We stopped for two nights in Phnom Penh, and decided to stay in the Psar Thmey area since we had found out that Sorya buses both arrived from Sihanoukville and left to Laos from the same place. And Sorya buses, we had found out, were, if not new, nearly always outfited with working air-conditioning! So we had one evening and a full day in Phnom Penh at our leisure before leaving the country. This time however, we were far from the idyllic civilisation of the riverside. Our hotel, for one, rented out rooms by the hour. And the streets around, though lined with budget guesthouses and tons of restaurants and cafes, seem to cater to a vast majority of single (often older) male travellers, who were obviously there to also enjoy the rest of the establishments, ... read more

The next day, determined to see more of Siem Reap than just the town and the temples, I rented a bicycle, left poor Øyvind at the hotel with a cold, and cycled through the countryside on the way to the Tonlé Sap Lake. It took only 10 minutes to get to where the road was narrow and lined by only sporadic thatched bungalows on either side. This was a bit of an odd route, since many tours go to the Tonlé Sap, as well as tourist-ladden tuk-tuks, so I was essentially working rather hard to get somewhere not in the least remote. But what was lovely was that I could stop anywhere I wanted to admire the scenery and take photos. It was a lovely trip, the rice paddies were neon green, with grazing water buffaloes ... read more

Our first day in Siem Reap was a lazy one, and we used it to acquaint ourselves with this new country (we know, of course, that a town visited by millions of tourists who come to see the temples each year, and that boasts an entire neighborhood of pubs and restaurants that would not look out of place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras is not a true representation of any country). Though there are some things worth remarking. Crossing the border reveals the novelty of tuk-tuks, essentially a small moped towing a seating carriage, varying in size from 4-seaters to what seems like infinite seating if one is to judge by the amount of people travelling in them at times. Levels of ornate decoration, and even corporate sponsorship, vary also. Their drivers hang on every ... read more

Since we had the time, we decided to take the scenic route from Vinh Long to My Tho, and soak up our last day of driving on small roads, and off the beaten track. We took the ferry to Cho Lach, drove around Ben Tre Island, through mango groves and jakfruit plantations, by fishing villages and endless markets. We soaked up the coffee as well, and even stopped to take photos of precarious, overpacked motorbikes on their way to market. Arriving in Tan An that evening, we could feel the proximity of HCMC, the modernity and the traffic, and felt so lucky to have been able to experience the true face of the country in such a close and intimate way. The next day we drove into HCMC, and all the pictures of maps we had ... read more

We got up at 4:30 to get some beakfast before our boat picked us up. And then we finally saw how early we had to get up in order to go running with the locals in the morning. The fish market was in full swing, but eating fish soup while practically bathing in eels and snakes was a bit much for us before dawn. We got coffee, and found some sandwiches along the road, and met our guide, Truc. We had found him the day before by following our trusted rules: always check out our options (especially if a local says it's "complicated for us"), always pick people based on gut feeling (mostly Sadie's, Øyvind will give anyone a chance...) and avoid peole who nag and are aggressive. Our trip with Truc was amazing. He took ... read more