I am beginning to despair re our chances of leaving Ho Chi Minh City by bus/car in the early afternoon and actually making it to our destination (Phnom Penh) the same day. It seems we may have to do this via a couple of hired car-and-drivers (one each side of the border) and an independent crossing of the border at Moc Tai/Bavet. This would involve stopping overnight somewhere en-route.

There appears to be nowhere to spend the night at Bavet, so the idea seems to be to find cheap transport from the border to Svay Rieng and settle there for the night. My two questions are:

1. Has anybody any knowledge of the hotel/guest house situation in this town?

2. Is there cheap bus transport available the following morning going to Phnom Penh (so that we'll arrive well before lunch), and, if so, how long is this part of the journey liable to take?

Thanks for all help.... and for any tips on how to handle the problem of getting transport from HCMC to the border, and from the border onwards to Svay Rieng.

Maybe sending this back to the top will help.....

Alan, I expect you'd get a quick answer over at the ThornTree, Lonely Planet's board.

Hi, Kathie! Thanks for the advice.... I thought the same, but the query has currently sunk to around page 16 on that fast-moving board!

I'm sorry to hear that, Alan. Reply to your own post there and it will bring it back to the top. I can't believe one of the regulars hasn't responded to your request!