PP--> Vietnam!

Three days ago I spent my last day in Phnom Penh, and my last full day in Cambodia. After hours of uploading photos- see below- Brad and I walked around the city, wasted time in the market, went back, walked again and just lounged.

The next morning we caught our boat to Vietnam. It was a 6 hour journey from Phnom Penh south on the muddy Mekong river to the border and on to Chau Doc. Upon entering Vietnam, for the last 1.5 hours, the river narrowed to a small tributary and we passed old stilted houses and children playing in the water. Men washed their water buffalo, women washed the men's clothes, and children washed their frowns off their faces, offering us huge smiles and wildy waving arms. The sun was hot, but so was the scenery. It was fantastic.

We arrived in Chau Doc too late to catch the last bus to Can Tho, so we found a guest house. As we were dodging motos and checking out the street food- all of it DELICIOUS and CHEAP- we happend upon a Honda dealership and as we were scoping out some shiny silver scooters, a man and his cycle rickshaw stopped us.

"What you want?"
"Oh, nothing, just looking at the motos."
"You want moto?"
"Yeah, but cheaper. Second hand. You know where we can find some?"
"Second hand. Yes. My brother-in-law sells his. Come."

So we followed him across the small square to look at the moto that his brother-in-law was indeed eager to sell us, apparently because the new year is an expensive time and he has too many motos and not enough cash. We looked at the bikes not being too serious because he wanted $400 and there was only one. Just as we were making excuses to leave he says, I can find you one more tomorrow. A great salesman, Rick (because of the rickshaw and his complicated multisyllabic real name) convinced us to return the next morning promising he will find another bike.

The next morning we found him and he had three more bikes for us to look at. The original one was by far the nicest, as it was basically new. The same brother-in-law, I think he said he has 10, was selling the other nice one and after viewing all four we decided we liked those two. After some hard bargaining we agreed on a price, paid the men, and received a bill of sell in Vietnamese.

When we went across the street to have the receipt translated for us just to be sure, the man at the English book store told us the name was different on the deed card for the bike and the man that signed the receipt which makes it useless. But this was long after we paid them and they left. Shit.

So now we have bikes that we still think were sold legally to us. The deed cards match the motos' license plates, but the name is different from the bro-in-law who sold them to us. We think they were his own brother's or friend's bikes and he didn't know better than to sell the motos for them and sign the paperwork himself. So we might be screwed if we get pulled over by the police- BESIDES the fact we don't have drivers licenses and technically we are supposed to- and they ask to see our cards.

In practice not everyone has a drivers license so I'm not too worried about that, as for the other paperwork I figure I will let corruption, a good attitude, and my white skin get me out of any police encounters. The biggest threats are to my plans to take my moto into Laos and to sell it back sometime. Brad figures he will just sell it to someone on the black market in Hanoi for less money than we thought or we could forge a new reciept or something. SO stay tuned for that part of the trip!

Today, we rode our new motos the 116km to Can Tho, the closest city to a few of the nations biggest and best morning floating markets. The ride was excellent, good roads, easy steering and shifting and great brakes. I think we did well with our moto choosing. Lunch of a couple bowls of Pho on the way cost a total of $0.66 combined. Plus I got to sing in my helmet the whole way! AND, I've come up with a few names for my red 110CC moto:

First I dubbed her 'Penelope' because thats the name of Odysseus' wife in the Odyssey and she stayed faithful to him while we was on his adventures. So I can be Odysseus and my moto will be Penelope. But then I said but in the epic, his wife is at home not with him on his journey. So I said ok, shes my Intrepid Penelope, or getting slightly more clever, Intrepenelope. Say that 10 times fast. But she has some nicknames. An obvious choice for me that some of my friends will understand is "Afternoon Delight." From Penelope I could add a Cruise (which both sounds like Penelope Cruz the gorgeous actress AND like she cruises because, in fact, she does!). I also like, My Key to Free. Ill take other suggestions and run them by Penelope later if any readers would like to make them! Just leave a comment!


Tomorrow after visiting the markets early in the morning, Brad and I will make our trip to Saigon, 170km away. Braving the chaotic and crowded streets of the metropolis on our motos is a point of excitement and more than a little worry for us, but hopefully we will make it to our couchsurfing host's place unscathed and with a healthier appreciation for the graceful chaos of an Asian cities heavy traffic.