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Published: January 25th 2007
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Our VIP Bus
Our shitty bus for the 8 hr ride Hey again. It's been awhile since our last post and we've done a bit so thought I'd drop u a line. We left Bangkok on a nice AC bus to Siem Reap, (Angkor Wat) Cambodia. We left at 7am and the ride to the Thai border was uneventful. Crossing the border into Cambodia was different than I expected. I didn't expect it to be such a contrast to Thailand. Instead of green grass, brown/red dirt. Dirt roads, dust, cows and horses pulling carts. It was like stepping back 50 years. So after crossing through immigration,we got on an older bus to go 5 minutes before we transferred to an even older,smaller bus with no air con. A guy would open the door when no cars were passing and the dust was down for cool air to run through. 22 people then proceeded to jam into this bus and get comfortable for the 150 km journey to Siem Reap. Can anyone take a guess as to how long a 150km bus ride should take? 2, 3 hours...try 7 hours. It was a long, gruelling bumpy ride that was only made enjoyable by the fact that I was in constant amazement that people
actually travel on this road. I can't begin to explain how shitty this road was. Some travellers said that Bangkok Air pays Cambodian gov't to not fix the road so people will fly instead. It was so dusty and we were all covered in red dust by the end. There was nothing to keep the dust down. The scenery kinda looked a little like southern Saskatchewan and the roads were just as bad. We finally made it to Siem Reap at 9pm and found a nice little 5$ room and set out the next day for Angkor Wat.
We bought a 3 day pass for 40$ each and marvelled in its beauty. It is truly an amzing place. The size alone will awe you. We spent hours in each area exploring and still didn't see all that there was. But the detail put into making these temples is inspiring. Whole walls 80 meters long have been carved into beautiful murals and statues and faces chiseled into the rocks. It is hard to imagine these temples were built in the th century. So we spent 3 days taking countless photos and video so we will have lots to show when
I have time to post pics. Our favorite place in Angkor was Bayon. Truly breathtaking and if you want to know more about it, you can look it up. hahha
Our visas for Vietnam were to start on Jan 10th so we hopped a 10 hour bus for Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) on the 10th from Siem Reap. thankfully, the road to Saigon via Phnom Penh is paved and not as bumpy. We arrieved in HoChi Minh and found a cozy 8$ room and explored the city. We walked around and did all the usual tourist sites...war museum, Ben Than Market, Notre Dame Cathedral, etc... The traffic in Ho Chi Minh is ridiculous. You would laugh if you saw it and think how could you drive in this. 90% of the vehicles are motorcycles and there are no rules. Smaller gives way to bigger vehicles and you see this as buses and cars make left turns by just turning into oncoming traffic. The bikes have to avoid hitting the bus. The same goes for crossing the streets. There aren't alot of traffic lights and walk lights...So to cross the road you have to just step out and cross. Keep
a steady pace and don't stop. It's like parting the sea when you cross. Bikes drive all around you while you cross and you understand that it is organised chaos in a way. Hye Young would close her eyes and hold my hand as we crossed. It took her while to get used to it.
We decided it was time to head North so we purchased bus tickets to go to Mui Ne, a small fishing village with 11km long beach. But after we did so, we discovered a great cafe, called Bobby Brewers, that showed movies. We like movies so we stayed an extra day and watched movies. It really is a cool place. The third floor is like a mini theatre and the food was great. Well worth it. Finally we made it to Mui Ne, where we decided to lap in the luxury and stay at a nice resort. Honeymoon time. It was great. Nice big room, great service and a nice swimming pool where we spent most of our time playing. The resort was right on the beach and we could see the people kiteboarding and windsurfing from our pool. We rented a motorbike and
did some sightseeing. The red sand dunes, fairy stream and red canyon. At the red sandunes. we had a 5 yr old boy tell us to f*%k off because I wouldn't give him any money when he stole my shoes and said that he carried them for me. That was nice. Or when the kids try to charge you for watching your bike. Sometimes these kids are too much and you want to toss them down the sanddunes. Oh well... So after a brief stop at Nha Trang, where the waves were 7ft and crashing on me, spinning me and giving me a brief scare when I couldn't get up.... we took a night train (comfortable but cockroaches in our cabin) to Danang then bus to Hoi An. Hoi An is a quiet and quaint old city. The city is famous for its silk and tailoring. Maybe I'll get a suit made here. The streets are narrow and the buildings are Chinese style. It is soothing at night here. You can almost see what this place was like 50 years ago. It's nice to just walk around here. Next stop is Hue and then Hanoi.. til then
Take care
everyone,
and chris and april... have a safe trip and hopefully we talk to u before you leave
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Jody
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Hey guys....sounds like you're having an amazing trip. Keep us posted....look forward to seeing more pics!! Take care!