Can I make it to Vietnam this time???

22/4 - Off to Vietnam. I have enjoyed Cambodia, but am ready to leave. The sights are mostly temples, or perhaps I haven't seen the right places. The best part about Cambodia has been the people. I have had a great time talking to and meeting them. Even the scammers are generally light-hearted. It is a shame the people are being conned and dumped upon by their government. The country looks to be developing fast, so perhaps the people will get a better deal, but I have a feeling it will only mean the rich will get richer and the cities become a pain to visit. I hope I am wrong.
Off to get the AC bus for 50Km on the VN57 highway and then a slow boat to Vietnam. There could be a song title in there. The bus is a mini bus and the AC is the windows being open, the unit was duff. We drove across Phnom Phen, about 3 miles, then stopped at the hotel that owns the minibus, just long enough for anyone to have breakfast. These people aren't daft. At least the minibus isn't packed, once we set off again. UNTIL we stopped to pick up 3 monks and the driver touted for 3 more people as we passed a market on the town outskirts. Now the bus is full. We arrived at the boatyard and the minibus hightailed it. We sat long enough for everyone to have lunch. That is everyone in Cambodia. I think they were repairing a leak and a load of bikes had to be put on. Eventually we were summoned down the backyard to the boat, over some very dodgy boards crossing the water to the boat, but I made it, carrying all my gear too. More luck than judgement, with no rail to hang onto.
The boat is pretty keen. An old thing that gets coaxed along. Does it remind you of anyone?
My fellow passengers on this luxury wooden thing are 2 Yanks, an Israeli, a Dutchman and a Vietnamese lady. I think she is smuggling Westerners in for the Vietnamese slave trade. I could become a forced gigalo with any luck. Pascal, the Dutch lad had jumped onto the boat roof, so I did the same, with more of a clamber than a jump. We sat there frazzling, sailing down the middle of the huge Mekong river. I feel great, like a real adventurer. This is some river. Pascal saw what may have been a dolphin jump too.
We pulled over to offload the bikes. We're still in Cambodia, so they weren't smuggled. Not so adventurous. After about 3 hours, we pulled over and clambered up a hill to the Cambodian customs. Pascal had overstayed his visa by 3 days. He thought it was $5 a day and it was, but only for day 1, then it went up each day. $30 he paid and was not impressed. He is on a tight budget as he is away for 2 or 3 years. He camps out when possible, avoiding the minefields. He is headed north through Vietnam for Mongolia. Another place I"ll have to add to my list. We clambered back down to the boat, moved along a short way and off to Vietnamese customs. This time taking our luggage with us and there are no handrails and no planks, just steep riverbank. Mark, one of the American lads took my small bag and a small Vietnamese bloke and even smaller lass kept grabbing me as I shinned, wiggled and heaved my way up the bank. With great success I might add. Mark gave me a big cheer as I reached the top. He has a flat spot on his head, a big flat spot. He had cancer and had a brain operation. Every time the piece of skull was put back, it became infected, so they left it off in the finish. He is the most boisterous on the boat by far.
We went through Vietnamese customs, including our bags being scanned, then off to another restaurant just long enough for everyone to have some food, while our passports are being processed. These people arent daft either.
AND I'm in Vietnam. YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
The young lass who helped drag me up the bank, gave me 2000 Dong, 6p, to get me through customs, as I only had $20 bills, which caused some consternation. Well, it would if I could spell it. I couldn't work out how I could pay her back, but she introduced me to a money changer, a little lady with a big handbag and a calculator. The rate wasn't too bad and I only changed $20 to pay her back with interest, which made her a happy, smiling lass. She was lovely and bubbly, so deserved it.
Packs on and back down another dodgy slope. It's a good job I've got this stick. THis boat is a bit posher. It has an afterdeck where some of us sat and waved and smiled, shouted hello and generally had good fun with the Vietnamese people along the way, old and young both. We have turned off the Mekong now and are headed up a narrow tributary. 2 Cambodians told me as soon as the border is crossed how green the land becomes and they are right. There are water pumps every few hundred metres and sluices on the Mekong side. Vietnam is just more organised and it shows, so they can have at least 2 rice crops a year. There are boat and boat loads of rice along the way. It is piled all over the place, along the banks and in rice mills. We chugged down a small river with stilt houses on one side and a road and sluices on the other. THe Mekong must be over there somewhere. THe stilthouses don't look as neat as in Cambodia, but the people are just as smiley, wave and say hello just as much. The life here seems same, same, but different. It certainly feels like I am in a new country and my enthusiasm is revitalised. I had gotten into a bit of a rut in Cambodia. As time comes to leave a country, I tend to look ahead to the next one instead of enjoying where I am.
Back to Vietnam........There are plenty of water buffalo along the way and a lad riding one, high on the bank. The older people seem more likely to wave in Vietnam, in fact there are not many who don't. The countryside is loads better than the cities. I would bet a pound to a penny Saigon is not as good as here. The boat ride has been brilliant. Mark had the kids in the water and on the banks, jumping like nutters, he has great energy. We travelled down a few rivers and they seemed to get wider until we were back out a big bugger and at Chau Doc. It is a different leg of the Mekong, but still impressive.
My initial impression of Vietnam???? I LOVE IT. I think it is part of my nature to like things initially and see what happens after that.
There are steps up to street level here, but I didn't have to worry. The Hulk drives a cyclo in Chau Doc and he grabbed my rucksack off the boat and threw it into his cyclo (bicycle taxi) and we were off to a hotel of my choice, Vinh Phuoc. Bad choice, but the staff are smashing. I have no window, but they say I can swap rooms tomorrow.
I had a much needed shower and hit the streets of Chau Doc. I got cyclo harrassed until he received my "I don't like you" vibe. I wandered along and spotted a restaurant with a vacant table outside. It wasn't hard to spot. The towns electricity is off until 22:00, so only those buildings with generators are lit up. The cyclos congregated outside with me, but I had a bit of crack with these lads. 2 of them have Giant bikes attached to their cyclos. Very nice. One of them was a nutter and kept shooting off. I think he was chasing the ladies. An old fellow came and sat with me, he is only a half a shilling at the most. He took my LP and started reading it, only scanning the lines with his fingers in the wrong direction. The owner tried to shoo him along, but he stayed and is harmless. He got a free tea for his persistence. He also enjoyed sneaking a drink of my beer when the owner wasnt looking. She caught him once and he acted all innocent like he'd picked up the wrong glass by mistake. He is a good old stick. The cyclos were giving him some stick, which only made me like him more. I think he was trying to wangle some of my fish in sauce, very nice it is too, but he couldn't wangle it. He left after a while, so I finished what he had left of my beer and went back to the hotel for another there. I had a good chat with one of the lads there before hitting the sack, well and truely knackered.