Phnom Penh to Saigon – Crossing the Bavet-Mocbai Border Again

On the day I was to leave Phnom Penh, I packed early and took a stroll along Sisowath Quay. I looked for the restaurant quite famous among backpackers for their inexpensive but delicious food– the Khmer Saravan Restaurant (pictured above). The place is a small no-frills restaurant, just a few strides north of the Palace. Budget conscious travelers are known to leave handwritten notes endorsing the place to fellow travelers. I took my seat, and noticed a couple of these notes (photo below) unceremoniously taped on the wall, giving the place a bohemian feel. The exteriors looked cozy and the staff was patient. I had chicken rice at $3.50 (13,500 riel or PhP175) which was an inexpensive breakfast compared to the $6 egg-and-toast breakfast at DV8.

FULL CIRCLE

I was composing myself for the border crossing. I hate border crossings. Gives me the willies regardless of the numerous times I’ve done it. This will be my second time to cross the Bavet-Mocbai border. In August of 2007, I went from Vietnam to Cambodia. This time, I’m going the opposite way, which felt like coming full circle. I have earned my stripes and gotten my diploma.

GRATUITIES

By 6:30AM, my baggage was comfortably straddling my shoulder. Tei, my driver/guide was already waiting at the corner of Sisowath. This will be an probono affair for him, says he. As a courtesy and sign of friendship, he offered to take me to the Mekong Bus Station (located beside the Ornussey Market) free of charge. It was a sweet gesture. The night before, I took him to the mall with me while I looked for a pair of shoes to replace the one I had, then we had early dinner at Sorya’s food court. When we got to the terminal, I slipped $5 into Tei’s hand. Not a lot for a gratuity, but he was beaming.

Notes from a stranger



My driver/guide Tei. Email me if you need his email address. He doesn't have a phone (when he does, he will be charging triple the amount we shook hands on. LOL)


Ornussey Market

My Mekong Express bus to Saigon

INDECENT STASH

The bus station had rows of chair beside their small office. There were pre-departure formalities. They gathered all our passports, listed them in a manifesto, then returned them with our pre-arranged seat number. I made a dash to the opposite block where a flurry of early morning activity has begun. I found some sidewalk vendors from where I bought a sandwich and a baguette (2,500 riel or $0.60 and 1,500 riel or $0.37 respectively) for my 6 hour crossing into Vietnam. My bus left at 7:04AM. I was once again worrying about the almost-indecent volume of DVD’s that have accumulated from Vientianne, Savannakhet, Bangkok and Phnom Penh. It’s hard to explain that such a number is strictly for personal use.

SPEAKING IN TONGUES

My bus had lovely Khmer stewardesses decked like flight attendants. One of them had introductory spiels and tourist-guide annotations, alternating between Khmer and stilted, incomprehensible English, I strained as I tried getting any word from her mumblings. After all, this is an opportunity to learn without reading my Lonely Planet. But it was all for nought. I looked around me. Majority of the passengers were Khmers or Viets. Oops, I think I spotted a Pinoy who doesn’t look like a backpacker (yes, there is a particular look!) – as it turns out, he was indeed a Pinoy who works at a factory in Saigon.

Mekong Express Bus terminal at Ornussey Market, Phnom Penh.

A scene at the peninsular island of Chroung Changwar.


Market scene at Neak Loeung.

DEJAVU

At 8:45AM, we reached Neak Loeung, and everything looked familiar. This riverside town facilitates ferry crossings to the Mekong River. This is also the widest expanse of the Mekong that I have seen in all of my Indochina travels. Our bus drove into a ferry and sailed for 35 minutes to get to the other side. I saw the all-too-familiar market. Hundreds of antennas rise above the market roof. And ladies in Khmer straw hats were peeling off mangoes by the road side. Nothing has changed since the last time I was here! Time stood still and this mirage of people and stores never seemed to move from where they were a year ago! As I wrote earlier, it felt like coming full circle! Check out THAT post here to compare:

http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2007/10/cambodian-countryside.html

9:24 – Prey Vieng province

9:45 – Svay Rieng, the main town of the border province with the same name - which also covers the border city of Bavet.

10:17 – Bavet commune

10:30 – We had a lunch stop over where I had a $2 omelette rice and a 3,000 riel coke in can. This was just a 15-minute stop. I remembered standing on the same spot last year thinking, “hmmm… there’s absolutely nothing to photograph.”

In a matter of 8 months, this sleepy, craggy, dusty place has evolved into a bustling border city with gleaming new casinos, shops, massage parlors and hotels patronized mostly by Viets and Khmers who live nearby.

10:50 – We finally reached the border. Crossing the Cambodian border was a painless 6 minutes since I reckon, most of us were just getting our exit passes stamped.

SCOT-FREE!

