A 7.30am start as the Giant Ibis bus picked us up at our hotel, and after a bit of mucking around picking up other people and stopping at the company’s office we were on our way to Cambodia.
After a couple of hours we started the lengthy exercise to get over the border at Moc Bai. The driver collected all our passports and visa details (and $80 U.S. dollars!) and we all filed through to show the police our stamps. Next stop was the duty free store and restaurant for lunch.
I picked up some little headphones for the remainder of the journey because one of the bus staff members, a young Vietnamese woman had been talking very loudly non stop for the first two hours.
The headphones are bluetooth, and although the staff charged them a little to make sure they worked, they need a four hour charge, so they are not useful right now. Lucky for me, the young woman remained at the lunch stop. Yay!!
The headphones are bluetooth, and although the staff charged them a little to make sure they worked, they need a four hour charge, so they are not useful right now. Lucky for me, the young woman remained at the lunch stop. Yay!!
Another stop at the Cambodian border and we have our passports back and are on the road for the next few hours to Phnom Penh.
They gave us a delicious pastry and a can of coffee and a bottle of water before we left Ho Chi Minh, so I just had that for lunch.
Ross indulged in a bacon and egg sandwich, but it’s Cambodian food from now on.
Just over the border there were a couple of large hotel casinos. Gambling is illegal in Vietnam so the Vietnamese people cross over the border to go to the casinos here.
I had heard the roads were worse in Cambodia, but so far they don’t seem any worse than Vietnam. I guess Siem Reap may be a different matter.
I had heard the roads were worse in Cambodia, but so far they don’t seem any worse than Vietnam. I guess Siem Reap may be a different matter.
The bus trip was interesting with the bus driver tearing up the wrong side of the road to pass anything that got in front of us. Cows nonchalantly sauntered across in front of us as the driver honked at them. At one stage there was a whole herd of cattle crossing the road.
It is much more rural here than Vietnam and there are vast paddocks and rice fields lining the road.
It is much more rural here than Vietnam and there are vast paddocks and rice fields lining the road.
It is very flat and the soil looks to be the kind to turn to sticky mud after rain.
As we neared the city the streets were lined with vendors selling just about everything and there were several large pagodas.
As we neared the city the streets were lined with vendors selling just about everything and there were several large pagodas.
We arrived in Phnom Penh after the lengthy bus trip and the traffic got much worse as we rolled into the city.
We crawled along past government buildings and shopping malls and dozens of International schools, finally getting to the bus depot where we transferred into a smaller bus and were ferried to our hotel.
The hotel here is rather sumptuous and everything is in U.S. dollars. I think it is going to be rather more expensive than it was in Vietnam. We are on the 16th floor with a view over the winding river and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of restaurants within close proximity.
I’m a bit tired after the long day so I don’t think we’ll be doing a lot tomorrow in preparation for going to Siem Reap the next day.
The photos were taken mostly with my little phone out the bus window so they are not great.
Jill D
2023-04-04
Looking forward to your Cambodia stay. Enjoy!