(written 13/08/09, posted 01/10/09)L and I go to the Cu Chi tunnels to where we get a different perspective on the war as this is where the Viet Cong used to hide from American troops. We have an Vietnamese man who worked for the South and was used by the Americans as an Interpreter. Hearing his take on things gives both of us another angel to consider. With hindsight I would have liked to travel south to north through Vietnam as I would have understood Vietnam a lot better had I learnt more about the history first. I'm not sure how many backpackers bother to learn about where they are. I certainly would got 'could have tried harder' on my traveller's report card.
The rest of the day is packing and doing a few last minute things before an early start for the bus the next day. We wake and are all prepared. It's a confusion getting breakfast in time for the bus then we're told the bus doesn't go from the travel agent's but someone will come to pick us up. The driver then doesn't know where to drop the 5 of us off. We've been joined by 3 Canadians.
We eventually jump out and the bus turns up. The bus is lovely, spacious leather reclining seats and bags of room. I'm not going to mind being on this bus all day.
At the border it's time to worry about my out if date visa. The bus guide has a word with the passport official who gives me dirty looks as he's waving the others through slowly. I'm made to wait at the other side of the counter. My guide asks me how much I've got left and I explain it's not much. He acts as a go between and eventually I'm quoted a $11 fine which I'm ecstatic with. I try to look apologetic but firm as I pay my fine and quickly get through the border controls and jump on the waiting bus.
Border officialdom dealt with we have another few hours on the bus until Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. L and I spend most of the journey reading, snoozing and iPodding in the luxury of our seats. I can't help but notice the cows are really thin here. But conversely the land is lush and the mostly agricultural landscape rushes past the window outside. It's apparent that poverty is rife here as we get on a ferry to cross to Phnom Penh. The other trucks are squished full of live stock and L feels sick at the sight of a decidedly non-vegetarian truck of half-dead ducks just outside our window.
At Phnom Penh, we wave the others off whilst we wait for our next bus to Siem Reap which is another 6 hours. I had no desire to stay in Phnom Penh as no-one I'd met in Vietnam had a nice word to say about it and after what seems like more cities I want quiet again. L is coming back here to fly to KL whilst I go onto Thailand in a few days. L goes off to try and by some lunch and the nearest place that sold veggie stuff was a petrol station. We end up with crisps, biscuits and yoghurts.
On the Siem Reap bus we get stuck in. There's hardly anyone on the bus and we're the only Westerners. I feel like a fat, obese, stereotypical Westerner gorging away on saturated fats and expensive processed products. After the carbo-loading its another sleep and we arrive in Siem Reap to the shouts of touts. Being the only Westerners we're instantly surrounded by offers of tuk tuks and hostels.
We never made a decision on the bus where to stay so amidst the chaos L picks out a driver and we ask him to drive us to 'pub street' where we decide to get a drink and sort ourselves out. On the way though we make a snap decision and head for a hostel. Turns out our driver doesn't get commission from this hostel. That's how everything works here. We give him money to cover his petrol as he was only charging us one dollar and he leaves. We book a tuk tuk for temples tomorrow and it's dinner then bed. I get the feeling Cambodia is going to be more challenging. It feels like Vietnam was a holiday due to the places I went and this is back to real travelling now.
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