Vern: Leaving Cambodia and crossing into Vietnam was a lot simpler and less corrupt than entering Cambodia. The only fake tax was on the Vietnamese side. A 'health official' wanted a dollar for filing a form on which we declared that we didn't have any contagious diseases. Andrea challenged him on the arbitrary fee, to which offered that if we could produce an International Inoculation Certificate we wouldn't have to pay. Unfortunately for the official we have th...

Christmas Morning - 12:09am: Santa: "Ho ho ho.. Merry Christmas!" Vern: "Hey Santa, you found us in Phnom Penh huh?!" Santa: "I sure did. Now let's see here... hmmm.. says here you two haven't been very good this year?" Vern: "Really? I mean we're rather nice people." Santa: "Yeah well, it says you've been galavanting around the world... on a really long holiday. Contributing nothing to society." Vern: "Uh.. hmmm... well what about our blog, that's a contri...

Andrea: Another day, another bus ride, but this one was different! This was the first bus in Asia where they actually used the large TV screen in the front and, boy, was it exciting! The movie was 'Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus' and it was glorious. It was dubbed terribly with tinny Cambodian voices with English subtitles, and Vern figured the special effects were done on a high schooler's home PC while he worked after school as an intern for the film. It was accurat...

Vern: When Samly's 'local taxi' (a truck loaded with a dozen villagers and us) pulled in to Pakse bus station we were relieved that the rough part of the journey was over. Or so we thought. A large 'sawngathew' headed where we were was rearing to go and we were ushered on. Our chosen method of transport was a bright blue truck with three wooden benches in the back, perpendicular to the cab. The two on the sides had backrests (luckily we both got a spot on these)...

Vern: With a little help from a cup of coffee, we were up early again and zipping toward the bus station in a moto-taxi: a small chariot bolted to the side of a motorbike. It's a better ride than in the back of a tuk-tuk because you're up front with all the action, but I imagine that one wouldn't fare as well in an accident. The bus station was uneven, unpaved and full of litter. As so often happens, we got there and a three-quarter full bus was idling and ready ...