How To Travel from Cambodia to Vietnam for $10

Under $10? What...on a push cart? Well, as is so often the case, you can spend a great deal of money to go the tourist style, or if you know where to look, you can get almost the same service for very little and meet new folks in the process. Yes, there are several international border crossings between Cambodia and Vietnam. You MUST have a Visa...but getting a Visa for Vietnam while you are in Cambodia is very easy and your travel agent/hotel desk can do it for you quickly.

Step 1:

Bavet, Cambodia - Moc Bai, Vietnam. Air-conditioned buses from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City will cost you $10. This takes you through the Moc Bai crossing. The road between Phnom Penh and Moc Bai is in very good condition except for a short ferry crossing. The bridge over the Mekong River at Neak Luong town is still under construction. There is no bus change at the border so even if the wait can be long at the ferry crossing during special holidays and peak hours, you don't have the inconvenience of transferring from one bus to the other. By the way...take water, cookies, a flashlight and whatever else is in your "just-in-case" kit.

Step 2:

Kaam Samnor, Cambodia - Ving Xuong, Vietnam. This option is a do it yourself one. From Phnom Penh, take a shared taxi ($3) or bus east on Route 1 to Neak Loeung where you take a ferry ($3) down the Mekong to the Kaam Samnor crossing where you exit Cambodia (quite a procedure). Take a motodup to Vietnamese immigration and enter Vietnam. From this crossing, take a motodup to Chau Doc, a great river's edge Vietnamese city with a few very good hotels, just a couple of kilometers away. Stay overnight or go to the central market and catch a mini-van to Ho Chi Minh City. Some guesthouses and travel agents offer daily transport packages from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc by bus and ferry for just $8....and it is a great adventure.

Step 3:

Phnom Den, Cambodia-Tinh Bien, Vietnam. From Phsar Domkor in Phnom Penh take a shared taxi to Phnom Den in Takeo Province. This will cost you $10. Walk across the border to Tien Bien and you are in Vietnam. From Tien Bien, take a bus to Chau Doc, about 10 kilometers north, where you can catch a minivan to Ho Chi Minh City.

Step 4:

Prek Chak, Cambodia - Xaxia, Vietnam. Often referred to as the Ha Tien Crossing, this provides easy access when you are staying in Kampot or Kep. A motodup from Kampot will cost you $10. You just c