Border Adventures: Vietnam to Cambodia

Obviously our morning spent on a boat in the delta was too idyllic, because we were hit by pouring rains on our way back to town, and then had to run back to our hotel to grab our bags and meet our bus to Rach Gia. Rach Gia, apparently a smuggling stronghold, is located about 3 hours farther south and was not actually out intended destination. We'd heard that there was a new border crossing called Prek Chak that would allow us to cross directly into the southern coast of Cambodia, where our friends Pierce and Hannah were. To get to Prek Chak, we needed to get to the tiny Vietnamese town of Ha Tien, of which we could find neither hide nor hair in any guidebooks. BUT there are no buses directly to Ha Tien late in the day, so we were heading to Rach Gia in hopes of finding an onward bus. Which we did!

Once on this rattle-trap affair (not a description I give lightly), Ben took on the ticket-lady for her blatant overcharging when it came to us and, with the help of the other passengers, won! She gave us back our money, but vindictively forced us to fold ourselves as well as our packs onto a single tiny bench, despite the empty back of the bus. That was okay though. Our packs aren't too big, and after our 5:30am start to the day, we were fairly comotose anyway. We spent three hours swerving through pouring rain (much of which mysteriously poured in my closed window), and finally pulled up on the side of the road outside of Ha Tien where we were unceremoniously dumped onto the backs of two waiting motorbikes and whisked around the corner into town. After finding a spot to throw down our packs, we scarfed down some tofu and baguette sandwhiches which may not sound delicious but, being our only food in 10 hours, was the best thing I'd had in days. We also were introduced to a retired teacher/guide who we hired to take us across the border the next morning. Then we fell into bed and slept really really well.

At 8:30, feeling much better, we hopped onto the backs of our waiting motobikes and took off for the border! On the way, our guide filled me in on his life. Cambodian by birth, child of an ethnically Chinese father, he lived through the Khmer Rouge, though two of his siblings did not. He made it to Vietnam in 1979 and has largely based himself in Ha Tien since then, teaching English, French, Mandarin, and Khmer. Under the Khmer Rouge he was forced to work on border defense, escaping the worst of the regime by saying he was an uneducated Chinese worker. He's "retired" now, but still teaches evening classes and takes tourists around the countryside or across the border.

The Vietnamese side of the border was easy as could be, very sleepy. The Cambodian side of the border was also fairly sleepy, though they woke up fast when they realized they had customers. Corruption is rampant here, so to get your visa usually requires at least $5 extra to the guy writing out the visa. The guard told me that they usually only have 3-4 foreigners a day coming through at this crossing. We tried to get out of the offering, but a firm smile denied us our visas til we forked over the extra $10 at which point we were cheerfully wished good luck and sent on our way.

The hour and a half ride to Kampot, on the other side of the border, was fantastic. It is my only regret that we didn't stop to take photos. It was like riding through a National Geographic photo-spread of the Cambodian countryside. Very beautiful, though very poor... a familiar refrain in this still-recovering country. From Kampot, we caught a mini-bus to Sihanoukville where Pierce, my old site-mate, and Hannah, his girlfriend, had arrived a day earlier from Thailand. Sihanoukville is a beach-town, and after our race through Vietnam we were ready for a rest.