Siem Reap is love. I love the people, the simplicity of life and the great food. But after three days of fun adventures, we needed to move further to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Crossing Southeast Asia land borders is simple and stress-free when you’re
a citizen of one of the ASEAN member states. With the visa free policies around Southeast Asian nations, we literally passed by the immigration counters
swiftly.
We purchased our overnight sleeper bus ticket from Siem Reap to Ho Chi
Minh through Happy Guesthouse for US$20 each and will be crossing the Bavet/Moc
Bai border.
Actual Timeline of our sleeper bus ride from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Ho
Chi Minh, Vietnam
20:00 – We were collected from the guesthouse by the tour company.
20:15 – We were transported to the meeting point at the Old Market where other passengers were waiting.
21:00 – We boarded the sleeper bus.
21:30 – The sleeper bus left Siem Reap and I snoozed right away.
 |
| Sleeper bus or not, I can totally snooze it away |
01:00 – We were awakened at Phnom Penh for a bus transfer (sleeper bus again).
01:00 – The second sleeper bus left Phnom Penh.
09:30 – We arrived at the Bavet border and had our passports stamped at
the Cambodian immigration before crossing to Vietnam. The bus waited for us as
we did this.
 |
| Bavet Border |
09:45 – The bus dropped us off at Vietnam immigration office and filled
out necessary documents. We eased our way through the visa-free counter and had
our bags scanned. We waited for the others to finish. Vietnamese visas (for
non-ASEAN citizens) must be arranged in advance.
10:15 – We crossed the Moc Bai border and headed to Siem Reap with some
toilet stops on the way.
13:30 – We arrived at Ho Chi Minh City. Tired. Sleepy. Famished.
Eighteen hours. That much time. The sleeper bus was an experience in
itself. And now we’re ready to conquer Saigon!
Hello! Great to hear your experience there. By the way, what company runs the bus? And what facilities do they have in the bus? Did you have problems there?
ReplyDeleteThanks.
We just booked from our guesthouse and didn't exactly know the bus company. It was a sleeper bus without a toilet so that was a problem.
DeleteHi! I am also asking the same thing. What is the bus company? I tried to ask the hostel that I'll be staying if they know some sleeper bus going to HCM. Too bad he doesn't know any.
ReplyDeleteTry going to Happy Guesthouse and book a sleeper bus there. It comes with free hotel pick-up :)
DeleteVery detailed and informative post. Grabe 18hrs pala ang travel time from Siem Reap to HCMC. Kala ko 10-12hrs lang. Huhu. Mukhang tatanggalin namin ang HCMC sa IT namin.
ReplyDeleteYes. Medyo haggard nga siya JC. Hehe
DeleteHi, I was wondering if you heard of any sleeper bus going from HCM to Siem Reap (instead of Phnom Penh). Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteYep Cindy. There are many bus operators that are plying on that route :)
DeleteHello! Your post was very helpful. Just a quick question, I read that taking an overnight bus from Cambodia to Vietnam is quite dangerous, that the roads are rough.Do you experience any of this? Thanks!! :D
ReplyDeleteHi there! I have't had any problems at all as I slept all throughout the journey. So the roads from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh are probably fine by now :)
DeleteThanks so much!:)
DeleteMeron po bang stop over along the way bukod po sa bus transfer para po makapag washroom?
ReplyDeleteThere are certain toilet and meal stops naman :)
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ReplyDeleteHi san exact location sa saigon kayo binaba ng bus? At sa disctrict1 ka ba dpat mag stay sa saigon? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteHi there clarkk! The terminus was on a bus station along Pham Ngu Lao :)
DeletePlanning to go there by end of Oct. Till first week of Nov. I was looking for lots of articles about the Visa and then finally found the answer. If Filipino citizen pala walang Visa. Wahaha grabe praning ko kakahanap ng answer. 😊
ReplyDeleteHi Leigh! Philippine passport holders are visa-free on Southeast Asian countries (except East Timor) :)
DeleteHi! so after having your passport stamped at the Cambodian immigration sumakay ulit kayo ng bus? then binaba kayo sa Vietnam immigration office? how far is Cambodian immigration from Vietnam immigration?did you bring your bags with you or you left it at the bus? afterwards, did the bus waited for you on the other side (vietnam) sorry curious lang :P
ReplyDeleteAfter Cambodian Immigration, the bus waited for us. Then after a 5-minute bus ride, we were dropped off at the Vietnam side of the border. We brought our bags with us as these were needed to pass through the x-ray. And then a new bus waited for us for our Vietnam transfer :)
Deletehi :) anu ano po kaya ang mga babayaran po dun once magcross na ng phom phen? salamat po
ReplyDeletethanks
regie
Wala kasi visa-free tayo sa Cambodia :) Unless mag stay longer ka.
DeleteHello were planning to go to ho chi minh city from siem reap this October, and would like to know kung available pa din ang route na ito. Many Thanks
ReplyDeleteHello were planning to go to ho chi minh city from siem reap this October, and would like to know kung available pa din ang route na ito? Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is :)
Delete