Boat to Battambang

Knowing that I was going to be taking two long bus rides in the next couple of days in order to get to Saigon, I decided to splurge and go for the boat ride from Siem Reap to Battambang. The travel agent said that it only would take an hour more than the bus, about 5 hours in total and I trusted her against my better judgement. In fact the boat – that was supposed to leave at 7am but didn't push off until 8:30 – didn't arrive in Battambang until almost 5:30pm!! 'Twas a looooong ride. Luckily it was also incredibly scenic so despite my numb bum on arrival, it was a lovely day. Floating villages were the sight of the day and they did not disappoint.

If anything the sight of these floating villages made me want to finally do my Mekong Delta tour even more! Sadly it will still not be possible this time around since I won't make it into Vietnam for a few more days. The reason for my detour to Battambang is a visit to the Vietnamese consulate here. The Vietnamese government changed their visa policies on January first and I had not planned ahead for this. Travel agencies are now only offering 15-day tourist visas (instead of 1-month and 3-month ones) and this would mean that I would have to pay 40$ every 15 days in Vietnam to renew my visa for the next 4 months! Getting a visa-on-arrival approval letter for a 3-month visa only works if you arrive to Vietnam by plane. Strangely plane tickets between Phnom Penh and Saigon cost almost 200$ even though the flight is only an hour. According the the sketchy and fragmented information I've gathered so far, the consulate in Battambang might be able to help me sort out this whole mess. I certainly hope so! That shall be my mission tomorrow!