Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey takes me westward with a new group out of Ho Chi Minh City following the Mekong River upstream. We stop to cross the border into Cambodia before crossing the river by ferry and continuing up to its capital city Phnom Penh.
Today's Journey
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Departing Ho Chi Minh City in the early morning. The motorbike acrobatics done here in Vietnam still amazes me. |
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Passing through Go Dau, the last town before crossing the land border into Cambodia at Curakhau Quoc te Moc Bai. |
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Crossing over into Cambodia where everything is surprisingly different having become accustomed to Vietnam. We stop just over the border in Krong Bavet for lunch (chicken soup with bones in it) Government buildings and houses are adorned with gold rising above the derelict shacks of the common people. |
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Passing flooded rice paddies with buffalo in them as we follow the well maintained Route Nationale 1 towards Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital city. |
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After crossing the flat countryside, we reach the town of Neak Loeung where we wait in a vehicle queue for the next ferry. Noisy traders with trays of all sorts of exotic bugs try to sell their produce. |
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Catching the ferry across the Mekong River, nearly 300 kilometres upstream from where we visited at its mouth yesterday. The water is very dirty from recent typhoons dumping a lot of rain further upstream. |
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Once on the other side of the river, we continue towards Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh. Here we pass a truck full of farm workers. There isn't quite enough room so one lady sits precariously on edge. This seems perfectly normal in this part of the world. |
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Crossing the Bassac River into the middle of Phnom Penh. Shanties line the river, frequently flooded at this time of year being the rainy season. |
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Exploring the inner city of Phnom Penh, one lad is selling sacks of crickets and beetles. |
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The city is right beside the Mekong River, and there are a lot of boats on it as vegetation floats past heading towards the mouth of the river some 340 kilometres downstream. |
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