MEKONG BOAT TOUR: HCM TO PHNOM PENH.

In an effort to get even remotely caught up with where I currently am (Jaipur, India), I will be attempting to make my posts more succinct, and focused- without losing the heart and the vision of "Matthew Heads East". I'm sure most readers (besides my mother) will be excited to hear this news... as my writing has, thus far, dragged on and on.

Thanks.

-Matt

DAY 1: BOAT? BUS? WHATEVER. IT'S A TOUR.
I awoke in my $8 top floor penthouse suite (complete with an unattached bathroom, and free humidity) early the next morning. I had to get to the infamous Mekong Delta Boat Tour that promised to take me on a 2 day relaxing journey along the Mekong river, terminating at my destination, Phnom Pehn Cambodia. "Perfect", I mused.

The bus (not boat) left at 7:30am, and after swiftly walking with my bags, I boarded the bus. We began to take off. We stopped after 1/2 block- boarding more people. That's when it hit me- like a ton of bricks.

I HEAR PASSPORTS ARE IMPORTANT
"MY PASSPORT!", I yelled. I ran off the bus and down the already busy street as fast as my legs could carry me. I arrived, out of breath, at the swanky hotel, and the lasy behind the counter was already apologizing and holding my passport. I grabbed it from her, thanked her, and ran lightning speed back to the bus- which I had little confidence was actually still there. Thank GOD, it was there. I boarded, sweating profusely, sat down, and we were off.

I then broke the ice by making a joke, "Everyone got their passports?" Few people laughed. Maybe 3. But that was enough. The rest were probably either asleep or didn't speak english. Yeah... that's it.

MEKONG DELTA
We arrived, amidst crippling traffic, at the Mekong Delta and boarded the boat. The rest of the day consisted of visiting a number of "river businesses"- houses on stilts lining the Mekong, making and selling a variety of items: chips, candies, scarves, and other things that tourists enjoy buying when they the process of them being made. It was actually very delightful and interesting.

We transferred boats and continued on the river through an area of the lush tropical trees and greenery flanking each side, creating a narrow river passage straight out of "Apocalypse Now". It was incredible. An absolute highlight of the trip. The green palm trees bending toward the boat combined with the brown dirtiness of the river made for a stunningly vibrant sensory experience.

FRIENDS ARE GOOD
Thankfully, I made some new friends on the boat trip, as we sat on the back deck, soaking up the sun and vistas. John, Stewart, and Kirsty, all from England. We discussed different travel stories- apparently Stewart and Kirsty had gotten married in Laos withour their knowledge. Some tribal elder performed a ceremony which they believed was for a different couple, but was really for them. That's awesome.

We arrived at the 2-level hotel set on the river. It was incredible- huge top deck patio restaurant/bar where we ate and drank and were merry. Stewart, John and I stayed up on the deck talking for hours. A bloody good time.

DAY 2
The next morning we awoke and I realized that the entire river surface below our room was covered in beautiful river lilies, fading into a network of stilts supporting the houses above. Wonderful way to wake up.

Then we were off, to tour more local river businesses, where we were immediately barraged by a wild pack of incredibly cute children asking for "food". Which apparently in Vietamese translates to "money", because when offered food, they refused it. But that doesn't mean that I didn't think about adopting a few of them. Cuz it definitely crossed my mind.

CAMBODIA: THE START OF SOMETHING NEW
Eventually, we arrived at the Cambodian border, and entered a border restaurant while waiting to receive our Cambodian Visas. No one was certain that we would really get them... after all, we were going into Cambodia, but after an hour our guide emerged with 20 visas. And he only took an "unspoken service charge" of $2 for each visa. Not bad.

We hopped on the next boat, and immediately the landscape changed to pastoralist, agricultural land- complete with Cambodian cows and natives working on their farms. Beautiful to see. After an hour we docked, and transferred yet again- this time to a mini-bus. And when I say mini-bus, I mean we crammed 14 people plus bags into a van meant to hold 8. On a good day.

As we drove, the tour guide said "Hello" in about 700 languages. Impressive. Then he tried to sell us on his tours and hotels. We arrived in central Phnom Pehn, and parted ways with my new friends.

MR. LIM: TUK TUK DRIVER
It was at this juncture I met him: Mr. Lim: Tuk Tuk Driver. Mr. Lim is a true Renaissance Man- enlighted in the arts, rhetoric, an advocate for social reforms (he went off on "Stupid Government" at least 12 times), and of course, a self-made man. He also happened to be a delight. I hopped into his tuk tuk- a chariot/shrine with 2 bench seats hitched to the back of a bike. With a 1 gallon tank and a top speed approaching 20 mph, this hog covers some mean Cambodian territory.

Mr. Lim toured me around Phnom Pehn, while we had good conversation. We visited the lake, which "stupid government" had filled in with sand, leaving little water. We drove by some federal buildings, where "stupid government" resides. Eventually we found a hotel (endorsed by "stupid government"), Hotel Angkor International- complete with gold-painted statues adorning the entire first floor. Turning to Mr. Lim:Tuk Tuk Driver, I remarked, "This place has character- I like it." I checked in.

TRAVEL PARTNER!
After a few hours of chilling and writing email, Mr. Lim: Tuk Tuk Driver picked me up and we drove the 20 km to the airport to pick up the lovely Ms. Katie Martin. Around 10:30pm Katie landed and proceeded out of baggage claim to where I met her with open arms. SO good to see her. As much as I had enjoyed eating meals alone and talking (and laughing) to myself for the last 8 days, it was a relief to have a companion. Mr. Lim: Tuk Tuk Driver circled around to pick us up, I introduced he and Katie, and we boarded our chariot bound for glory.

SO good to converse with Katie about the past 8 days- both my crazy adventures and her wonderful time as high school girl's counselor on a church boat trip. Thank you GOD!