I made it to Vietnam today from Phnom Pehn. It is fairly easy to take a bus from Phnom Pehn to HCMC (Saigon), but my goal is the island of Phuo Quoc – south of Vietnam, so I bought a ticket to Chuo Doc just on the Vietnamese border.

After a minibus ride, we got a small boat which took us to the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. It was funny getting out of the boat in the middle of nowhere to get stamped out of Cambodia, back into the boat and after a short trip we were at Vietnam’s immigration to get stamped in.

We changed boats at the border and took a scenic route through one of the Mekong River’s tributaries. Everyone waved to as went by, and everyone on our boat waved back. It was a nice way to see the countryside and was easy to tell you were in Vietnam by the different style of boats and people wearing the ubiquitous Vietnamese cone shaped straw hats.

This is my second time in Vietnam. The first trip was over ten years ago where I only spent 10 days in the country. I have always loved Vietnamese food and have good memories of that first trip.

I was drinking a beer in a restaurant on the street this evening, thinking that there seems a little more order in chaos after Cambodia, when a fight broke between a cyclo and motor-cycle driver. It wasn’t too serious, just a couple of punches, an elbow and a kick but they eventually sorted the problem out.

After a month of seeing things and thinking “only in Cambodia” I am wondering now what Vietnam has to offer.