Good Morning* Vietnam

*More like Good Afternoon.

Phnom Penh doesn’t have a central bus station for long distance travel, but rather several offices dotted around the city where the different bus companies leave from. My hotel was just round the corner. Unlike by bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh which was a coach in a standard 2 x 2 seats ,the coach to Ho Chi Minh City was a luxury coach with seats arranged in a 2 x 1 configuration. It wouldn’t surprise anyone that I chose to seat in the single seat with no neighbours (although the bus was actually half empty) My seat was very comfortable, reclined and had a beverage holder. It also had air conditioning set to Arctic, so I was glad I packed my zip-up hooded top. 

I was the first to board at 745am , while the other passengers asked if this was the bus to Ho Chi Minh City to which I replied I sincerely hope so. (Although if I ended up in Kep, Kratie or even back to Siem Reap I don’t think I would have minded at all.) Anyway we departed at 8am on the dot. We collected some other travellers from their hotel (I think they were from a tour group) By 830 we were still driving through Phnom Penh but then we hit the highway to the border.

Our bus (pictured just past the Cambodian border)

We had a brief pit stop after 2 hours, where several passengers had to retrieve warmer clothing from the stowed suitcases, stopped off for fuel about an hour after that and then we reached the frontier at Bavet just gone 1pm, where we all disembarked to be stamped out of Cambodia.

My Cambodian exit stamp at Bavet.

 I only got a rather dull sticker with a QR code when I entered at Siem Reap. When we reboarded the drivers assistant collected all passports as well as out e-visa printouts. We then drove into no-mans land between the Cambodian and Vietnamese border where someone thoughtfully had placed a small cafe and duty free shop, and while we had lunch ,the assistant took our documentation to the Vietnamese. We then drove to the Vietnamese border control, disembarked and took all our luggage so that it could x-rayed.

We then queued up at a separate counter specially for groups and we were handed our passports back.

My entry stamp at Mộc Bài

The x-ray machine seemed to have nervous breakdown scanning my suitcase and backpack and gave out a piercing whine, which seem to bother no-one but me, so I collected my bags and showed my passport once again to another border official (I think just to check that the 1st official had done his job properly) and we reboarded the bus for a final time.

Mộc Bài International Border Gate

We left the border at around 2pm and its soon dawned on me that our 230 arrival time was wildly optimistic. We didn’t arrive at the Giant Ibis Bus office until 430pm. I refused all offers of taxis and in once case 1 very optimistic driver who assured me that his moped could accommodate both himself, myself and 1 large suitcase. I wont be using any moped taxis at all.  After about 8 hours on a coach I was ready to stretch my legs and walk across the park to my hotel.

Bia Saigon, or Saigon Beer.

After a quick shower I realised I needed some local money, so I headed to an ATM, and then to a 7-11 for some alchohol  bits and bobs. I was hoping “Bia” means Beer and lo and behold it does ! And at 49p why not. 

Phnom Penh.

The bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh takes roughly 6 and half hours over mostly good roads through the rather flat Cambodian countryside. Quite a lot of houses on stilts, quite a few water buffalo, and an extraordinary amount of petrol stations. We had 2 pit stops so we could avail ourselves of the facilities and  to stretch our legs.

Our trusty bus.

The view from my window.

We arrived in Phnom Penh just after 3pm where it was warm and sultry, hired a tuk-tuk and arrived at my hotel. Not as luxurious as in Siem Reap but has a great view of the Tonle Sap river that runs through Phnom Penh where it merges with the Mekong.

On my first full day I booked a Phnom Penh heritage tour on an electric bus that wizzed its way through the crowded streets to look at (and sometime go in) different buildings from the differing architectural styles that Phnom Penh has to offer.

Old colonial building which houses a fancy restaurant.

Inside the temple of the Hokkien Chinese community

National Library of Cambodia

Another grand colonial building which currently houses UNESCO.

Outside the Royal Palace.

Interior of a building from the Chinese Community, now a coffee shop

And just before I started on my tour, I see a group of tourist being driven around on bicycle rickshaws.

A great introduction to Phnom Penh where I could get my bearings and fascinating to boot. In the afternoon I made my way to the National Museum of Cambodia. It covered pretty much the same as the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap (which I preferred) but the building itself was very much worth a visit.

My second full (and last) day, was a much more sobering affair, visiting the notorious S-21 prison at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

I joined a tour for this as well, and there were only 5 other people in our group .We got to learn about the history of Cambodia following independence in 1953, the effects that the Vietnam War had, the coup of 1970, growth of the Khmer Rouge and the fall of Phnom Penh in April 1975. We then drove to the outskirts of the city to visit the Killing Fields site at Choeung Ek. After the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 they discovered the many mass graves. Some of the remains were interned in a large Stupa.

We then headed back to the city. 

And that concludes my trip to Cambodia. In the morning I catch a bus to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.