Because its sometimes about the journey, not just the destination!
It was an early morning as we were taking the boat across the border so we would see a little bit more of how people live on the river, having skipped the Battambang boat. We boarded at a port in Phnom Penh at about 8am. The boat was quite comfortable, plenty of seats, a shaded deck out the back and sun roof on top. It was all tourists on board but we had good company with some Scottish girls, one of which was celebrating her birthday. 
The day was lovely, very relaxing. Sitting in the sun, reading our books, cruising the Mekong River. There was lots to see, fields with workers in them, small villages, boats being repaired and built, fishermen and family homes. There was a notable difference once we crossed the border. While their lifestyles are very similar, the houses in Cambodia looked more basic, using natural materials, such as palm leaves, wood and straw. Vietnam on the other hand looked a tiny bit more developed, with a lot more metal, corrugated iron and tv antenna’s. It was quite an interesting journey, 2 hours longer than the bus, but far more scenic and interesting.
The border crossing went smoothly and didn’t take too long at all. We have heard it can take a long time. The funniest part of the day was when one of the Scottish girls saw a snake on the boat. No one else saw it, apparently it went under the decks. Everyone was a bit on edge for a little while, not helped by the crew sneaking up on people and tickling peoples legs!
We were in Chau Doc by about 4pm. During the trip Tunde decided she was going to continue travelling and take a bus on to Saigon, rather than have a night stop over. It seemed a sudden decision, but we knew at some stage she would push on, as she is hoping to cram Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Lao into the next month. 
As we walked from the port into town, we were trailed by a guy on a bicycle offering us a lift. No matter how we said no, the message didn’t seem to get through. As we walked we passed a lovely riverside garden and watched as big grey clouds rolled in. We knew we were close to the street we wanted, but couldn’t find it as we were in a maze of incredible local markets. We found a café and approached hesitantly, a little old lady sitting out the front smiled and waved us in. Sitting down to reassess our location we saw we were the only tourists in the place. Our coffee was more like a small Turkish coffee than anything we have had in Asia to date. It was also accompanied by a free pot of tea. Moments after we had settled in, the storm we knew was coming hit. It was the heaviest rain we have seen so far and didn’t let up for at least an hour. It was good we had nowhere to be, we were stranded, but we were dry. We sat and watched the intersection, 15 minutes ago it was busy with bikes and pedestrians, now it was vacant except for the occasional person running down the street through the deluge (see video below). Gradually the people sitting undercover on the footpath were forced back into the café to stay dry. We were joined by an old guy, who spoke a tiny but of English. We shared our tea with him and had bit of a chat. Finally the rain eased and people moved back onto the foot path. Damien donned a poncho and headed out in search of a room. 
We had a few options, but went for a nicer one. Still only $15, we had a new and clean room, air con, balcony overlooking the main market square and breakfast in the morning. We had a look at the towns pagoda and market before finding a place for dinner with really nice hot pots, Christine had chicken and Damien fish, both delicious.
The day was lovely, very relaxing. Sitting in the sun, reading our books, cruising the Mekong River. There was lots to see, fields with workers in them, small villages, boats being repaired and built, fishermen and family homes. There was a notable difference once we crossed the border. While their lifestyles are very similar, the houses in Cambodia looked more basic, using natural materials, such as palm leaves, wood and straw. Vietnam on the other hand looked a tiny bit more developed, with a lot more metal, corrugated iron and tv antenna’s. It was quite an interesting journey, 2 hours longer than the bus, but far more scenic and interesting.
The border crossing went smoothly and didn’t take too long at all. We have heard it can take a long time. The funniest part of the day was when one of the Scottish girls saw a snake on the boat. No one else saw it, apparently it went under the decks. Everyone was a bit on edge for a little while, not helped by the crew sneaking up on people and tickling peoples legs!
We were in Chau Doc by about 4pm. During the trip Tunde decided she was going to continue travelling and take a bus on to Saigon, rather than have a night stop over. It seemed a sudden decision, but we knew at some stage she would push on, as she is hoping to cram Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and maybe Lao into the next month. As we walked from the port into town, we were trailed by a guy on a bicycle offering us a lift. No matter how we said no, the message didn’t seem to get through. As we walked we passed a lovely riverside garden and watched as big grey clouds rolled in. We knew we were close to the street we wanted, but couldn’t find it as we were in a maze of incredible local markets. We found a café and approached hesitantly, a little old lady sitting out the front smiled and waved us in. Sitting down to reassess our location we saw we were the only tourists in the place. Our coffee was more like a small Turkish coffee than anything we have had in Asia to date. It was also accompanied by a free pot of tea. Moments after we had settled in, the storm we knew was coming hit. It was the heaviest rain we have seen so far and didn’t let up for at least an hour. It was good we had nowhere to be, we were stranded, but we were dry. We sat and watched the intersection, 15 minutes ago it was busy with bikes and pedestrians, now it was vacant except for the occasional person running down the street through the deluge (see video below). Gradually the people sitting undercover on the footpath were forced back into the café to stay dry. We were joined by an old guy, who spoke a tiny but of English. We shared our tea with him and had bit of a chat. Finally the rain eased and people moved back onto the foot path. Damien donned a poncho and headed out in search of a room. We had a few options, but went for a nicer one. Still only $15, we had a new and clean room, air con, balcony overlooking the main market square and breakfast in the morning. We had a look at the towns pagoda and market before finding a place for dinner with really nice hot pots, Christine had chicken and Damien fish, both delicious.
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