Crossing To Cambodia

The bus trip to Phnom Penh takes longer than expected. We get held up on the Vietnamese side of the border navigating the archaic exit system of the country. Passports are all collected and added to an ever growing pile in front of the border officials as the bus loads of people continue to roll in. Everyone is all smushed together in a holding pen waiting for someone (usually with a very thick Vietnamese accent) to call out your name. Once hearing your name, you try to push your way through to the front to escape - and then promptly wait in another line for another official to again check your passport before actually leaving the building.

After that experience, we are braced for the worst on the Cambodian side. A needless worry it seems as Cambodia is highly organized. There are actual lines that you queue in! Tidy, smily border officials! Fingerprint scanning devices! With a stamp and a smile, we enter into the Kingdom of Cambodia.

No time to stop now though - we have places to go! Back on the bus we are herded to make the 2-3 hour drive on to Phnom Penh - the capital city of Cambodia. The scenery outside the window changes dramatically from Vietnam's lush greenery. Flat yellow farm land is all that greets the eye. Now and then a very ornate temple appears in one's line of vision. Despite the somewhat barren appearance the country first makes, there is something remarkably captivating about the landscape.

On the short ferry ride across the river and into Phnom Penh we get a look at a very different socio-economic population compared to Vietnam.










We arrive in Phnom Penh just after 4 pm and check into our surprisingly deluxe digs. The Cardamom Hotel feels like a super swish non-mould smelling slice of heaven. We make a quick bag drop and then head on out for a cyclo tour of the city.

The city is nestled at the convergence of three rivers: the Mekong, the Bassac, and the Tonle Sap. We first head towards the Independence Monument - a towering tribute to the long fought struggle of the Cambodians. While snapping our photos our group somehow gets flagged to get filmed and photographed for the upcoming edition of the "Kingdom of Cambodia" advertising campaign. Around the Independence roundabout, we circle in our cyclo's, waving and grinning like the whitey tourists we are! It's actually terrific fun!
















Through rush hour traffic we weave towards another of the city's notable landmarks - Wat Phnom - the oldest of Phnom Penh's temples. Just past here, we are dropped off to wander along the riverside boardwalks. We watch the locals on their evening routine - the men fishing along the river, the children hawking fresh raw peanuts, and the woman participating in one of the several large outdoor exercise classes.











The setting suns rims the few lingering clouds in pinks, purples and oranges making for a perfect backdrop to the spires of the temples.





We dine on the street at the "Nice Nice restaurant" (seriously, that is what it is called!). It is indeed "Nice, Nice". For $3.50 we have heaps of BBQ, fresh veg, rice and two beer towers. And before you say "Don't get crazy", we have to say that we didn't polish those beer towers off all by ourselves!