A little bit of Cambodia 1

In the bus, waiting impatiently to go down and see Cambodia....

Off to shop!!!!

Tuktuk ride with mom, Tito, me and Tita Bay... 

At the central Market

Excited for the accessory shopping! 

past 6:30 am at the Moc Bai/ Bavet Boarder

Here is the first part of my photos from Cambodia, one of my best travel experiences! This was not part of our original plan. We planned for Vietnam only, but later learned that it's easy to cross to Cambodia. We did a bit of rescheduling to our Vietnam activities so we can get to experience backpacking to Cambodia. It's really nice that my mom is cool enough have a roadtrip with me. Crossing boarders in Vietnam is easy. Since we were staying at Saigon, we crossed the Moc Bai/ Bavet boarder. It is fast and affordable way in getting to Cambodia. Many buses are plying the route from Saigon to Phnom Penh. It's best to book bus tickets at the travel agencies which are numerous in Saigon especially at the Backpackers Area- Pham Ngu Lao street. The roadtrip will take 6 hours to the immigration and another 2-3 hours to the city proper of Phnom Penh. 

In our case, we took the night bus going to Phnom Penh so we can arrive early in the morning and leave the same day too. It costs $21 for two way already. We left Saigon around 12 midnight and arrived at the boarder around 6 in the morning. There we had to go down for the processing of our passports. If you are from outside South East Asia, there is an additional charge for the visa application around $25 dollars if I'm not mistaken. After the processing, we headed back to the bus then had a 30 minute stop for breakfast then another 3 hour roadtrip and ferry ride to the city proper of Phnom Penh. Our ticket going back to Saigon is 2:30 pm the same day that's why we had to rush and make the most out of the short time we had. We were supposed to arrive past at 9AM but the late night bus was so slow and had many stops. We aslo had a hard time communicating with the bus driver and conductor since they can not speak  in English. It's like we were on a trip for 11 hours and not knowing where to go down, if we are near or what. All we got were stares and hand signals which don't ring a bell to us. Based on our experience, I do not suggest the late night bus and I heard that other bus companies are way faster and comfortable like the Mekong Express and Sapaco Tourist. Note that even there are many bus companies but they have schedules and can be fully booked that's why it's better to book ahead of time. 

The bus dropped all of us, including our companions in the bus who are heading to Northwest of Cambodia, Siem Reap at last station in the city, Riverside. There are some restaurants there and bus stations where you can book for a trip heading back to Saigon or to Siem Reap. Tuktuk drivers are also everywhere to guide travelers to go around the city, etc. I was amazed that one of the tuktuk drivers talked to me and can communicate in English very well. There at Riverside, we met my bestfriend's aunt and uncle who went with us around the city for shopping and eating, trying to do as much as we can there in less than 4 hours. 

There goes the first part of photos for my Cambodia trip. I hope I was able to share you some info and travel tips from Vietnam to Cambodia. :)