Around 1pm today, we boarded the Sapaco Tourist bus bound for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from Phnom Penh City, Cambodia. Though the group is fewer now, -- Rico has gone back to Manila while we were still in Siem Reap; Manang took a flight back to Singapore yesterday so she can return to work in time for Monday; Nova and Ellen will take the flight back to Bangkok later that day, then take another flight back to Manila tomorrow -- this did not dampen our usual high (and wanderlustic) spirits. But the long route ahead made us all fell asleep.
Around past 4, our bus suddenly slowed down causing each one of us to wake up. There seemed to be a commotion outside. But really, there was none. The bus merely slowed down as it queued in line for vehicles boarding a barge, and there we're a lot of vendors outside selling to all the vehicles that are about to cross the Mekong River. Yup, we're crossing the Mekong River again, but this time, there's no bridge. Thinking that this scenario is similar to the Philippines' roll on - roll off (roro) system, we slowly fixed our things and readied ourselved to go down. Ay, hindi pala! The bus went straight to the barge, and before we knew it, we were already at the other side of the river.
Okay, back to sleep. By 5pm, the bus had a quick stop-over so the passengers may be able to eat an early dinner at this not-at-all fancy restaurant. Our group went straight at the back, to where the comfort rooms are. Passing through the kitchen and the preparation area, and seeing all the food laid down in the open and how they are being cooked, you'd definitely lose whatever appetite you have. So, instead of buying noodles, rice or any other meal, we decided to buy the ever-reliable (and clean?) Pringles on display.
Oh, and the comfort rooms... There were a lot of comfort rooms alright. But once you're inside the "cubicle", you'd ask the question: "So, where do I pee?" Hehehe!
After several minutes, we were all back inside the bus, not knowing that we were just 5 to 10 minutes away from the biggest and most posh hotels and casinos in Cambodia! (Sana, dito na lang kami nag-stop-over.) The hotels and casinos are situated near the Cambodia-Vietnam border. Looking out through our windows, it doesn't seem like we're in Cambodia at all! There had been a complete landscape overhaul!
At the border, we were all asked to go down so an immigration officer can check each one of us and our passports. We didn't have any travel documents with us, except the immigration cards, which the bus company have already taken cared of. Philippine passport holders are also not required to secure a Vietnam visa before entering the country.
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As soon as each of the bus passengers have been accounted for, we were asked to go back inside the bus. A few meters later, the bus stopped in front of the immigration building. Again, we were all asked to go down, this time, with all our belongings. It was a tedious process going down and back to the bus for several times, but since everybody and everything needs to pass by the immigration, we hurried to bring down our things so we can queue in line ahead of the rest. But since the bus company handled all our travel requirements, the queue was worthless. The immigration officers called out the names of the passengers one by one, at no particular order. Once our names we're called, we collected our passports, then gave the immigration cards to another officer in another booth, and then we were sent out of the building back to our bus. And no one even bothered to check our luggages!
At last, we were in Vietnam... And we still have more than an hour of travel time to get to Ho Chi Minh City.
It was almost 7pm then when we arrived in the Pham Ngu Lao area. The bus let us off a block away from where we were staying. Since it was just a block away, we decided to walk towards De Tham Street with all our strollers, backpacks and other bags. If we were just carrying backpacks, that would have been a pretty site... And you could just simply call us backpackers. But we're not. We had strollers of all shapes, sizes and colors strutting down Pham Ngu Lao Street.
Hoang Linh Hotel at De Tham Street is indeed a mere walking distance from where our bus let us off... But since we had tons of bags with us, it seemed like a kilometer away. Our hotel is situated, as usual, in the backpackers' area in the city. There are a lot of hotels to choose from. We chose Hoang Linh Hotel as it is the only one who replied to our e-mail queries and allowed us to reserve for rooms online without any deposit.
Hoang Linh Hotel is quite nice. For one, it has an elevator that stops at every floor (so we didn't have to carry all our bags to the top floor!); the rooms are pretty big (and the bigger ones for a larger group has tubs in their bathrooms!), all with air-conditioning units, refrigerators and TV sets (with cable!).
As soon as we settled in our respective rooms, we all went out to a nearby fast food joint, Lotteria. We'll check out the other restaurants with Vietnamese cuisine tomorrow. For now, we're all hungry... and a fast food is definitely the answer to our growling stomachs.
For more of our Vietnam photos, check out our Multiply site: 2008 - Vietnam (Ooops! You have to be our contact first to view our photos...)
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