Sunday 23rd October 2023
I couldn’t find any public transport options to take us up to (or through) the Ha Tien border crossing into Vietnam. So we got a tuk tuk – yesterday’s driver had agreed to do it for $12 and it’s around a 45 minute journey.
I was a little apprehensive about the border crossing, as had read some horror stories of corrupt border officials demanding money for various made up things. When we arrived, we were immediately accosted by a guy on a motorbike who wanted to take us to our hotel at the other side – I have no idea how he was planning on fitting both of us plus our big rucksacks on his bike! We declined and after some persistence managed to get rid of him!
We walked to the border crossing, where a couple of guards sat on a table outside. Showed them our passports, they flicked through, handed them back, then ushered us through the gate.
Once inside it wasn’t immediately clear where we were meant to go. Someone pointed us inside a building, which looked like an abandoned airport security area. We walked past the dusty security scanners to a desk with a border official, and waited as he took his time to give us an exit stamp for Cambodia.
Then it was back out the building, and down a strip of what I think much have been no man’s land (we’d officially exited Cambodia but not yet entered Vietnam). More motorbikes approached, again wanting to take us to our hotel, and drive slowly alongside us as we repeatedly said no thank you.
After a couple of minutes walk, we reached another gate where a Vietnamese border guard was checking passports. On the other side we’re two buildings, it wasn’t at all obvious where we were meant to go but we eventually figured out the one on the right hand side of the road was for entry to Vietnam (with the left hand side building used for those exiting the country).
Inside the building was a single guy behind a glass panel, who was on the phone. We patiently waited. Then a local came in, cut in front of us, and pushed their ID card through the window. A couple of minutes later, another local did the same. The border guard ignored us all, and continued his phone call. After a few minutes, although still on the phone, he processed the ID cards that had been pushed through and those people left. We passed through our passports, displayed our e-visas on our phone, and got our stamps. It was actually very quick and easy!
Behind the next desk, was someone checking Covid vaccination status. This is the first time we’d been asked for proof of vaccination, but we both had our NHS passes to hand. He briefly glanced at them, then filled in a form which we had to sign and then tore off the bottom section (which was handed back to us with our passports).
Next we had to put our bags through the security scanner. The guy wandered off as they were half way through, so we weren’t quite sure what to do. We loitered for a minute in case he came back (he didn’t) and then made the assumption we could continue on our way.
Outside was a gate to exit the border crossing compound, and yet another passport and visa check. This one only took a few seconds, and then we had officially entered Vietnam! It was actually very quick (no queues at all) and stress free.
Just past the border, we were immediately surrounded by people trying to get us to take very over-priced motorbikes or taxis (mainly motorbikes though! There was only one taxi) into town. We were going to use Grab, but after finding out it doesn’t work in Ha Tien were forced to negotiate with them (we didn’t fancy the 3km walk in the midday heat, with all our luggage). We agreed on 200,000 VND, about $8 and 3 times as much as it should’ve cost but we didn’t have a lot of choice.
We checked into Sele House, where we were staying. This was definitely one of the nicer places we’ve stayed (it had proper air conditioning and both the room and bathroom were large and clean), but also one of the most expensive at £18 for the night.
After dropping our bags, and having a little catch up on our blogs, we set our to explore Ha Tien. It’s a little seaside town, so first we walked down to the sea and walked along the water.
We then made our way towards the central market area. It was quite interesting to wander around, so many different types of different fresh produce (including some huuuuge grapes, which we later returned to buy a bunch!).
There was some intermittent rain – not torrential, but very big drops and the air felt very humid, so we went in search of a cafe or bar to get a drink and relax. This was harder than it sounds. The whole town was practically deserted and even the places that said they were open didn’t appear to be serving. We eventually found somewhere, bought a couple of soft drinks, and chilled out for a short while.
We’d not eaten yet today so went for an early dinner. By this time, the town was starting to liven us. We later learned that afternoon is nap time, and no one really goes out or does anything then – everyone does things early morning or in the evening to avoid the heat of the daytime sun.
We ate at Hủ tiếu mì Hà My, a place with no menu (or possibly it was in Vietnamese so they knew we wouldn’t understand it) and no English. The owner grabbed a handful of noodles and gestured to us, we nodded. He held up two fingers, we nodded. A little while later, two bowls of steaming hot broth with noodles and beef (and possibly some pork I think…) appeared in front of us. The broth was delicious – very light and fragrant. The beef was big chunks of meat, bone, fat, gristle and all. It was very tender though.
Just round the corner from Hủ tiếu mì Hà My is a little shop selling Bahn Mi. They also appear to be a bakery. There were huge queues of people and constant streams of motorbikes arriving, and most people left with huge bags of bread rolls. As it was so popular, we decided to give it a go. I’m glad we did, the bread was hot from the outside and some of the best bread I’ve tasted. This place isn’t on google maps, clearly just a shop for locals, but you’ll recognise it by the long queues outside.
We then walked back to our hotel for an early night. Tomorrow morning we get the bus to Can Tho.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 