Mekong Delta into Phnom Penh

Rising Sun on the Mekong River

From Vietnam there are a few options to travel to Cambodia. We were traveling from Saigon to Phnom Penh. A full day bus, 1.5 hour flight were options, but we decided to take the interesting route through the Mekong Delta and transfer into the new country by boat. It was promised to be a 2 day adventure, stopping at floating villages,  a local rice mill where they demonstrate how they make rice paper, popped rice (like a cross between pop-corn and rice crispies) coconut candies, and many other local specialties and treats; as well as a crocodile farm and a lunch stop for day one.  The second day promised another day on the boat, this being a fast boat that would get you in nice and early in the afternoon to Phnom Penh.... All for the amazing price of $25, this also included assistance at the border, and one night lodging in a double fan room! We ensured air conditioning was available since daily temperatures had been hovering in the low to mid 30's (mid80's-90's).

Rice paper drying on woven bamboo sheets

Well if  somewhere you have thought to yourself: "this is too good to be true!", you are correct. Go with that first instinct, as very little followed what was promised. A favorite saying here and in Thailand "Same-Same, but different". Our trip was same as listed, but also VERY different.
We boarded an early bus only to be shoved off shortly thereafter boarding. Not usually an issue until you are lugging around 2 heavy, awkward backpacks, and everyone else from the bus and 15 other buses are having to make the same confusing, unorganized switch to a new bus.  Happily we arrived to our new bus, stowed our bags and assumed we would use this bus to transfer to our boat somewhere outside of town. 3 long and cramped hours later, with a bus so full to the brim that the guide sat in a lawn chair and bags blocked the isles, we arrived at the boats. We happily unbounded and were told not to worry about our bags, as there were still 3 different group itineraries on the bus ( some going to Cambodia, some spending 2 nights on the Mekong, some returning to Saigon that night), we would arrange our bags after lunch.

Seeing the tissue thin rice paper being made like a crepe was interesting, but the rest of the hour was a false factory for the sake of tourists, looking to sell snacks and candies to tourists. We of course fell for the buy 5 get one free deal....

Floating Market - you can slightly see the pole off the green tarp boat with bananas

The one interesting thing we did do was boat through the floating market.This market it is not for the tourists, we are just distant observers who do not interfere with the local life in this sense. The farmers or locals live in stilted houses about 5-10 feet off the river; islands of these stilled houses dot around the Mekong. The locals of this area live part of their time on land, part time on their boats. When they have a load of fruit, vegetables, plants, or whatever else they may sell they load the product onto their boat and go to the market area. On long bamboo poles about 15 feet tall, they will tie the item they are selling to the end and fly it like a flag. This allows the other "shoppers" to know what each boat has to offer. They will then tie their boats together to trade their goods, trading in large quantities of 5-10kg per bag. It is like the Costco of the Mekong. The local farmer or family will live on the boat, not returning to their dry land home until all the goods are sold. Cooking, cleaning washing, and sleeping all done on the boat.

Dishes and laundry on the boat

Next was off to lunch. Suddenly the tour guide jumped up and had everyone come immediately together front of the boat, shortly there after we heard the scraping of the propeller catching bottom of the river. We quickly off loaded to land and found a bike rack with bikes that were so rusted I thought it may disintegrate in my hands. Although I am usually up for adventure, this little detail of biking through the rural roads was not mentioned in the tour, and with the 33 (95 F) degree heat, the boat  sounded much better. It was not a matter of the river being to shallow, but that this is the only (surprise) way to the restaurant. The 71 year old lady who was on the tour with us was less than impressed.  Happily she did quite well on the bike, and they 22 year Russian girl who stated she didn't know how to ride a bike got a motorbike ride to the restaurant. Why this was not an option for the 71 year old I am not sure!

Houses on the Mekong in Floating Market Village

After a lack luster lunch, another hot bike ride back to the boat and a boat ride back to the dock we had spent approximately 2 hours off the bus. Next we were told to load up for the 5 hour bus ride to the border town Chao Doc. Tamara and I had briefly looked at booking a bus to Chao Doc (5-6 hr bus ride) to which you can from Chao Doc switch to a fast boat and head into Phnom Penh. However we though the 2 days on a boat, no time in a bus was more our style. Instead we were tricked to 9 hours on the bus on the first day and a 2 hour boat ride.  We felt duped!

However the next day was exactly what we had expected. We loaded from the hotel onto a boat which with one tourist pit stop took us directly to Phnom Phen, with the easiest border crossing ever as the guide did everything. We were a little reluctant about the border crossing as we had heard it can be notoriously difficult, with many attempts to extort extra fees, or items to be stolen by thieves why you are distracted by the border guards. Instead our belongings stayed on the boat, and all payment and paperwork was dealt with by the guide. That in itself was worth the $25!
We happily arrived in Phnom Penh late afternoon and checked into our hotel.

Rice Barge 

Side Note: I realize there are often spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in my blog posts. I apologize. I am often typing on the ipad, and with a lack of a keyboard, and the ipad's at times more than helpful auto-correct, it can sometimes be challenging to pick up and review my errors.  I promise I have a good understanding of the English language, and did complete all of my education in regards to spelling and grammar. Thank you for understanding and stumbling through my often jumbled thoughts.