Next Stop Is Vietnam

This is my last night in Cambodia. Tomorrow I’m off to Saigon at 9am. I’m not looking forward to the bus ride, but is only $12 so I think I’ll survive. Sadly, the ear buds stopped working today so no music.

Phnom Penh isn’t my favorite city . I dare say it is on the lower half of my list of favorite cities. It isn’t so much that there is anything wrong with it as there isn’t much very exciting about it. When your top tourist attraction revolves around genocide, I don’t think you are going to making many “greatest city” lists. I’d like to visit again in 10 years and see how it has fared.

I went to the shooting range in Phnom Penh yesterday (one of the listed attractions here) and fired an M16. I got to unload a full clip, half of which was on automatic. Honestly, the gun was really a rusted out piece of crap which was probably a left over from the war. Nonetheless, I did quite well considering I didn’t get to sight in the gun and I had never fired an automatic weapon before. 28/30 rounds hit the target.

Other than that, I haven’t done too much. I visited the Killing Fields and Tuel Seng museum as well as Wat Phnom and a bit of the Royal Palace. I’ve been told that Saigon is more dynamic than Phnom Pehn, and I hope so. I still have a ton of photos from Angkor to go through, so I am hoping the internet in Vietnam is somewhat better than here so I can get some uploaded.

2 thoughts on “Next Stop Is Vietnam”

  1. Yes there is certainly a fair bit more energy in Saigon! The internet's not too bad to be fair – there's a good internet cafe on Thai Van Lung, away from the backpacker bit if you have trouble.
    The bus ride's hard to the border but nice and smooth once you're over the other side – no gaping holes in the road – have a wicked time in Vietnam, would offer you a drink but I'm not back till November :)

  2. To say that Saigon is more dynamic is like saying that winter at the pole is a bit chilly. Okay, we were in Saigon right before Tet and it's possible that it was at the height of dynamism, but wow, was that place bursting with activity.

    I'm sorry you read you didn't like Phnom Pehn. I enjoyed the leisurely buzz, the friendly restaurants and cafes, watching life go by on the river, it felt like a place I would like to spend more time.

    Here's hoping you're not disappointed by Saigon – and nope, we didn't find any better connectivity there than in Cambodia.

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