Empires of the East expedition diary: Update Six

Angela and Charlotte write...
"We left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh where we stayed for a night before departing for Vietnam. The bus journey to the dock, which was supposed to take an hour instead took about three. Halfway through the journey, the bus swerved to miss a truck and hit a huge pothole sending the bus off the road. The steering cable was broken and the axle twisted so we waited in the middle of nowhere whilst a few of the locals and the bus driver tried to fix it.

We finally got to the dock two hours late and boarded the barge that would take us very slowly up the Mekong to the Cambodia/Vietnam border. After a lengthy wait at the border, we transferred to a Vietnamese boat to take us to Chau Doc in Vietnam, since Cambodian boats were not permitted to enter. The boat which took us to Chau Doc was tiny, fitting no more than two blue and white striped deckchairs side by side, but was the perfect way to travel the final distance along the Mekong through the villages and fields.

Chau Doc was merely a stop on the way to Saigon. We arrived in Saigon the following day after a six hour local bus journey, and were extremely glad to reach the guesthouse where we would be staying for almost a week. Saigon was amazing with beautiful shops, bars, restaurants, markets and cafes everywhere. The size of the city was quite a shock at first. It took a good hour to cross district one and there are 13 districts. Most of the groups visited the American War Museum (aka American War Crimes Museum); the Notre Dame; and the Cu Chi tunnels. Here we had the opportunity to climb through the pitch black for an hour on hands and knee deep under the forest where the Vietcong hid during the war. Many of us ate most meals in the local markets where they cook in front of you - our stomachs are much stronger now!

Half the group took a two day excursion to Mui Ne on the south coast of Vietnam to see the sand dunes. Trekking across the sand dunes in the midday sun was tough work, but worth the sunburn to go sand boarding on near vertical slopes which stop at a large lake. We stayed to watch one of the best sunsets over the red dunes. The remaining members of the group spent the additional days in Saigon in the water park or touring the Mekong. We regrouped for another day and wandered around the shops and sites.

Next up is our cycle trip, nine days from Saigon to Hue City, through the Central Highlands and along the beach. We’ll be in touch again when we get there!"

Click here >> for Khmer lessons and temple visits with monks
Click here >> for Visiting Sihanoukville and project work begins...
Click here >> for building work and Siem Reap
Click here >> for lessons with the monks
Click here >> for blessing ceremonies as the building work ends...
Click here >> for Phnom Penh and sailing the Mekong



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