Crossing into Cambodia
Howdy Everyone - hope all is well and that you aren't missing us too much!
There are two 'land' options for crossing into Cambodia from Vietnam. One option (and probably more sensible) is simply to take a bus between Saigon and Phnom Penh - an estimated 9 hour trip.
We decided on the more romantic option combining a Mekong Delta day trip with a river crossing between two border towns the following day...
The Mekong Delta trip was quite an eye opener, romantic NOT! Glad we took a 'luxury' boat cos I don't think a second class one would have been sea worthy :-)
The houses that line the banks of the river and house boats on the river gave us real insight into poverty in Vietnam, the river really is their whole lives. Funny tho' that even the most basic dwelling had a tv aerial!! People use the river to feed themselves, earn a living, dispose of their garbage, and clean themselves. We saw one person happily jumping in to wash out her shampoo minutes after seeing other unmentionables floating by.
We stopped along the way at a few touristy villages to see locals making honey, cocoanut candy, silk weaving etc etc. Petra blew us all away by happily posing with a huge python at one stop - not many of the adults in our tour group were game enough, and certainly not Mark, me or Mum!
We also took in a Fish Farm, of which there were hundreds in Chau Doc (Vietnamese border town) they fed the fish the most vile smelling stuff and had to medicate them frequently to help counteract the pollution in the river.
The border crossing itself was an experience. We had to change boats at one point which meant lugging all our baggage (now quite substantial) up a huge hill to be scanned. We had to fend off the local children who were trying to help so they could claim tips, and nearly ended up in a punch up when a lady in our group was 'felt up' by one of the locals!! Emotions were running very high.
We also had to disembark at the Cambodian immigration office, the walkway up the river bank was a very flimsy and patched bamboo bridge. On our way back to the boat it started pouring with rain, and so Mum gave up and just slid down the bank on her backside!
We then spent several more hours just motoring up the river into Cambodia. The scenery changed dramatically, all the fishing villages disappeared and gave way to beautiful green fields it was very refreshing.
The last part of our journey was a three hour minibus ride to Phnom Penh. Mum managed to score a seat up the front with the driver whilst Mark, the kids and I sat squashed in the back with everyone else.. even then the bus driver stopped to pick up more passengers. The roads were unbelievable (more on that in another post) we bounced and swerved all over the place, at times leaving the road completely. In our driver's defense Mum reckons he was driving as carefully as he possibly could to avoid all the pot holes and oncoming traffic.
The tour company we travelled with are very cunning, after two long days on boats and a harrowing minibus ride they deliver you to a guesthouse (at 6 pm), which you can choose to stay at (most of us did!!) or from there you have to find your own way around the city. We had big smiles on our faces each of the following nights at 6 pm when the minivan would arrive bringing in the latest catch of weary travellers would would stagger out and just take a key to a room!
That's about all I have time for now.. will be back soon with stories about Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Love to you all
Hayls
There are two 'land' options for crossing into Cambodia from Vietnam. One option (and probably more sensible) is simply to take a bus between Saigon and Phnom Penh - an estimated 9 hour trip.
We decided on the more romantic option combining a Mekong Delta day trip with a river crossing between two border towns the following day...
The Mekong Delta trip was quite an eye opener, romantic NOT! Glad we took a 'luxury' boat cos I don't think a second class one would have been sea worthy :-)
The houses that line the banks of the river and house boats on the river gave us real insight into poverty in Vietnam, the river really is their whole lives. Funny tho' that even the most basic dwelling had a tv aerial!! People use the river to feed themselves, earn a living, dispose of their garbage, and clean themselves. We saw one person happily jumping in to wash out her shampoo minutes after seeing other unmentionables floating by.
We stopped along the way at a few touristy villages to see locals making honey, cocoanut candy, silk weaving etc etc. Petra blew us all away by happily posing with a huge python at one stop - not many of the adults in our tour group were game enough, and certainly not Mark, me or Mum!
We also took in a Fish Farm, of which there were hundreds in Chau Doc (Vietnamese border town) they fed the fish the most vile smelling stuff and had to medicate them frequently to help counteract the pollution in the river.
The border crossing itself was an experience. We had to change boats at one point which meant lugging all our baggage (now quite substantial) up a huge hill to be scanned. We had to fend off the local children who were trying to help so they could claim tips, and nearly ended up in a punch up when a lady in our group was 'felt up' by one of the locals!! Emotions were running very high.
We also had to disembark at the Cambodian immigration office, the walkway up the river bank was a very flimsy and patched bamboo bridge. On our way back to the boat it started pouring with rain, and so Mum gave up and just slid down the bank on her backside!
We then spent several more hours just motoring up the river into Cambodia. The scenery changed dramatically, all the fishing villages disappeared and gave way to beautiful green fields it was very refreshing.
The last part of our journey was a three hour minibus ride to Phnom Penh. Mum managed to score a seat up the front with the driver whilst Mark, the kids and I sat squashed in the back with everyone else.. even then the bus driver stopped to pick up more passengers. The roads were unbelievable (more on that in another post) we bounced and swerved all over the place, at times leaving the road completely. In our driver's defense Mum reckons he was driving as carefully as he possibly could to avoid all the pot holes and oncoming traffic.
The tour company we travelled with are very cunning, after two long days on boats and a harrowing minibus ride they deliver you to a guesthouse (at 6 pm), which you can choose to stay at (most of us did!!) or from there you have to find your own way around the city. We had big smiles on our faces each of the following nights at 6 pm when the minivan would arrive bringing in the latest catch of weary travellers would would stagger out and just take a key to a room!
That's about all I have time for now.. will be back soon with stories about Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Love to you all
Hayls
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