14
February, Go Dau to Svay Rieng (Cambodia), 61km
Women’s Association Guesthouse
60,000KHR ($15)
This
morning we departed Vietnam and entered Cambodia via the Moc Bai/Bavet border post.
On the Vietnamese side of the border chaos reigned with passports being
collected into large piles for processing, and people openly paying bribes to
jump the queue. On the Cambodian side of the border we were interested to find
20 or more casinos. These are apparently forbidden to the Cambodians, being
intended essentially for Vietnamese who are not allowed to gamble in Vietnam. [Both
Cambodia and Laos have responded to Thailand’s ban on gambling by opening casinos
for the Thais just across their respective borders!] The exchange rate, South
African rand to Cambodian (Khmer) riel: ZAR1 = 350KHR. Drawing money for the
first time in Cambodia, we were surprised to be offered both US dollars and KHR
and have since found that the dollar is the de facto currency of Cambodia,
though small change is given in riel. Immediate and noticeable differences
between Vietnam and Cambodia: the people are darker-skinned and poorer ($1,910
GDP per capita in Vietnam vs $1,006 in Cambodia), the streets more littered and
quieter (289 people per square km in Vietnam vs 86 in Cambodia). We cycled a
hot, flat road between fallow brown fields to a guest house overlooking a lake
and dined well at a neighbouring restaurant on grilled fish and ginger chicken.
Leaving Vietnam
Leaving Vietnam
Arriving Cambodia - white lotus
Arriving Cambodia - white lotus