Journey to Vietnam, by bus, boat and bus.
The journey to Vietnam was the least fun we've had so far, although parts of it made the trip worthwhile. We started at 7am in Phnom Penh, taking a minibus with four other people. The driver proceeded to drive all over town, dropping one couple off to another bus (the lucky things) and then took some meandering route through rush hour traffic to eventually end up turning into a large garage. As it did not seem that we had even left the city yet, we presumed that this was not border control to Vietnam and did wonder if we were perhaps being kidnapped for a moment... but it turned out we just needed to change minibuses, no explaination why. So we all piled in and realised we'd even less leg-room than before.
Then followed two hours of possibly the most uncomfortable journey I've taken. The minibus was very old, with no suspension, and the roads in Cambodia (apart from the one to Siem Reap) are not the best by any stretch of the imagination. With no air conditioning and the driver stopping to pick up randomers along the way, it seemed like a lot more than two hours. And bear in mind that we'd had less than three hours sleep that night! Although with some minibuses passing with 10people sitting on top of their luggage, on top of the minibus, our situation seemed more reasonable.
We finally made it to the port and were shown to our boat. This was the part that made the journey worth while. Cruising along in a covered in boat, balmy breeze coming through the windows, nice benches to stretch out on, it's the life. We had a bit of snooze and soon enough we were at the Cambodian border. We had a lovely Vietnamese gentleman usher us through. He had obviously only learnt one swear word which was 'Goddammed', but he used it to great effect, many times. The boat into Vietnam was equally lovely and relaxed, floating through the Mekong Delta for two hours.
Arriving in Vietnam, we were told by a friendly local that the bus we were going for had left and were then herded to an office were we were asked to pay $10 each for the trip to HCMC. $10!! But there was nothing we could do but agree and be annoyed that we'd obviously been bamboozled. We were even more annoyed when we were brought to the bus station and saw loadsa busses - it would be hard to believe that none of them were going to HCMC. But at least we were to travel in a comfortable a/c'd minibus, crammed with people. And the bus was relatively comfortable - until we started driving that was. It turns out that the roads in Vietnam are little better than those in Cambodia. There was one stretch of road where we were bombing along, being bounced around ruthlessly, only to suddenly brake as it seemed the road had disappeared to be replaced by a load of rubble. The road in fact was still there, it had just curved sharply to the left and down a steep incline. Combine this with a puking child, no leg room and sticky seats, extend it for an hour or two longer than we were originally told, and you are beginning to get the idea.
When we finally arrived in HCMC at 10.30 pm, about 15 hours after we'd left PP, I wasn't feeling so enamoured with the place. But we found a nice hotel run by some really lovely people and began to feel a bit better. Exploring the city would have to wait until tomorrow, as we fell into bed for a very comfortable and long sleep.
Then followed two hours of possibly the most uncomfortable journey I've taken. The minibus was very old, with no suspension, and the roads in Cambodia (apart from the one to Siem Reap) are not the best by any stretch of the imagination. With no air conditioning and the driver stopping to pick up randomers along the way, it seemed like a lot more than two hours. And bear in mind that we'd had less than three hours sleep that night! Although with some minibuses passing with 10people sitting on top of their luggage, on top of the minibus, our situation seemed more reasonable.
We finally made it to the port and were shown to our boat. This was the part that made the journey worth while. Cruising along in a covered in boat, balmy breeze coming through the windows, nice benches to stretch out on, it's the life. We had a bit of snooze and soon enough we were at the Cambodian border. We had a lovely Vietnamese gentleman usher us through. He had obviously only learnt one swear word which was 'Goddammed', but he used it to great effect, many times. The boat into Vietnam was equally lovely and relaxed, floating through the Mekong Delta for two hours.
Arriving in Vietnam, we were told by a friendly local that the bus we were going for had left and were then herded to an office were we were asked to pay $10 each for the trip to HCMC. $10!! But there was nothing we could do but agree and be annoyed that we'd obviously been bamboozled. We were even more annoyed when we were brought to the bus station and saw loadsa busses - it would be hard to believe that none of them were going to HCMC. But at least we were to travel in a comfortable a/c'd minibus, crammed with people. And the bus was relatively comfortable - until we started driving that was. It turns out that the roads in Vietnam are little better than those in Cambodia. There was one stretch of road where we were bombing along, being bounced around ruthlessly, only to suddenly brake as it seemed the road had disappeared to be replaced by a load of rubble. The road in fact was still there, it had just curved sharply to the left and down a steep incline. Combine this with a puking child, no leg room and sticky seats, extend it for an hour or two longer than we were originally told, and you are beginning to get the idea.
When we finally arrived in HCMC at 10.30 pm, about 15 hours after we'd left PP, I wasn't feeling so enamoured with the place. But we found a nice hotel run by some really lovely people and began to feel a bit better. Exploring the city would have to wait until tomorrow, as we fell into bed for a very comfortable and long sleep.
posted by Dee @ 8:20 a.m.
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