Border Crossing

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Left Phu Quoc on early plane bound for Rach Gia. Grabbed a taxi (so new it still smelt of plastic) and off we went to Ha Tien. 100km and 2 hours later we arrive.
Not much English is spoken in Vietnam in general but in Ha Tien no-one speaks any!!!!!! Luckily in first hotel we tried to get a room at, after some funny/exhasperating attempts at conversation a Vietnamese woman on holiday from Sydney interrupted her lunch to come to our aid. So we got accommodation. Next to try and see some sights - 3 motos, no English but we did manage to go to the Cave Pagoda and also the local beach. Supposed to be lovely but is black sand and stones, not very appealing but the most beautiful countryside to get there. (And the rice drying on the roadside beats the prawns for odour).

Afternoon walk to see the floating bridge - except its fallen down (sunk). 2 guys started talking to us (in English, great surprise). They wanted to take us to border next day but would not go early and kept going on about the police. Seemed not quite right somehow.

Walk around town after sunset to find tea - equally interesting, especially as after we started to eat the restaurant filled up and a guy started singing very loud and offkey - music celebrating someone's 50th. Definitely time to leave. (Thought Kareoke was bad in Oz but much worse in Vietnamese).

In the morning breakfast was interesting. Everything done by gestures and pointing but somehow it did not quite work and they tried to give Chris (vegetarian) steak. Still baguettes are OK.

Another round of fun to get moto to take us to border (8km), and even more there with the usual hassle from others to take us to Kep.

Border guys really nice, apparently we should have had some medical certificate but he let us off. Cambodians just so nice (and they speak some Engish).

Had a real tussle with moto driver who started at $13 (US) and ended at 6 (border guards told us it should be 40,000VND which is about 2.80 aus.

Very long bumpy ride, first section of road real bad (like our worst outback roads). Whole trip 50K, all finding it hard to walk at end. Still countryside was stunning, very different to Vietnam, much more rural with nicer buildings and smiling people.

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