Leaving Saigon

Of course I woke up early.  As in 3:30 am early.  I tossed and turned and could not get back to sleep so by 4 something I turned on the light and read some. I took a shower.  Brushed my teeth. Repacked my bags.

I had googled hours at Ben Tanh Market and knew they opemed at 6:30 am.  So at 6:25 am I headed out to the market for breakfast. I found a stand that looked promising and ordered Pho Ca and an iced Vietnamese coffee.  It was excellent!!!  After breakfast, it was back to the hotel where we gathered at 7:45 am.  Big bags were put in two pedicabs and then we,walked to the bus stop,   We were relieved to find that the bus was a big diesel with air conditioning Ning and WiFi. It turned out, although it was designated a public bus, in reality it was a private bus with two tour groups as passengers.

We left at about 8:45 am for the 8 hour ride to Phnom Penh.

The bus ride was long, but relatively comfortable, at least until the last couple hours.

At the border, we stopped to process out of Vietnam and into Cambodia.  Once in the no man’s land between the two countries, I bought a raspberry smoothie to cool me down.

Shortly after crossing into Cambodia, we stopped at a roadside restaurant.  I was not hungry so got a beer instead.  We noticed immediately a difference from Vietnam. The roadside was much dustier.  The area is obviously poorer. There are little roadside stands selling goods along the way. Some have bottles of gasoline to sell to passing drivers.  Houses are built on stilts often. Perhaps due to flooding of the Mekong River.  There was a lot of litter along the roadside - plastic bottles, food wrappers, all sort of stuff.

There was some scooter traffic on the road, some hauling trailers loaded with goods.  The bus would honk and they’d move over so we could pass.

We came to the Mekong. Someone said it is the 4th longest rover in the world.  I believe it.

Next stop Phnom Penh Cambodia.

@