10:57 – This was the crossing I dreaded. As we got off our bus, we were to carry our own baggage for the immigration formalities and baggage check. Ohmygosh! I swore I’ll NEVER buy this much DVDs again. Hahaha! It took quite awhile. I didn’t take anymore photos for fear of calling attention to myself. After all, this particular border crossing had a history of cam-clicking and video-shooting backpackers getting chastised by immigration police. As my baggage slid into the scan, I got my passport stamped. I wasn’t asked anything. Scot-free!!!! Yes! My small ears were flapping I thought they were taking flight! LOL. It will be an easy 90 kilometers from this Mocbai border to Saigon, with an estimated time of arrival within an hour!

11:35 – It took 38 minutes to cross the Mocbai border. We reclaimed our seats. And I headed into a blissful contentment. One minute from the border, Viet Telecom roaming sounded off. It is amazing how even telecom signals know their exact borders.

12:00 – We reached the town where the infamous Cu Chi Tunnels are located. I saw a white catholic church with a tall row of spires and a statue.

12:20 – Hoc Mo.

12:25 – Trung My Tay

1:15 – HCMC (Saigon)

Gosh! They are still here!

Ferry crossing at Neak Loeung.

Unmistakably Vietnam.

FOUR ARRIVALS

1:30 – Our bus pulled over at a park in Pham Ngu Lao (Saigon's backpacker area). Hmm. Looked familiar. This will have to be my 4^th arrival in Ho Chi Minh City (1. Manila by plane, 2. Siem Reap by plane, 3. Hanoi by plane, 4. Phnom Penh by bus). I didn’t feel like such a lost stranger anymore. I saw New World Hotel to my left. From a distance I saw Ben Thanh. I walked across Pham Ngu Lao, then headed to the side street which directly took me to Bui Vien. And then I saw Phan Lan, where I’ve stayed before. 

Like the crazy person that I can sometimes be, I decided to pick another guesthouse. Just 10 paces from Phan Lan is Madame Cuk’s Guesthouse (#64 Bu Vien), a renowned and respected name in Viet accommodations. I almost backed out from Madame Cuk’s because they have this ridiculous practice of keeping their guest’s passport UNTIL his checkout! I was uncomfortable with that. No guesthouse or hotel in all of Asia has kept my passport with them. Anyway, it was a leap of faith and – I stayed with them after all. My room was spacious and spotless. The sheets were impeccably clean, fresh-smelling and well-pressed. The room smelled new. The bathroom tiles were also new and very clean. The airconditioning unit looked new as well. $15 includes breakfast, an endless supply of tea or coffee at any time of the day. The foyer has several guests from all over the world and if you are into socializing with other backpackers, this might as well be the place to be!

Once rested, I planned for my day. First stop was a quick visit to Saigon Square. My brother had been pestering me - ad nauseam – to buy him a Northface bag which turned out to be extremely expensive items in Bangkok; some items fetch as much as $520. In Vietnam, Northface bags enjoy an excellent supply of overruns – articles which are original but factory surpluses sold in prices 1/10^th the price of those sold in luxury shops. Though I am not particularly fond of bags (I have one, I’m a happy man!), I ended up buying FIVE BLOODY PIECES. Ha ha. In Bangkok, I would pay 10x more than what I paid here in Vietnam. Ridiculous! O sige na nga.

This was my very first Mocbai-Bavet Crossing:

http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2007/10/crossing-mocbai-bavet-border.html

Communal dancing at the Quach Thi Trang Park - the name of the park closest to Ben Thanh Market.

Madame Cuk's.

FAST FACTS:

SAPACO Bus Schedule Saigon to Phnom Penh

- their office in Cambodia is in Preah Sihanouk Avenue

- a bus leaves the Saigon’s Pham Ngu Lao area at these hours: 6 AM , 7, 8, 9, 11:30, 1:30PM

Mekong Express Bus Schedule from Phnom Penh to Saigon

- the bus leaves the station at 7AM, then 8AM, and afternoon trips will start very soon.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Crossing Mocbai-Bavet Border

I have to admit I had lots of apprehension crossing the Mocbai-Bavet border to Cambodia. Land border-crossing is never my favorite.
(I remembered taking the night train from Paris to Madrid. For the convenience of the passengers, a train steward would take our passports before bedtime – so that we can supposedly enjoy out cramped couches without being bothered with the immigration formalities! Meanwhile, at a particular city in Spain, the train would make a stop. The last 5 cars will be detached from the front cars that will then proceed to Madrid’s notorious Atocha station. I was pins and needles thinking, hmmm, what if they leave my passport behind while I was enjoying a sound sleep? What if I hopped on the wrong section?)
HORROR STORIES

Though my itinerary’s been planned, it took all my guts to finally buy a bus ticket to Cambodia. I also knew that once I buy my $20 ticket, there’s no turning back. Would be all-systems-go from there. If I wasn’t alone traveling, it would be a no-brainer, but traveling alone is trouble waiting to happen. I have read soooo many horror stories of border crossing from Lonely Planet to Fodor to web/blog entries.

One article mentioned that it’s a lot easier to get out of Vietnam than get right back in, and this statement actually echoed persistently in my mind. Wikipedia says, and I quote, "Immigration is notoriously strict." Not only that, some of them would allegedly ask for imaginary tariffs, currency exchange that's way off the market rate, etc. (Although such things were more common in less-visited borders, i.e. O Smach (Cam)-Chong Jom (Thai), Prum (Cam)-Daun Lem (Thai), and even the regularly traversed Poipet-Koh Kong border from Thailand.)

