The Deep Dark of Cambodia

Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

NP: Ozzy Osbourne - Killer of Giants

Mood: Perceptive

After considering sailing up the Mekong River like Captain Willard we finally opted for the bus and a short ferry crossing because it was only a fifth of the price (HCMC to Phnom Penh by bus = $10) of the boat and took less than half of the time (6 hours). We booked the trip for the first time using a travel agent just downstairs from our hotel reception in Ho Chi Minh City.

The bus came to pick us up at the hotel. Our bus company was called Kumho Samco Buslines. They seemed pretty reliable and the guy in the bus asked every passenger if we wanted them to take care of the visas at the Cambodian border for us. Their price was $25, which is $5 more than the visa itself costs... if you can get past corrupted officials for that price, that is. So we agreed, handed them our passports and dollars, and let them take care of the visas.

We crossed the Vietnam - Cambodia border via Moc Bai and Bavet.

On the border there were no hassles, apart from a lost passport of a girl from Darby, England, who was seated next to us on the back of the bus. Her passport was left (by the bus company) at the Vietnamese checkpoint, but the bus company guy went and found it for her within a few minutes. I was glad, because her English sounded lovely after listening to several broken accents at this beautiful language, though we only exchanged a few words.

Kumho Samco Buslines' service was very good. When compared with the Starmart buses we used to get from Malacca to Singapore, there was a vast difference in service. This time we could've even stayed in the bus and let the company handle all the border byrocracy, though that must be dependent on the countries and officials involved. The bus itself was worse than Starmart's luxury coach with massaging seats.

We stopped near the border at a restaurant where I didn't know how to order food. The toilets were Asian.

The road to Phnom Penh was dark. There seemed to be almost no lights in Cambodia, apart from those in private homes or stores that were still open after dark, until suddenly we hit a field that was sprinkled with strange, blue lights about a meter above the ground. It was a bizarre sight in the middle of a black landscape.

The ferry at night. Clear image.

A ferry took us across a river. Soon in the distance loomed a dimly lit set of houses that they called Phnom Penh.