolutely nothing I could think of to lead them to want my passport. I was really worried. Eventually the officer returned with my passport (encased in a nice plastic wallet, so wasn't all bad) and thanked me for my "Co-operwayshun". I still don't know why he wanted my passport, something to do with the type of passport I had (apparently legitimate British passports arouse suspicion (do I mean arouse?) - why is it that no one speaks English when you want them/need them to?)
That was the end of the fiasco's. As I was boarding the plane, a stewardess informed me that I had been upgraded into Deluxe Economy Class - Grandma looking after me still, Like she always has, Like she always will.

And that's basically it. An absolutely amazing trip which was cut short by the most devastating of tragedies. I have had an absolutely amazing time and met some amazing people and I've loved every minute of it and have some amazing memories.

Thank you to all of you that have been reading my blog and keeping up with my posts. I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog as much as I've enjoyed writing them - and as much as I've loved living and experiencing them.
You Stay Classy San Diego

P.S If you want to hear the songs that I performed on Cairns Fm, Here are the links! (you can also find them on my Facebook Page, if you're a friend.
Jono - A-Team (Cairns Fm Cover)
Jono - Kaleidoscope (Cairns Fm, Joe Brooks Cover)
Jono - Complete (My Own Song, Cairns FM)