Crossing the Boarder: Cambodia to Vietnam

After a short trip at the Killing Fields and then to Central Market, we were fetched by our private van for transfers to Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. We availed the private van transfer of Mekong Express, worth 15 USD/pax. Among all of the choices for transfers, we found that the Mekong Express is the best option apart from Giant Ibis. In the forums, I've read how other transportation companies neglect to help their passengers in the immigration process when crossing the boarder between Cambodia and Vietnam. Initially, we wanted to book Giant Ibis. However, they were already fully booked, and so we booked the 3:30 pm schedule of Mekong Express. We opted for the private van transfer rather than the bus, which was 14USD/pax, because we wanted to be really comfortable this time because it's going to be a long journey. We were actually traumatized by our experience with the public bus that we took from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, so it was okay for us to shell out one buck for comfort.

Mekong Express Private Van

The van fetched us from Mad Monkey promptly. And apart from two other foreign guys, we were the only passengers of a van with a maximum capacity of 11 pax. The van was relatively new, clean, cozy, and had built-in internet connection, which was not working during our time. It also has its own flat screen TV. Free bottled water and packets of wipes were also provided. The driver was skilled, fast but was still careful. He didn't talk during the journey apart from when we asked questions upon boarding the van.

Inside the Van

The journey lasted for a whopping 6 hours from Phnom Penh up to Ho Chi Minh's bustling backpackers street, Pham Ngu Lao. We only had one stopover, which was at a diner near the boarder where we had our dinner. We left Phnom Penh during mid-afternoon and the views consisted mainly of vast farms, a couple of hills, rivers, and Cambodian-style houses.

During the transport of the van from one side of the river to another

Upon arrival at the stopover, the driver asked for our passports, which was checked by a guy who was waiting inside the diner. After dinner, we headed back into the van and then went through with the immigration at the boarder. We were asked to go out of the van to have our passports individually stamped by a Cambodian immigration officer seated in a small booth similar to those seen in tollgates of expressways. Then we walked from Cambodia's boarder to Vietnam's boarder where we entered the immigration building where we waited in line to have our names called. However, when they found out that we were being transported by Mekong Express, they immediately signaled us to go through the scanners, which were not working, and then proceed out of the building. Outside, we waited for our van to finish being checked for its contents, and then we were asked to walk to the gates, where, finally, they had our passports stamped by a Vietnamese immigration officer, and then handed back to us.

Immigration building

Basically, it was a really frightening experience because it was dark at that time, and you don't really know what you're going to do since even our van driver didn't inform us of what was going to transpire. But, overall, it went well.

After the passports were returned, we boarded the van and continued on to Ho Chi Minh City. You can actually see the transition between the two countries because in the Vietnamese side, there were lights and signs of bustling activity, which was very contrary to the dark and inactive Cambodian side.

I was actually very much relieved to see the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. It gave me a sense of great relief to see something that was familiar to me, as compared to what I felt during our stay in Cambodia - like I needed to be always cautious and on my guard all of the time, which was pretty exhausting.