We checkout and catch the 9am bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh. It’s a pretty good bus, but strangely we are two of only four non-Asian Passengers on the full bus. But that’s good, we love watching the local people go about their days and exchanging laughs with them. We get under way and get to the border fairly quickly. There is a bit of confusion at the border crossing but we get to the right desk (as we have e-visas), but we have to leave our passports there whilst we have lunch. Not the best situation, but we get them back afterwords without any problem. It’s a shame Asian travel staff don’t give more information during stages like this, as we and a Japanese guy who also had an e-visa weren’t entirely sure what was going on.

After a nice lunch we get back on the bus and head into Cambodia. The landscape changes also immediately with the character of Cambodia coming through. We pass through many traditional villages and Cambodia’s position as a developing company is obvious. We unexpectedly stop at a ferry terminal. A quick check of the map shows that we are at the Mekong River. It’s a massive span and there is no bridge. A few people come up to the bus to sell their items, including fried bugs.

So the bus practically slides down the mud bank to the ferry. Once across the river the bus makes it up the muddy bank and we get back on the road.

As we get close to Phnom Penh we notice the roads are flooded with the water just sitting on the roads. We’ve seen a lot of heavy rain recently and we hope it gets better when we get to Angkor Wat in a few days.

Once inside the city the rains fall even more heavily. We get to the stopping point and shelter from the rain in the bus companies cafe. Abs checks a room in the bus companies guesthouse but it’s not very good. We decide to get a tuk-tuk to a recommended guesthouse. The pushy tuk-tuk driver actually turns out to be a nice guy and we take a look at the guesthouse we recommends. We try to avoid guesthouses listed in guidebooks as we try to spread our money around.

The guesthouse is good, and the staff are really friendly. There are a lot of people staying at the Okay Guesthouse and we chat to a few. It’s nice to be out of the rain. Cambodian people are proving to be helpful and honest so far, which we didn’t expect.

Up early for a bus to the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon. The tunnels are where the Viet Cong hid during the American-Vietnam war. On route the bus stops at a workshop where handicapped people of the area make handicrafts for tourists.

Onto the tunnels where we notice we have been charged 80,000Dong for entry, and yet it seems that the price is 65,000Dong. I question it, but the guide is useless, and no-one else seems to care. Oh well…..

Inside the center we watch a video in which the narrator takes immense glory in glamorizing how many Americans where slaughtered during the war. We notice there are a few Americans in the audience. We get shown around several features which are interesting. Mainly these are tiny access holes for the tunnels systems and the tunnels themselves.

We also stop at a tank. Some people pay for ridiculously overpriced bullets (4 bullets for $12) and fire them on the driving range. It is incredibly loud and we watch, but I hate guns and keep my money in my pocket. The tour is a bit like following sheep, something we don’t like and we are a bit tired of it, but we do get the chance to descend into the tunnels and walk along a section. I’m a bit unsure at first as I’m likely to get stuck, but once in I shuffle along and it turns out to be a good experience.

The tour ends and we are herded back onto the bus and back to Saigon.

We grab some lunch and I’m not feeling so good, but some sugary drinks sorts me out and we head to the Reunification Palace. We’re a bit disappointed when we get there as the building looks like a modern government headquarters, and not the historic building left as it was in 1975 when the tanks from Hanoi arrived. We decide to take a look inside anyway and pay our $1 entry fee. The building is used as offices for several organizations, but we soon find that upstairs are rooms used during the war that are left as they were. We walk around and find lots of other interesting rooms.

But the best part comes when we descend into the basement. The dark and stuffy rooms are full of radio equipment, maps, typewriters, offices and even a jeep and car. The basement has been the highlight of this visit, despite the whole thing looking a bit uninteresting at first.

After the palace we head towards the market to try and get some souvenirs and other bits. We can’t find much that we haven’t already seen and just get a few essentials.

We stop at a big electronics store to try and buy a new camera for me. They don’t have the model I am after (Canon Powershot G9). We try a few more stores, but the camera doesn’t come with a warranty, which is the problem I’m had at other places in Vietnam.

We head back to the hotel stopping for dinner along the way.

We say goodbye to our very nice room and have a late and long breakfast waiting for our 13:30 bus to Saigon.

On the bus we settle into the back seat and get some sleep. The heavens open on the trip and we see the heaviest rain for some time. This delays us a bit and we arrive in Saigon an hour late, but the bus drops us right in to Pham Ngu Lao, the traveler region, which is very handy indeed. I chat to an Australian lady briefly before getting off the bus, who lives here teaching English, and she gives some good tips for the region.

Off the bus we grab out things, and notice the manager from our guesthouse in Mui Ne has traveled on the bus with us, strange. We take a walk, go a few blocks and find a nice hotel that will do nicely. We settle into our room with a bit of TV. We feel like take away, and I find a Pizza place and grab a handful of drinks to take back to the room.

We jump on the motorbike and head down to the beach we saw yesterday. The tide is really high and there is barely any beach left. Mui Ne is a nice little town, but it’s been disappointing that we can’t find any nice places to swim. The winds are strong and this seems to make the beaches smaller.

Disappointed we head east again and try to find the Fairy Spring. After a couple of wrong turns I ask a travel agent and he points just around the corner. Right by the lane to the spring is a ‘bike keeper’, run by a few enterprising lads. We leave the bike there, and 2 of the lads take us down to the stream.

We walk up the stream for about 1 kilometre. The young lads show us lots of things along the way including springs and quick sand. We have to climb around a few rock faces before we come to the waterfall, which really isn’t very impressive. We head back stopping to get wet at a smaller waterfall which is a bit more accessible. It’s hot and the waterfall is exactly what we need. We walk back down the stream taking photos. As we near the end of the stream the lads ask for money, saying that the bigger boys will take it off them if we pay them back at the bike. I give them 50,000Dong to share between them. Naturally they ask for more, 100,000Dong each. I laugh and say no. They persist, so I take the money back off them and walk away. They then say OK, 50,000Dong is fine, so I give it back. We pay for the bike and leave.

I ask the lads about somewhere good to swim and they point us in the direction of the beach we tried earlier. We head back that way, but the tide is still too high. We see another bigger stretch of sand in the distance. We ride as close as we can, getting lost in a few bigger resorts. We see one guy who suggests we follow him down a lane. We follow, and the lane turns really rocky. Eventually we make it down to the beach side, but the waves are strong and we only stop for a few minutes before heading off.

We go back to the hotel and relax for the afternoon. I buy our bus tickets for tomorrow to take us to Saigon.

Our room last night was a bit below par, so first thing we take a walk and look at a place we looked at last night. We come back, grab our bags and get some breakfast. We feel much happier in our new room.

We relax for a while and set off for a swim. But, the wind is so strong that there is no sandy beach left, and it is certainly too dangerous to swim. A bit deflated we decide to rent a motorbike, something that is always fun.

Our bike is a bit battered, but we head off full of enthusiasm. We ride right down to the local fishing village, as far as we can go. The views are good, although a little windy. We turn around and ride back towards Phat Thien. The town is pretty small and we seem to ride right through it. We go back and watch a photo shoot on the beach for what looks like a music video.

We jump on the bike and stop for some souvenir shopping. Then back to the hotel for food and sleep.