Viet Nam bound

It's 8:19 am Saturday morning and I'm on the bus headed to Viet Nam. Wish me luck! In line for the ferry to cross the Mekong River, kids and salesfolk line the street offering sunglasses, lotus fruit and empty hands. A child weaves through the buses and trucks leading a blind man. They all bang on the luggage doors of the bus to get your attention. If you open the window, it's a swarm of hands and offerings. Once on the ferry, full of trucks and buses, one enterprising (or hungry, not sure which) kid has climbed up to the second floor of the ferry. Bird's eye view, he's scoping out who has yet to eat the snacks the bus company provides passengers. He knocks on every window and points to his mouth, a plea for food. With the first package passed to him through an open window, however, he pockets a croissant and drops the remaining snacks to the floor. Onto the second box, he passes it to a buddy just down the stairs. And with the third, he finally opens and eats a croissant. I can't tell if he's hungry, sharing food with family or hording stuff to sell.

Horns function as signals here, used more than turn signals themselves. Before passing, everyone honks a time or seven. Motos, trucks, pedestrians, all are honked at, seemingly as a form of etiquette.

If headed from Phnom Penh to Saigon, by all means take the Mekong Express bus. For $12 and a 7 am departure, the borders and visa process is a breeze. On the bus, the attendant takes your passports just after offering you a snack and water. You cross the Cambodian border about 11 am, your passport stamped and exit photo taken. The attendant gathers the passports again along with your entry card into Viet Nam. Then still on the bus almost at the Viet Nam border, a doctor entered the bus to take our temperatures. Granted, only foreigners are subjected to the procedure. I guess H1N1 has people on heightened security. Check. None showing fever, although oddly enough the local kid in the row behind me has puked three times so far. Gather your baggage and on to Vietnamese customs. Again, the attendant handles the process, all of us waiting for our names to be called. Check, check. Next running your bag through the scanner, and a final check of your passport, and welcome to Viet Nam! The border done in 40 minutes, and you're back on the bus. Little hassle, no trouble. Nice.