Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Cambodia

By Andrew -
Walking Street in Ho Chi Minh

Leaving Vietnam was bitter-sweet.  On the one hand, we loved our first experiences as a family in Southeast Asia. The food was as amazing as we hoped and part of us would miss the thumping of the club music that we could hear from our hotel room until 4:30 am each morning. 

Our last breakfast in Vietnam

The day after Christmas, we got up, got some breakfast at a nearby cafe, checked out of our hotel, and made our way to the bus station where we would board a bus headed to our next destination: Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 

Crossing the border by bus was handled in a couple of unexpected ways.  There wasn't much communication in English by the bus company, so most of the process consisted of us doing what we saw all the other passengers doing. One such case was particularly confusing to us: After traveling for a an hour or two our bus stopped and everyone got off and boarded a different bus. Our reflexes were a bit slow so we were last off the old bus and last on the new bus. Luckily we had assigned "seats." Except, they weren't seats at all.  We had booked a "sleeper bus." It would be a day trip, so I'm not sure the sleeper was necessary, but it was definitely a unique ride! 

Sleeper Bus


We weren't allowed to wear shoes on the bus, but this handy basket of flip-flops was available so you could "borrow" a pair to wear at rest stops.

The Vietnam Cambodia Border
Cambodian Countryside



When we reached the Vietnam/Cambodia border we all got off the bus and went through immigration and customs. The whole process took under and hour and it was good to stretch our legs. The entire trip was 8 hours which included additional stops for lunch and bathroom breaks.  We didn't have much "Vietnamese dong" left, so we didn't buy snacks or lunch; by the time we reached Phnom Penh, we were HUNGRY. 


Time for a little backstory: 

Ender Lecturing in 2012


Ender had also been to Phnom Penh in 2012 to lecture to a psychology class at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. During that time he met and became friends with one of the psychology undergraduates, Makara. They stayed in touch over the years and became good friends.
 

This was the very first conversation between Ender and Makara





Brothers

When we arrived in Phnom Penh, Makara was waiting for us at the bus station to meet us and give us a ride to our hotel. It was an exciting and emotional reunion for Ender and Makara.

After dropping our luggage at our new hotel, our friend took us to a seafood restaurant where Jacob was able to try lobster for the first time. It was a such a warm and welcome introduction to Cambodia at the end of a long and confusing day of international travel. 



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