Travelling down the Mekong
. A boat leaves daily to Vietnam from the centre of Phnom Penh. This is neither the quickest or cheapest way to Vietnam but it is certainly the most pleasant. The boat company is the Hang Chau Tourist Company. The cost of a one-way trip is $60 so it is not cheap. The trip lasts 5 hours, so take something to eat although you will be given some snacks. The boat leaves Chau Doc in Vietnam at 7am and returns to Chau Doc in the afternoon. It is supposed to leave at 12.30pm but is often late. It runs nearly every day.
Leaving Phnom Penh
While traveling down the Mekong an incredible storm hit.
The visibility was down to about 10 metres and all the crew were helping the driver see if there was any other traffic in the river.
A new bridge
A new bridge is being constructed across the Mekong in Cambodia.
This will the 6th bridge across the Mekong in the country.
The Border
There is a border crossing on the river where you got to the Cambodian check point, leave your passport there, and then travel down the river 5 minutes to the Vietnam checkpoint, where your passport is given back to you. No extra ‘fees’ were asked for.
When one gets to the border there are a huge number of boats parked in the Mekong presumably going through customs. Most of these are sand barges which are carrying sand from Cambodia to Singapore.
