Saigon to Phnom Penh Trip Part 1: Early morning sunshine, Pham Ngu Lao we’re ready to go

Taking the bus to Phnom Penh from Saigon is a relatively uncomplicated affair these days. Most people choose the cheapest buses they can find and they are perfectly fine. For this trip I decided to pay a few dollars more and take the Giant Ibis bus. I was promised a much better bus with much bigger seats. To be fair the bus was very nice, but Asian ideas about seat sizes do not take into account Western girth. I am by no means the biggest chap in Saigon and nowhere near the biggest on the bus, but it was still a squeeze. For some reason, the staff crammed us all at the front of the bus, fifteen people on a forty five seater bus, yet we still all had people in adjacent seats. As soon as we left Pham Ngu Lao, in the heart of backpacker district, everyone just moved about and we were on our way. This bus does though, have more leg room and is a much smoother ride, definitely worth the $20 ticket price for a seven and a half hour trip. Pay no heed to the five and a half or six hours that they quote, you will be on the bus for seven and a half. One small negative point that is worth pointing out; unlike the cheaper buses, there is no toilet on board. A bit of forward planning is advised.

The Giant Ibis bus, silver sleek and pretty chic

Anticipation is part of the fun

With the sun shining, Pham Ngu Lao is a pleasant enough place to be in the mornings. It is a busier enough place almost immediately the daylight arrives, by the time the clock reaches 8.00 it’s a throbbing mass of humanity. We left pretty much bang on time at 8.30 in the morning which was another plus. The last time I took this trip It was a full 45 minutes late, when we finally pulled away from the kerb in Pham Ngu Lao. Weaving through the tight streets of Saigon, we made our way to the highway and off in the direction of Cambodia. I was looking forward to this trip immensely. It has been 6 months since I went to Phnom Penh, it’s a city I really like and the opportunity to take a few days out of Saigon and into the crazy chaos of Cambodia’s capital was too good to turn down. For those of you who have never been, it’s a faded, jaded, former colonial splendid city, with beautiful buildings now fallen into disrepair. It is though for all that, a wonderful place to spend time. The Riverfront is an extremely pleasant area in which to kill a few hours and it is there that I will take breakfast each morning, writing and generally just chilling out.

The Riverfront boulevard of Sisowath Quay, where I will spend a few hours each day

So near and yet so far

These trips are, on the face of it, a bit of a chore. It is only 150 miles from Saigon to Phnom Penh, yet somehow they manage to make it a full seven and a half hours’ journey. However, when you take into account the time spent in the departure lounge at the airports and travel to and from the same, it doesn’t work out that bad. And at a fraction of the cost. The cheapest buses making this trip are about $10 each way, that is a tenth of the cheapest flights. Paying the extra to be on a more comfortable bus, coupled with the fact that seats have power points for charging phones and laptops, plus internet connection all the way, makes it a no brainer for me. The locals won’t pay the extra, this means that passengers are not subjected to a mindless tirade of Vietnamese pop music, hour after hour. It can get extremely annoying on the other buses. This is not a slant at Vietnamese pop culture, merely an observation of the fact that people seem incapable these days of spending a few moments in silence.

As we drive out through Phu Ngan we pass by one of the old temples

My! how travel is changing

My fellow passengers seem an eclectic bunch, British, Irish, Dutch, Australian and German from what I can make out, quite an age spread as well. The majority are solo travellers, which is a measure of how travel has changed over the years. Thirty years ago, the idea of travelling through Asia as a solo traveller, was relatively unheard of; far too adventurous for most people. Nowadays though, it is quite the norm. There are two or three young female passengers, a measure again, I suppose, of how safe a part of the world, Southeast Asia is. Yes there are dangers, sadly that is the world in which we live, but for the most part, this is a much safer place to be, than is the West.

On board the mainly empty bus

I have been developing the InSeAsia website for three years. It genuinely is a labour of love. I have lived in Southeast Asia for 9 years and have no plans to ever leave.

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