Day 19 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Friday, May 24, 2013

We traveled by bus (again!) from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  The trip took about 6 hours and we had to endure showing our passports at the border.

I was up at 5:30; just couldn't sleep.  My reward was to watch the sun rise over the Tonle Sap River.  We got dressed and went downstairs for the complementary breakfast buffet.  Again, lots of greens to make a salad and veggies to go with.  I prefer a two-egg omelet, fresh pineapple and a French pastry!  We were back downstairs by 7:30 am.  A tuk tuk from the bus company arrived to pick us up and take us to the bus "office" where they gave us our bus tickets, wrote down our passport numbers and put tags on our luggage.  And then they gave us a plastic chair to sit and wait while all of the other passengers arrived.  Not much formality.   

sunrise from Cambodiana Hotel room

This is an upgrade!  

The tuk tuk that took us from the hotel to the bus "station".

There is a motorbike attached to the front, it is painted bright red, 

there is a step and it is very wide and comfortable.

Plus, it was compliments of the bus company.

This is the bus that will take us to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

It was not as nice as yesterday's bus; it had orange and purple velour seats, there were tassels on the curtains and plastic flowers were attached to the walls.  

And they pumped a baby powder smell through the air conditioning system.

But, Kent convinced me that this had the best ratings.

We did leave on time.

Since we were early, I spent a few minutes walking around the market.

After 1 1/2 hours, traveling southeast on Highway 1 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we came to the Mekong River and the only way to cross was the Neak Loeung Ferry.  The city of Neak Loeung sits on the east bank of the Mekong River.

I guess I forgot to read the "agenda" for the day.

This was a surprise to me!

I could not believe that they are going to put this great big bus on this ferry!

I needed to get off the bus for some fresh air.

The bus "hostess" told me to be back on the bus before we got to the other side.

And where did she think I was going to go?

Another ferry going in the opposite direction.

This is where we docked.  

The bus moaned and groaned as we climbed the sandy hill to the road.

We took our lunch break at the Flower Restaurant.  The WC's were just o.k.

The restaurant was packed and the food, to us, was questionable.

We decided on one plate of white rice and some fruit juice from a bottle.

Kent put lots of soy sauce on his side of the plate. 

This is an "ice truck" delivering ice to the restaurant.

We are now coming close to the Cambodia - Vietnam border.

The signs above (left to right) say:

www.AMC-advertising.com

Ho Chi Minh City 80 km

Vietnam Country

Bavet Inter-Checkpoint

Bin Than Market

and

Have a safe trip.

Here was the process for crossing the border:  First, the bus "hostess" had collected all of our passports soon after we boarded the bus (which made me very nervous).  When the bus stopped at the border, she held up our passport, called out our name, and then you could take your passport and get off the bus.  You then got in a line at an outdoor kiosk.  Don't forget to take off any hats or sunglasses and for heaven's sake, don't smile.  An official takes your passport, photographs you, and then you put your right hand fingers on a screen, then your right thumb is scanned and you repeat this procedure with your left paw.  Then they gave you back your passport.  Then you are allowed back on the bus and your passport was given back to the bus "hostess".  

They drove the bus across the border, which was only a stone's throw away.  Then we all had to get off the bus again.  Our luggage was taken off and we had to take our luggage to a checkpoint building.  Too bad I couldn't take any pictures of this ordeal, but I did not want to jeopardize my crossing!  We moved into one large room, along with other people from other buses.  Did I mention that it was hot (?) and there were no open windows.  We discovered that our passports had been stacked in a pile inside the officer's little kiosk.  Once again, your name was read when your visa had been stamped, your name was shouted out and you got to pass through, with your luggage.  Naturally, the Americans (just the two of us), were last.  That meant we were holding up the whole bus.  Great way to make friends.  

Next, our luggage had to go through a screening machine and before we could leave, we had to show our passports again to double-check that we had received a stamp in our passports.  Then our luggage was put on the bus, and we boarded and off we went.  (grumble, grumble)

We arrived in Hi Ch Minh City at about 3:00.  There really was no bus station, bus stop or office, this time.  They simply stopped on a city street and put our luggage on the sidewalk.  Of course, there were plenty of taxi drivers waiting to prey on us.  We took a taxi to our hotel for $15.00.  The Renaissance Riverside (a Marriott) looked like "Shangri La" to me at this point.       

views looking out hotel room onto the Saigon River

Renaissance Riverside, 6th floor

Notice the billboards along the river; that's where the traffic is.

The road below is always busy and the lights 

on the dinner boats have been turned on.

We checked in at the 18th floor, had a snack and went to our 6th floor room.  We were well entertained by the boats and traffic below.  Rearranged suitcases, did some hand washing, hooked up to the internet (finally!) and had "dinner" at the 18th floor.  They always call it h'orderves, but it is quite a spread and includes dessert.  Downloaded pics from three days into blog.  Lights out at 9:00 pm after watching CNN.