We made the long journey from Phnom Penh down to Kep as a stop over before heading to Phu Quoc island. We arrived absolutely exhausted but so relieved to be out of the tiny minibus packed full of backpackers and strange smells.
The next morning we cheerfully awaiting our bus which took us to the Cambodian/Vietnamese border. Along the way we got into an awkward scuffle with a German couple who claimed we'd taken their seats. After pretending we couldn't understand their near-perfect English and then denying that we moved their stuff (which they saw us do) we finally prevailed and sent them on their way. They were not happy but Luke and I grinned at each other nevertheless. We eventually arrived at the border and made a number of important discoveries:
1. Vietnamese visas take 24 hours to process and have to be obtained prior to arriving at the border
2. We didn't know that
3. Everyone else on the bus did know that
4. The German couple were extremely smug about all of these facts
As we watched our bus sail across the into Vietnam carrying two less passengers, we settled into our plastic chairs in the middle of a dirt road to begin our 3 hour wait in no mans land. What a pair of absolute goons. After a delightful day of loitering we were finally picked up by the returning bus who took us back to the same spot we had been dropped off a day earlier. Bloody 'ell. As frustrating as this was, we actually had a great rest of evening watching the sunset and exploring the crab market of Kep even though Luke insisted on us eating pizza rather than crab.
Today felt like groundhog day but I am pleased to say we finally made it to Phu Quoc, Vietnam.