Moving on out of the city ...

---

Geo: 12.4924, 106.025

Awake before the alarm goes off at 05:00 and come to slowly . Was told that breakfast didn't start till 07:00 but we have been eating before that each day so far so go down at 06:00 only to find the door still locked. Back to room to finish packing then back down to try breakfast again. The room is open but they are still setting up and there isn't much choice yet. Grab a coffee, a baguette and some marmalade and that will have to do. As we are sat eating more food arrives and a I manage to get a few bread rolls, some ham, small sausages, butter and marmalade to take with us and we can eat on the bus.
We are expecting to be picked up about 06:30 but it is just after 07:00 when the minibus arrives. Drives us about 400m up the road to the main Sorya bus station – didn't realize it was so close. First impression of the bus is that it looks old and dodgy – I know how that feels. Once we are seated, however, I have to apologise as it is quite comfortable with plenty of leg room and good aircon. We set off about 07:30 and crawl north out of the city through the morning traffic before emerging into the countryside and small villages.
There seems to be building work in progress everywhere both in the city and out in the sticks where wooden stilt houses are being replaced by block and concrete. The land plots must be strange as many of the houses are just the one room wide but are very deep running away from the road. Things are certainly similar to Thailand but at the same time there are many differences. One of the first things I have noticed is that everyone seems to be industrious and whereas when you pass a Thai town people are dawdling or sat around doing nothing everyone here appears to be working. Although there are rice fields everywhere I have seen hardly any sugar cane and no cassava at all. The road itself is excellent except where it passes through a small town where it is breaking up badly. We stop for a comfort break about 09:00.
First town of any size that we reach is Kompong Cham which has a large population of Cham muslims, hence the name. We leave town crossing a large bridge over the Mekong and pass an old French lighthouse on the far bank. We also see our first 'rotie ses' horse cart here.
Leaving Kompong Cham I soon realize that our bus is taking the long route to Kratie passing quite close to the Vietnamese border en-route. This area looks a lot like Khmanadie with cassava fields and rubber trees. The rubber plantations are enormous though stretching for mile after mile besides the road. I also spot a large number of pepper farms that I didn't know could be found in this part of the country. As well as large farms seemingly owned by Sela Pepper Co Ltd it looks like people own small plots of their own as well as you can see the peppercorns lying in front of peoples' houses drying in the sun.
Another toilet stop at Snuol about 13:00 and we are on the home stretch. We pull into riverside Kratie about 14:00 and take a remork 400m to the Mekong Dolphin Hotel which is to be our home for the next two nights. Reception is confused as they think I have made two separate bookings. This isn't a problem unless they try to bill me for both of them !! Our room is on the 4th floor but luckily they have a lift. We have a lovely room that is pretty big and with some nice furniture. Just outside the door is a balcony with views over the Mekong disappearing into the distance.
We settle in with a coffee and croissant whilst we wait for the afternoon to die off a little.
About 16:00 we walk along the riverside promenade into town and it all looks very pleasant. We stop off at the Sorya bus office and buy tickets for our return trip to Phnom Penh on Saturday. Instead of being rushed in the morning and possibly missing breakfast again I book us on the later, 09:30, departure. Strangely the return ticket was $2 cheaper ?
We wander around town a bit and have a look at the evening market. Stop for a beer at Takeo Restaurant opposite the market and decide that we might just as well eat here as well. Over the next hour I think we saw every foreigner that was on our bus today either passing by or most stopping to eat at the same place as us; perhaps I should have asked for a commission ?
Lots of the locals are wearing what must be traditional, if modern, dress but to me their suits look just like pyjamas and it is most amusing. There are also quite a few people either walking around the market or riding motorbikes whilst still attached to a hospital drip in their wrists ?
We decide to walk back to the hotel besides the Mekong watching as the sun slowly sets on the opposite bank.
It is only a small town but looks quite pleasant for a brief stopover but I wouldn't want to be here for too long I don't think. We are only here to see some dolphins so fingers crossed for tomorrow morning !

---