Chao Doc and Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Chao Doc - Our last stop in the beautiful country of Vietnam was the city of Chau Doc; located in the scenic Mekong Delta. We got there by bus and ferry, Stacy and I both enjoyed the beautiful landscape. This was just a stopover before heading to Cambodia in the morning; we spent the night relaxing. The next morning we were up bright and early to make our boat at 7am. At the port we were invited to join a tour group and ended up seeing yet another floating village. We then boarded a “fast” boat that ended up breaking down multiple times due to the engine not being able to handle the weight of so many farang (foreigners) and luggage. We eventually made it to the boarder and had our easiest border crossing ever. They collected our passports and everything was taken care of in a fast and efficient manner. Next, we boarded a lager boat and made our way along the Mekong to Phnom Penh. This is by far my favorite way to cross a border, next to planes of course. The scenery was beautiful and we lucked out in having amazing weather.

Phnom Penh - We arrived in Phnom Penh refreshed and ready to experience Cambodia for a second time. Having done the major touristy stuff over a year ago (can’t believe it’s been a year) we embraced the opportunity to see other things the city had to offer. We decided to visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary, though it was 45k outside the city. We had been talking about doing something like this since we arrived in SE Asia, so we were pretty excited. Overall, it was a pretty cool place with many endangered animals. By far, our favorites were the Sun Bears and the elephants. We were both touched by the time and effort the sanctuary has taken to rehabilitate endangered animals. One of the baby elephants even had a cast on its foot! We left feeling good that we had supported such a great cause. We then made a second trip to the famous Russian Market before meeting up with friends, Win and Rachel, for drinks. Being back in Cambodia reminded us of how much we had enjoyed it the first time, though we did forget how hot the weather is here. After Vietnam we are both very happy to be back in this beautiful country.

~ Randi