Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh

Australia
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Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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Part 4 – Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh

The other 3 reports covering Days 1 and 2 can be found - http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293927-i10140-k2756972-Sinh_Cafe_Mekong_Delta_Tour_HCMC_to_PP_Day_2_report-Mekong_Delta.html

The Ngoc Phu hotel staff are very casual, the 0515 wake up call comes at 0545 hrs. At least the breakfast offers a choice of food and drink with the personal menu having a series of little tick boxes with fried eggs and bread available which is a more familiar and satisfying option than yesterday’s fried rice or noodles.

The boat captain is sitting in the hotel lobby going through the passports and people are told that the eVisa for Cambodia is not accepted. Passports are treated in a very indifferent fashion and when it is finally possible to get my passport back I am just given a pile of passports and told to find my own.

The rowing boat tour starts at 0715 as planned and the luggage of those going on to Phnom Penh is thrown (literally) into 2 cyclos to take down to the boat while we walk the 200 metres or so to the river. You then carry your bags onto the big boat (used to go to the Vietnam border), along a muddy and slippery little path before the wooden plank leading up to the boat.

From there it is down another muddy path to the rivers edge to get into a rowing boat (2 people per boat) for the paddle around the river boat homes and a stop at a fish farming place. The fish farm is really just a big floating shed with caged fish underneath. The Guide’s attempts to stimulate some activity in the catfish by feeding them is unsuccessful. Back into the rowing boat to continue the tour of floating homes. Some have dogs who become very active as we approach and one of the oarsmen (only 1 male – the rest are all women) seems to enjoy splashing water at the dogs that really gets them annoyed.

We then head down a very narrow canal to a raised wooden walking bridge. One of the boat women is waving a 50,000 VND note and prompting us to tip our rowing woman so my boat gives 20,000 VND & we climb up onto wooden bridge - Safety score = 0. We climb out and cling to hand rail to walk to the Moslem weaving place and visit the local Mosque.

There are signs up warning people not to buy cakes from the kids as they are out of date and may cause “colic”. The kids seem to dispute this and there are certainly women up on the road making fresh cakes that look the same as the kids are selling.

There is a woman at a weaving loom but I suspect that most of what they have for sale may have been made elsewhere. There are some attractive pieces and the prices are not unreasonable. I buy a red, silver embossed scarf for 50,000 VND.

The Mosque is not a particularly good or interesting example of a Mosque so I decline the invitations to go inside, opting to watch the woman turning out the little coconut cakes at the stalls that line the road opposite.

From here we have walk along the same rickety wooden bridge to climb back into rowing boats and this is much harder than climbing up - Safety score = -2. From here we head to the big boat that is waiting near by and we are on our way to the Vietnamese border check point at 0915 hrs.

On board we fill in visa application forms & 1 photo plus hand over US$22 or 396,000 VND to the ‘captain’ He also changes VND to US$ at 18,000 VND and according to the sign in the boat, also takes travellers cheques. There is a WC on board and they also sell large bottles of water for 8,000 VND.

The seating is just 20 or so dinning room chairs in three rows under cover plus some other ones in the open area at the back of the boat. It is possible to turn the chair around and get a window view. All the bags are crammed up the front on top of each other and fall down, blocking the passage to the front of the boat. Some people lay in the sun but I opt to stay undercover. It is comfortable enough and progress not overly slow. The river is very busy.

After about 45 minutes or so the captain gets off the boat with everyone’s passport and visa fees and the boat continues on, hoping to see him a little later.

A crew member shows us an old piece of paper with english writting offering to sell Cambodian Riel for 3,800 to the US$ and also changes VND to Riel.

We arrived at the Vietnam customs check point 2 1/2 hrs later & get herded off the boat, through the customs area and up a steep path & literally pushed into a dirt floored cafe. The boat staff seem to eat for free, hence the herding of passengers into this place, past other more attractive options. All prices are in US$ but are not unreasonable with 10 spring rolls for 18,000 VND, baguettes for 10,000 VND but Saigon beers are 25,000 VND. Fried banana fritters are 3 for 10,000 VND. It is a dive really but the fresh fruit salad is very nice, mango, watermelon, banana and pineapple for 25,000 VND.

The highlight is a passing funeral parade that has some difficulties bending down so that the coffin they carry (photo of young male on it) fits underneath an overhead pole.

