> Up very early for the 1 1/2 hour boat ride departure at 6 AM to the floating market where we got “up close and personal” with the vendors and purchasers on their boats
with traffic jam on boat – fishing market – the fishing boats have a flap in the hull that allows the fish and water to come through and are trapped in the boat with water making the boat almost sink. Then the flap is closed and the water pumped out with the fish remaining inside.
> Sad farewell at 8:30 AM to Judy, Anne, Sandra and the guide Lôc as they saw us on to the coach before getting on to a minivan headed for Saigon and back to England. The 18 of us with Zöe (the Travelsphere tour manager) headed North for 4 hours on the coach to catch the 5 hour fast boat to Phenom Penh, Cambodia.
At a brief comfort stop along the way we sampled a local coffee – first condensed sweet milk is poured into s clear plastic cup, next from the cooler, a plastic coke bottle is produced which has a black, somewhat viscous fluid, which we gather is very concentrated coffee. Next, hot water is placed in the mixture, stirred and a top with a straw inserted. Finally a made to measure attic bag with handles is put around the cup and ready to drink. We have to assume the plastic bag is there if it is too hot.
We arrived at the Victoria Hotel in Châ’o Dôc – another gorgeous sister hotel to the Victoria in Cân Tho’ – where we got our bag lunches and boarded a covered motor boat heading to the Viet Mam / Cambodia Border.
We were sorry to leave Viet Nam, there were so many highlights it’s difficult to to pinpoint any one. However, apart from all the amazing sights, what made it very special was the guide Lôc and all the added colour due to the pending New Year celebrations.
After a brief stop at the Viet Nam border (exit) crossing we were back on the boat for 5 minutes before getting off and through the longer Cambodia (entry) border.
Immediately we knew we were out of Viet Nam with the different writing system and more military style housing for the government officials.
So the adventure continues as we boat out way to Phnom Penh.
We were met at the dock by our new guide, transported to the hotel and free to have a drink and buffet dinner at our leisure. Tomorrow the Phenom Penh adventure begins, but definitely we are in a different country.
The Currency is the Cambodia Real which has lots of paper no coins and cannot be exchanged outside the country. The Foreign Exchange Rate is £1 – 6,170 or US&1 – 4,000.
Some basic words in Cambodian are:-
Hello – sues day
Thank you – o kun
Roger & Anne Travels 