Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GETTING TO VIETNAM: PHNOM PENH TO CHAU DOC
The most scenic way to end your travels in Cambodia is to sail the Mekong to Kaam Samnor, about
100km south-southeast of Phnom Penh, cross the border to Vinh Xuong in Vietnam, and proceed to
Chau Doc on the Tonlé Bassac River via a small channel or overland. Chau Doc has onward land and
river connections to points in the Mekong Delta and elsewhere in Vietnam.
Various companies do trips all the way through to Chau Doc using a single boat or some combina-
tion of bus and boat; prices vary according to speed and level of service.
Delta Adventure Co
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
( 012733191;
www.deltaadventure.info
;
US$23) departs Phnom
Penh at 8am,
Capitol Tour
( 023-217627; 14 St 182; US$23) departs at 8am and
Hang Chau
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
( 0888787871; US$24) departs at noon, while the more upmarket
www.bluecruiser.com
;
US$35) pulls out at 1.30pm.
Victoria Hotels
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(
www.victoriahotelsasia.com
; US$97) also has a boat making several runs a week between Phnom
Penh and its Victoria Chau Doc Hotel. These companies take about four hours, including a slow bor-
der check, and use a single boat to Chau Doc. Backpacker guesthouses and tour companies offer
cheaper bus/boat combo trips. All boats depart from Phnom Penh's
tourist boat dock
(93 Sisowath
Quay) .
You can go it alone, but it won't save you much money (if any). Make your own way overland to
Neak Luong, on the Mekong east of Phnom Penh, and look for the pier about 300m south of the ferry
landing on the west bank of the Mekong. From the pier a slow morning passenger boat departs around
9am for Kaam Samnor. Or hire a speedboat (US$50, one hour). In Vinh Xuong, local Vietnamese
transport waits to transfer you to Chau Doc, an hour away.
BOAT
Fast boats up the Tonlé Sap to Siem Reap and down the Mekong to Chau Doc, Vietnam,
operate from the
tourist boat dock
(93 Sisowath Quay)
at the eastern end of St 104. Services
also run to Chau Doc and the Mekong Delta (
Click here
)
. Public boats up the Mekong to
Kompong Cham and Kratie stopped running years ago.
The fast boats to Siem Reap (US$35, five to six hours) aren't as popular as they used to
be. When it costs just US$6 for an air-conditioned bus or US$35 to be bundled on the roof
of a boat, it is not hard to see why. It is better to save your boat experience for elsewhere
in Cambodia. Several companies have daily services departing at 7am and usually take it
in turns to make the run. The first stretch of the journey along the river is scenic, but once
the boat hits the lake, the fun is over as it resembles a vast inland sea with not a village in
sight. The boats to Siem Reap run from roughly late July to late March (water levels are
too low at other times).
LAND
