Has anyone been to both Mekong Delta (HCMC, Vietnam) AND Ton Le Sac Lake (Siem Reap, Cambodia)?

Question

Do they differ much? in what way? or are they kind of similar?

Answer 1

Yes I've been to both and they are quite a bit different.  We took a boat up the Mekong from Cai Be (southwest of HCMC) all the way up to Siem Reap.

Both are relatively poor by western standards but it is far more prosperous on the Vietnamese side. Most of the riverside huts have electricity and the towns along the Mekong (like Cai Be and Chau Doc) have banks, restaurants, cars, motorbikes, etc.  As soon as you go over the Cambodian border, the electric lines and antennas disappear and you feel totally disconnected from the rest of the world.  We stopped in Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhannan -- small villages where most people make their living fishing or weaving silk.

Phnom Penh, of course, is a much bigger city just south of the lake.  When you get up to the Tonle Sap lake, it goes back to rural small villages again. Very few cars and mostly just fishing villages.

In both cases, the people are very friendly and hospitable.  My personal feeling was that the Cambodians were more warm and welcoming, and less suspicious of visitors.  (and more curious)

Once you get to Siem Reap, it gets very commercial again.  Lots of modern hotels catering to the temple traffic.  It is more modern than Phnom Penh but much less so than HCMC.

If you can only visit one area, I would recommend the area around the Tonle Sap.  There is good and fast boat service between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh if you would like to see more of Cambodia.

Have fun!

Answer 2

they are the same its a poor 3rd world but its a beautiful country I have been there while serving in the USMC

Answer 3

siem reap is noted for its many ancint temple complexes and is jungle.... mekong  has many rivers , islands and cannals.. it is "water world"... they are nothing alike!?!?!?...

...edit:.".sorry.."..ong" xin loi "co..