It's December 19 in Southeast Asia, still Dec. 18 in North America. The first day of Christmas holidays and we are off! We are on our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After a lot of research, I booked tickets on the Giant Ibis bus from HCMC to PP.
Our departure was pretty typical...a few last minute things. ..no one really had breakfast. ..but it was ok, because we had a lot of snacks packed. We went from thinking about taking the bus downtown, to planning on taking an Uber, to just hopping into the first taxi we saw, hoping to get to the bus on time. ... We made it with time to spare.
The bus was great. The staff spoke English, departure was ON time, we were provided with water and a snack, the seats reclined a bit so napping was possible, there was wifi and outlets to charge our gadgets. ..pretty high tech. We even ran into some fellow teachers on the bus! One thing to mention though is that it was very cold on the bus. If you are ever travelling this route. ..pack a sweater. ..and maybe some pants...we're not acclimated to temps on the low 20's.
Feeling kinda like a school trip???? Mr. Ben (David's teacher) and Mr. Jon were travelling on the same bus to Phnom Penh. We will stay in Cambodia for the week and they are continuing north to Laos.
Arriving at the border.
The bus staff took our passports and took care of the visa for us...it was great having the guidance and assistance.
Cambodian countryside.
Crossing the Mekong River
We got stuck in some traffic as we were arriving in Phnom Penh...extended our bus ride by a good chunk. Lots of construction going on. We finally arrived. ..two hours behind schedule it ended up being an 8 hour bus ride (no fault of the bus company. ..they were wonderful. ..but traffic in HCMC !!! , a busy border and traffic in PP set us back).
We said good bye to Mr. Ben and Mr. Jon and the kids and Stepan got to experience their first tuktuk ride on our way to the hotel.
We were tired and hungry. .so going out for dinner is first on our to do list...bon apetit!
We checked out the night market.
David bought a Cartier watch ;-) and Veronika a new backpack.
Too bad we had already eaten. Squid, yum!
Always room for dessert. Coconut ice cream served in a real coconut with fresh coconut meat and nuts.
The food court at the night market.
The kids loved watching the sugar cane being pressed. We are planning to try this drink tomorrow. It was a great end to a long day...tomorrow we go sight seeing.
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