Getting from Phenom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City

We decided to take the bus into Vietnam, and went with a company called Mekong Express Limousine. I'm not sure where the 'limousine' part comes in but it was a good company to travel with. We were picked up in a van that I was sure wouldn't last the trip to the bus stop  . Before we boarded the bus we were given luggage tags which had to be handed back when we picked up our bags at the other end. Our visas for Vietnam were checked to ensure they were valid before we got on the bus.  Once on the bus it was allocated seating and we were quite near the back. It wasn't ideal but it was fine. There was a toilet on board which was useful as we only had one stop other than at the border. 

 Our lunch stop was wired, there were no menus you just went up, said what you wanted and they cooked it for you. I had some noodles and veggies, Shaun didn't eat as he wasn't feeling too good. 

Just after lunch we reached the border and had to get off the bus. We lined up to leave Cambodia. I was the first westerner to go through at our booth, I had to get my photo taken and be finger printed. No one else did! Then we got back on the bus (handing our passports to one of the bus company people) and drove a few meters to the Vietnamese border.  We had to take all our belongings off the bus and through immigration. We got inside and the lady from Mekong Express went up and got all our passports sorted then called our names and we could go through. We were waiting quite a while,then Shaun's name was called. I thought I had to be soon, we had handed our passports in together. I waited and waited. I couldn't see Shaun anymore and was starting to get a little concerned. Did the fact that I got fingerprinted have anything to do with why mine was taking so long?!? Finally she called my name and I was through and back into Vietnam :)  

The rest of our bus journey was fairly uneventful. 

When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City we didn't know where we were in regards to where we were staying. Vietnam doesn't seem to have tuk tuks like other places, just taxis.  We decided to get a taxi. BAD IDEA! The guy pretty much grabbed us as we got off the bus. Just after we got into the car and had driven off he asked if we had VND with us. We didn't and has thought we could pay in USD. He insisted that we had to pay in dong so would take us to a money changer. We didn't think that would be a good idea so said ATM. He agreed and took us a very long way to get to an ATM. When we finally got to our street he didn't actually know which one was our hotel and drove past it. I had to point it out to him. When we stopped the meter read 798,000VND which is about $40NZD! We had been driving for maybe 20mins. I said too expensive. He then locked the doors and wouldn't let us out until we paid.  I was furious! 

But what really really annoyed me was when we went out to find dinner and literally around the block was the friggen bus stop! It would have taken us 5mins to walk even with all our stuff! 

Be very careful when using taxis in Ho Chi Minh City, there are a couple of companies our hotel recommended. They are VINASUN or MAI LINN. In contrast our taxi to the train station which took a good 30 mins and we actually went somewhere cost 78,000 VND with a very helpful driver.