Chau Doc to Phnom Penh - into Cambodia

Saturday 13th March

Up early to catch small riverboat to Cham minority floating village, but we only had time to feed tilapia at a floating fish farm before the fast boat arrived.
This was a dilapidated but powerful fibreglass elongated cabin cruiser with comfortable coach seats, open at the front and back, which roared along at about 40mph over the almost mirror smooth surface of the river.

As we went further upstream, the river widened until it must have been a mile across.

We stopped at the Vietnamese customs point to pay $23 uS each for a Cambodian visa and waited for what seemed to take an hour for our papers to be stamped.

Then 500m or so later we had to stop again, this time at the Cambodian customs point to get our passports stamped. Again the process took the best part of an hour.

Finally the captain replaced the Vietnamese flag with a cambodian one and we were roaring off again.

We reached Phnom Penh about one o'clock after a noisy but comfortably smooth journey. Apart from a few fishing boats, there was little river traffic.

Disembarking, we were beset by tuk tuk drivers who insisted the hotel was 2km away and that we couldn't possibly walk to it. After a lot of argument and despite their most cogent persuasions, we stuck to our guns and put our best foot forward. Surprisingly, ( but to our relief as it was very hot) the hotel appeared after only a 400m walk down the road.

The afternoon was spent in the relative cool and calm of the National Museum, mostly marvelling at the statuary which the French had removed from Angkor.
In the evening, we walked to the lively night market where Cambodian teenagers seemed to be having a great time.

This city is the nicest capital we have visited so far, as laid back as Ventiane, but with wider streets and far less traffic.

Then back down the riverfront by the spectacularly illuminated royal palace to a nearby restaurant where I ate the best meal of the holiday thus far, fish steamed with herbs in a banana leaf parcel.