During our two weeks in Vietnam, we experienced several modes of transportation. We flew twice, took a train once, utilized a taxi service called Grab (think Lyft or Uber), and took a bus from HCMC to Phenh Phom.
Our flights were on the low-cost airline VietJet. I would say VietJet is typical for any low-cost airline you would take in the U.S or Europe – low fares with no extras. The most interesting aspect of flying was the airport in Hue.
Beautiful, modern airport but almost no air traffic. The morning of our flight, the only plane we saw was the one we took to HCMC.
We took the train from Danang to Hue (cost 278,000 VND / $11.26). The trip is about 100 km (~62 miles) and it took 3 1/2 hours. Not a fast train like you may find in Japan, China, or Europe. The people on the train were mostly locals and a few tourists like Nancy and me.
We took the bus from HCMC to Phnom Phen (a trip of about 225km and a duration of 7 hrs) as it was the most efficient method. The cost was 1,400,000 VND or about $56 for both of us. We booked the ride in a smaller coach with seating for 16 passengers.
We used VET Air Bus Express and they proved to be quite efficient. There were ample rest stops in route and they processed us through Vietnamese immigration and facilitated our Cambodian visa at the border (cost $40/each). The only think a little un-nerving was turning over our passports to Cambodian authorities for visa processing. We were taken to a restaurant in Cambodia to wait, without our passports. This appears to be the standard procedure, but Nancy was not comfortable being separated from her passport.
Happy to report we received our passports about 30 minutes after arriving at the restaurant. We were legally in Cambodia and onto our final destination, Phnom Phen.