At around midday it is very hot so most of us head back to the floating customs shed 'waiting room' that has WCs, AC & TV with BBC. The staff from the boat have abandoned us and neglected to tell us about this more comfortable waiting place.

After about 1 ¼ hours we are finally told to take our bags off the boat and up the steep steps to have them very casually scanned and then put them back on a different boat. I first have to get mine back of the other boat as a crew member is keen on putting my bag onto the Cambodian boat before it is scanned. In retrospect this would have been fine as they did not scan my backpack and didn’t check the boat. Chaos is again evident at every step of the way.

The steps from the boat landing to the customs hall are very steep, the big bags, present a real challenge and while everyone else is about mid 20’s with back packs I’m alone with my little wheel on bag. Before heading back onto the new boat I pick up my passport from the pile of passports strewn on the table.

The new boat is not as comfortable, luggage piled into the centre, hard wooden benches and a little section at the back that has a WC. The other passengers seem to be mostly very young Danish, German, French, some people from the UK and a couple of Australians. It looks like our boat has combined with other groups for the last leg of the journey. A group of 4 young Danes have not been given their passports with a promise that they will be given to them at the Cambodian check point.

We are now given Cambodian Immigration and customs forms to fill out and about 20 minutes down river we pull in to the Cambodian check point. The steps are as steep but the experience less chaotic and the Immigration compound does have a Cambodian look and feel about it.

Back on the boat with some guy offering 2,200 Reil for 10,000 VND but he has few takers. There is a lady seeling snacks, soft drinks, water and beer. The trip inside Cambodia is not quite as interesting. The river is wider and there is much less river traffic or activity along the banks.

It takes about 3 ½ hours to get to the point where we dock in Cambodia at 1700 hrs. The boat pulls over to a very long and dodgy wooden plank, high above the water with no hand rails and no offer of assistance given to help people carry their bags. It is quite a perilous little walk along the wooden plank onto dry land.

Up some muddy steps and through a home and shed to where there are 3 mini vans waiting. I ask about a drop off at my PP hotel or a taxi but neither is available.

Our luggage is again treated with contempt and crammed into any space that it can be forced to occupy. I rescue mine from being jammed into a space under under a seat that was far too small for it.

The drive into the Sinh Café hotel takes another 1 ½ hours but at least there is no request for payment (as I was told in HCMC – US$5 for the transfer). The hotel looks quite OK (from the outside) and the first night is offered free as a bonus but it is a long way to the river. I quickly find a Tuk Tuk and negotiate down from US$5 to US$4 (after attempts at US$3 are unsuccessful) and fortunately my river front hotel (booked 3 months in advance) has a copy of my reservationa and a room for me.

The river trip was interesting enough but the boat was quite uncomfortable and I would recommend considering the option of a faster boat but perhaps booked in Chau Doc rather then through Sinh Café. That way you may be able to still fit in the morning tour programme and still get a faster boat after that. At one stage the guy that arranged the Cambodian visas was picked up by a small aluminium speed boat that quickly disappeared off into the distance.

Kingston, Australia
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1. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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Did the Danes get their passports back without any hassles?

Australia
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2. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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Yes, they got them back at the Cambodian Immigration check point.

They took it very well and were quite calm .... compared to what I would have been like in a similar situation.

I tend to get a very nasty case of seperation anxiety if I'm ever parted from my passport and feel quite twitchy when I see my passport just thrown on a bench with twenty others and people going through them.

Québec (Montérégie)
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3. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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I have read your reviews with great interest. Very well done. We will live something similar in july with our family. Thank you to share your experiences.

Gyor, Hungary
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4. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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Another great report !

I love to read your reports!

If you could climb up on that stairs you deserved for a stamp in your passport !!!

It made me laugh when you mentioned that stairs!

Crazy, one of my fellow traveller almost got a heart attach when he realised he had to climb up on that stairs especially on the Cambodian side ( he was more than 65 years old ) but at the end we could managed to push him up and we had a good laugh.

France
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5. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
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Stekmer,

Great reports - thank you for your informative writings.

We were just about to book the same tour with Sinh Cafe, so quite happy that i found your reports before we did.

Thanks again

6. Re: Sinh Cafe Mekong Delta Tour - Day 3 Chau Doc to Phnom Penh

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