Another source of concern is, I have never met a Pinoy who has crossed the border (there should be thousands now). Common sense dictates though that Pinoys must have passed this way before. Nevertheless, it didn't offer relief. Assumptions never do! Most Pinoys I know “fly”; and those who do not, have passports other than a Philippine passport. Since Pinoys are visa-free, I reckon it would be easier for me than other backpackers who had to pay $25 passport processing fee on site. So…

I mustered enough courage and off I went. John Williams’ “Jaws Theme” was humming in my head.

“GOOD GIRLS”
I was ready as early as 5AM. I went down and didn’t have the heart to wake the lady sleeping at the foyer. I wanted to go out and look for food, though I wasn’t hungry. A nearby go-go bar was still blaring loud garage music. I turned toward DeTham and got offered, “Good girls! Good girls!” Some Caucasians were already carrying their Vietnamese girls. It’s really the same everywhere – Paris or Luxembourgh, Patpong or Jakarta. Although I have to admit that this trade isn’t as pronounced in Vietnam as it is elsewhere. Further on, some more guys offered their business, “Cheap girls, very pretty!” or “Nice girls work hard for you!” What a way to start my morning. One was tugging at my sleeve, pointing to a girl at a dark corner. She can't be over 16. Geesh! She was licking a lollipop. If that was meant as a tease, it looked awkward and silly to me.
I was told that my bus would pick me up at 5:30AM. Someone finally came at 6. We rode a car to where the Sapaco bus was parked. Our baggages were deposited at the backseat, and I took my seat 2 rows in front of the bags. Three Canadians were seated in front of me; an old French guy infront of them. The whole row of seats was all mine so I was pleased with myself. Ten minutes into the departure, the driver’s assistant started giving away a packed meal (ham sandwich and a bottle of water) which was amazingly part of the $20.

Our SAPACO bus - airconditioned, spacious, and only 60% occupied

“NEAR , FAR, WHEREVER YOU ARE…”
The road we travelled is well maintained, so it was one comfortable ride, except for the music that kept playing during the whole trip. I mean, how much more can you take of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” played 6x – it sure made me wanna hit some icebergs and sink the Titanic.
I amused myself by observing the scene as it constantly changed. Half way into the trip, we reached the province of Tay Ninh (famed for their local festivities), then, the border town of Mocbai. Our passports were collected ($25 fees were also collected from the other foreigners who needed visa, and none from me) by the bus assistant, and I relaxed. Everyone seemed so. The border building is an imposing structure. We got off our bus, made a queue at the border’s immigration counter, and waited for 10-15 minutes. Then our passports were returned to us. No interviews. We walked through the counter, passed a small duty-free shop; showed our passport to the immigration police at the exit, and went out. The very same bus was waiting for us at the other side.



Border immigration counter (the 3 Canadians at the center)

BRIBES ANYONE?

Now here’s what I observed. As we got back to our seats, the driver and his assistants deposited loads of bottled water at the police quarters from each side. Bribe? Could be. This would facilitate a faster transfer. No more manual checking of baggages- as that would take forever. Every tourist should take a Sapaco bus when crossing the border to avoid transfering to a different bus at the other side of the border, and you didn’t have to disembark your baggages anymore. That said, I settled back to my seat.
Whew!! That was easy!

The road: Vietnam Side (Mocbai, Tay Ninh)



RURAL KAMPUCHEA
The next kilometers (a constituent of the province of Svay Rieng) were lined by big KTV establishments, casinos, and massage parlors; many of these places serve allegedly as prostitution fronts, much like the same establishments in Haiphong City (Vietnam’s 3rd biggest city) south of Hanoi.

It was a good moment to observe local color. The roadsides were underwater - farmlands, marshes and wetlands - water hyacinths of wild pink, lilies in white and purple lotuses were abloom. 75% of Cambodia lives off farming.

I took note of the town names as we passed them by - Chiphou, Prasot, then the provincial capital of Svay Rieng’s imposing building; Kraul Kor, then NEAK LOEUNG, where we stopped for a bit.
Now that was a treat!

The road: Cambodian side (Bavet, Svay Rieng)


Our bus got on a ferry to cross the river. I have been wanting to cruise the Mekong River. I regretted not having had enough time in HCMC for a Mekong Cruise (it was 2 hours away, and I'd need an extra full day to do so). MEKONG at no extra cost! I got off the bus for some fresh air as we sailed the Mekong. 15 minutes later, we were on land again.
As we reached Banteay Dek, the roads got a little rough. Potpoles abound and the last hour to Phnom Penh got a bit uncomfortable. I wasn’t complaining though.





Cambodian Immigration Police

Update:

Here's my 2nd crossing in the same border, but going the opposite direction a year after (2008):

http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2008/10/phnom-penh-to-saigon-crossing-bavet.html