Buses are Bad and Boats are Brill

After a bit of a 'westerner comfort' evening with the lovely Jacqui (who is working in Ho Chi Minh at a local orphanage) - eating Lasagne (CHEESE!) and sitting on a sofa eating apple pie and watching a film! it is time to say goodbye to Ho Chi Minh City. I didn't feel like I had time to get a real feel for the place - it is more chilled than Hanoi but more touristy and western. I am taking a combination of buses and boats to the border of Vietnam and on to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Most of the trip involves floating up the Mekong Delta where we see fabulous floating houses and all sorts of hustle and bustle of community life. It is great on the river, there is the universal language of waving and smiling that transcends all cultures - I make eye contact with one man on his boat for a brief moment and then wonder for a long time afterwards about him and his life. We see coconut candy being made (nothing like what you get in UK - more like toffee), snake wine (Viagra of the Delta!), bees, rice popcorn and a fish farm. Lunch is at a little restaurant that we have to walk through lots of lush tropical foliage to get to and eat the local speciality, Elephant Ear Fish (it is good luck you know!) - see photo for the devoured remains. Nothing eventful in Chau Doc where we overnight, except for lovely seafood (all local, artisinal fisheries so it is ok isn't it?) and then a long boat trip to Phnom Penh. Having taken the 'easy' route', I am with a group of tourists and meet some lovely people again, all on their own different journeys. I am finding it very 'full-on' though to be constantly in the space of others; eating, sleeping, being uncomfortable in the bus with our heads lolling! There is no space and sometimes I just don't want to speak or even see another human being, so I have moments of frustration where I just want to plunge into the river and swim away! I try to learn a few words of the Khmer language, although I am assured that it is just English and US$ everywhere, grrr. I am amazed by the number of people I have met who have not bothered to learn the simple words of 'hello, goodbye, thankyou and please' in the language of the country they are in. I have a dilema of how to long to stay in Phnom Penh and Cambodia, it seems quite chilled here and I should go to Ankor Wat, it is also cheap and a bit touristy but I think I like it. I am worried about missing the boat though and so change my plan slightly which just means I will get longer in Phnom Penh, (2 nights), no time in Battambang (town in more rural area) and a hellish 14 hour bus trip direct to Bangkok - where I aim to arrive Sunday night.

(note about travelling costs so far - I have spent a lot of nights on trains which means no accommodation cost and in SE Asia it is possible to stay in a hostel for 2$US - 10$US. The train from Beijing to Hanoi was about 70 pounds (2 nights accomodation) - would have been less if I bought it myself!, the train from Hanoi to Saigon was 35 pounds including 2 meals and 2 nights accommodation, the bus and boat combo (includuding some food, 2 nights accommodation and tours was 24$US, the bus to Bangkok is 17 $US) Pretty Cheap eh! and compared to many flights, it is very cheap!