Last weekend, we went to Cambodia... the backpacker way! We decided to take the bus because it was very cost efficient. A one way ticket was only US$10, and this was for one of the more premium bus lines where they boast a DVD player (more on that later), a toilet (which has never been evidenced) and no bus changes at the border (which I can say is very convenient). Aside from the fact that we were able to extend our allowable stay in Vietnam to until the 1st of July, we were also able to see a new country and do everything on our Phnom Penh To Do List that I wrote about here.
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Planning is essential for adventures.
We bought our tickets a week in advance so we got the front seats. |
Note: Safety wise, the buses have no seat belts. So I just imagined I was in the Philippines and relaxed.
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| There was a chiller on the bus to cool the complimentary bottle of water. |
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There are a handful of reputable premium bus lines that do the same route.
Ho Chi Minh - Phnom Penh - Siem Reap
Sapaco is one of them. There office is in HCMC's backpacker's district. |
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| We're ready to go!!! Yaya actually had her own seat in the second row. |
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This is our version of backpacking.
A change of clothes, loads of food, and space for our shopping.
I think we are more "longchampers" than backpackers. |
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On our way, the DVD they played was some B-rated movie called DOA: Dead or Alive,
It's a martial arts film with a lot of sexy girls dubbed in Vietnamese.
On the return trip, thankfully, there were no movies played. |
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| After around 2 hours, we got to the Moc Bai Border on the Vietnamese side. |
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| Vendors or Cambodian Simcards and Ladies with Cambodian Riels immediately flock to the bus. |
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Upon boarding the bus, they collect everyone's passports.
At the border, everyone just enters the building, and then you wait for your name to be called.
Then you collect your passport which has already been stamped. |
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In this picture, you see both Vietnam and Cambodia,
with a short stretch of no man's land in between. |
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At the Cambodian Border, you can buy a visa on arrival from the Toll Booth looking counters outside.
Then you go into the building to pass immigration. |
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| Our first picture in Cambodia... still on the same bus. |
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| Sofia got hungry so she started eating her Spam sandwich. |
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One of the first things we saw after crossing the border was Macau.
Thought bubble: Huwat?!? |
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| Just a little bit after the border, the bus stops for around 20 minutes so people can get a bite to eat. |
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| Sofia just declared, "I don't want to eat there mom." |
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| There was a fruit seller, and curiously, the people on the bus with us were buying lots of fruit. |
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| They serve home style cooked food. |
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| Offering. |
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We picnicked on the bus instead.
We brought loads of Spam sandwiches. |
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| and Seaweed Potato Chips. |
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Our pinic bag is quite international.
We had KitKat from Australia, Chippy from Manila, Cadbury Buttons from Birmingham... |
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Spotted on the Highway in Cambodia.
There were also cows on the road, sorry no picture of that. |
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| After another hour and a half or so, we reached the Mekong River. |
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I was quite excited for this part because it was my first time to get on a RORO Ferry.
RORO stands for Roll-On Roll-off...
but when I was younger I thought it meant "ROw ROw row your boat"... |
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| They pack the ferry so well, you feel like you're in a game of Traffic/Parking Lot. |
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People can get down from the bus on the ferry, and the vendors flock to you.
They sell the most interesting (weird looking) food. |
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| After around 10minutes, the ferry docks on the other side and we're back on our way. |
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| Our bus did another toilet stop, more vendors selling weird food came to us. |
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Sofia entertained herself by watching Tangled.
It's the first time she watched it until the end. |
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| We finally got to Phnom Penh at around 2:45pm, 6 hours and 45minutes end to end. |
I've observed that your total travel time is largely dependent on whether or not you leave on time
(the bus company has a tendency to wait for everyone who bought a ticket), the number of toilet stops you make, and the amount of time it takes you at the border on both sides.
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| There's a Vietnamese Coffee stand right in front of the Bus Station in Phnom Penh. |
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| Across the bus station, you can already see the architecture is distinctly Cambodian. |
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In Phnom Penh, you take TukTuks every where, but bargaining is key before you ride.
It's roughly US$2 to anywhere.
This is so much more expensive than Vietnam where a taxi for the same distance is less than US$1. |
We had 23hours in Phnom Pehn, which I will blog about separately... then we did the whole trip all over again, but in reverse.
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We bought return tickets from HCMC,
but we were too late for the first row. We had to settle for 2AB and 3A. |
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My little girl has adapted the backpacker lifestyle.
She carries her elephant bag from the night market every where
with Pooh and a locally made shawl inside. |
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At the food stop before the border,
we bought tamarind because I have been craving for it since the day before. |
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| We brought KFC for our picnic on the bus. |
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| Sofia discovered she likes fresh tamarind. |
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| She must like it a lot because she's normally finicky about getting sticky fingers. |
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| Just like mom. She's really my mini-me! |
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| I think it's tamarind from Thailand, but don't quote me on that. |
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When you board, they collect everyone's passport again to make sure everyone has a visa to enter Vietnam as visas are not given at the MocBai Border.
At the Cambodian Bavet Border, they give you back your passport to line up for your exit stamp. |
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| This is all done outdoors and the queues are quite chaotic when a lot of buses arrive at the same time. |
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Then the bus company collects all the passports again
to submit it to the border control at the Vietnamese Moc Bai Border side. |
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| This is us in Cambodia, with Vietnam behind us. See the tall thing behind us? |
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That was a good weekend adventure.
Taking the bus was very convenient and fairly comfortable. |
Stay tuned for more tales of Phnom Penh and why we had so much fun. Just Saying.
SAPACO TOURIST BUS COMPANY
Bus from Ho Chi Minh City
Departure Time : 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:30 12:30 14:00 15:00
From : 325 Pham Ngu Lao St, Dist 1, HCM City
Journey Time : 6 Hours
Note: The Customer can call and Book Bus Ticket through
by cellphone : (08)3 9203623
Bus from Phnom Penh
Departure Time : 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:30 12:30 14:00 15:00
From : 307 Preah Shihanouk Blvd, Sangkat Veal Vong,
Khan 7 Makara,Phnom Penh (next to Olympic Stadium)
Journey Time : 6 Hours
Note : The Customer can call and Book Bus Ticket through
by cellphone : (08)3 9203623
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