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After we finished our picnic in part 1, we hopped back on the road towards the Vietnam border.
We knew the road well, even though we had never been all the way to the border before, but because there was a beach we used to visit just 15 minutes from the border.
🛂 Border Bound 🛃
As we approached the border, our road guest received a Vietnamese cellular signal, and an SMS notification promptly followed. Apparently, the real purpose of the trip was simply to receive this crucial SMS which contained some kind of important banking information.
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Having gone that far, I still wanted to take the family to the border and let them briefly enter Vietnam, both for the stamps and because they had never been. I also knew this would be an excellent people watching opportunity, one of my favorite hobbies.
We were stopped at the first post on the Cambodian side, which all persons not entering Vietnam are not allowed beyond. It was at this time I flattered the police with my fluent Khmer, curious on how far they might let me escort the family to the actual border.
👨🚀 Enter the Twilight Zone 🌌
I had long known the border with Vietnam is much more porous and undefined than the border with Thailand, so I was really interested to see how close I could get to the last point of Cambodian contact.
I should mention I had no ID of any kind on me, and no visa to enter Vietnam, which all Americans are required to obtain in advance when traveling by land. I really just wanted to save the family a long hot walk and also do some "peoplewatching" at a border checkpoint.
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I clearly let the Cambodian police know our guest would be staying at the first checkpoint, while I would park at Vietnam gate and sleep in the tuk-tuk while the family goes across to get their first passport stamps and some Vietnamese goods.
I was so surprised to be granted permission to go all the way to the Vietnamese police without any ID of any kind. With the family's visa forms filled out and Cambodian exit stamps given, we sat off the for the final checkpoint.
🤔 In Vietnam or Not? 🤫
It was hard to tell after leaving the Cambodian exit checkpoint exactly where Cambodia would end and Vietnam would begin, so we made forward progress slowly, stopping at a garden in the median of the road to take selfies.
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Surprisingly, when we were in the garden, we looked left and right and saw small concrete markers spaced evenly disappearing into the horizon. This was clearly the "border," or was it? Either way we were already on the Vietnam side of the markers on the far end of the garden.
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We drove through the second set of Vietnam arches in the above photo on the left, and shortly after encountered the first Vietnamese police checkpoint. They spoke Khmer and let me park my Bajaj in the grove of shadetrees you can see behind the arch in the above photo on the left.
The above photo on the right was taken from @Sreypov's phone on the other side of the fence from where I was allowed to park and rest. You can barely see the top of this building in the photo on the left.
👋 Bye Family 👩👧👧
Before I knew it, they disappeared into the some glass doors, and were in Vietnam with no cell phone service, no Vietnamese Dong, no map and no plan.
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I waited impatiently in the Bajaj, trying to rest a bit while also enjoying watching the encounters with the Vietnamese check point officer. I didn't dare take a picture during this time, as I was being watched with great curiosity by the Vietnamese border guard.
@Sreypov managed to purchase some soymilks and catch some shade for awhile despite the language barrier. She was born in Thailand, has lived and worked there and speaks Thai, so Vietnam was her first truly strange new land experience.
🥰 Reunited 🤗
After three long hours the family returned with some cool stories to tell and some stamps to show off.
Surprised we still had enough time left in the day for one more adventure, we headed back towards the Cambodian checkpoint to pick up our road guest and head to one last destination before going back home to Kampot.
Stay tuned for part 3 and an explanation for the "future god" thing.
🙏 THANKS FOR READING 🙏
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That looks like an awesome adventure... too bad you had to stick behind and wait for them. 😶
I had already been a few times before, plus I think it would've cost me $60 just to cross over for 5 minutes. Part of the fun was letthing briefly be tourists in a foreign land without me to help a bit. It was an awesome learning experience.
Congratulations @justinparke! Your post brought a smile to the TravelFeed team so we have sent you a smiley. Keep up the good job. 🙂
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