Day 55 21 jan
We depart Ho Chi Minh City today on coach... It's the type of coach that used to noisily thunder past us all the time when we were on the bike and it's not long that the comfy seat has lost its appeal and we both wish we were still on the bike....
Once we get out of Ho Chi Minh City and free from the heavy city traffic it becomes easy to cover ground quickly and it's not long before we are standing at the Vietnam and Cambodian boarder.... This involves us all getting off the coach and having to pass through the most pointless passport control in history...getting back on the coach... Moving forward 200 meters and passing through another pointless boarder... We rarely see our passports throughout the whole process so how they know who's who is anyone's guess...I'm sure it's only there so they can sell you a visa, and create unnecessary jobs for people who are clearly board out of there mind...... Once back on the coach and making progress it becomes clear that the landscape is different in Cambodia.... There are many more older trees that grow wild in the distance.... This is quite a contrast to Vietnam, and I guess is evident of the amount of damage done to the foliage thought the war..... although Cambodia didn't avoid the war completely and we still relatively close to the boarder with Vietnam, the difference is clearly noticeable.....
From our coach window viewpoint it also appears that Cambodia is more wealthy.... People here seem to take more pride in there home and it seems there's a little less rubbish littering the place.... It's still very very poor in places with people living in derelict wooden sheds with rusty corrugated iron roofs, but there's also larger amount of "bricks and mortar" housing too....
It's a 6 hr journey in total and we are glad to arrive in Phnom Penh except there one little issue... We don't have any US Dollars or Cambodian cash so once off the coach we walk off in search of a cash machine.... We then can get a Tuk Tuk to our hotel...
The hotels on the far side of town from the coach station so we get a free sight seeing your across town on our way...
The hotels really nice. We booked this one whilst back in the UK and it was money well spent..... Its a very crisp modern looking hotel with lots of large open areas inside that's filled with expensive looking art and furniture. There is a large open staircase from the ground floor reception area that gives access to the rooms on the floors above... As you reach the first floor the hotel widens as it goes over the top of an adjoining building... We are in the top floor which is always good... There usually the quietest so you don't mind the steps.... The rooms huge and very well furnished and there's a bath with ceiling shower... The beds huge and the TV has English channels... It's all very nice.
We sort our bags out and head off out... We walk around a few local streets and find a Bar & Grill restaurant which we enter for some dinner.... The place is full of pretty young Cambodian waitresses and over weight white guys in the later years and it leaves us unsure exactly what's on the menu here.....
We order what our meals and enjoy a few drinks whilst observing pretty much everyone in the place... A guy walks over and introduces himself.... It's the owner, who informs us that they've only been open 6 weeks and if there's anything he can do, then to just ask.....
The food is really good.... We'll be back I think.... There's loads in the menu that looks good and it's just around the corner from our hotel.
In our way back to our room we pass a tour operators open door and walk in.... We book our "minivan" service to Siem reap which we'll need in a few days time.... The girl behind the counter has her hands full.... She's a mother, a receptionist and a tour guild operator, and has to perform all duties all at once.....
We leave her in piece and retire for the night.