The Wild West of Cambodia

I had heard that you could get your visa for Laos at the Cambodian/Laos border. Unfortunately this turned out to be an urban legend. I was faced with a longer stay than I first anticipated, while I sent my passport to Phnom Penn to get an express Visa sorted out. I was in a little town called Stung Treng close to the border. When we arrived there was only one room left in the hostel. I was horrible, just a crappy bed with a 2cm thick mattress and no windows. There was no shower and after a long journey like we had to get there, that was something that was sorely needed. Also we were woken at 6am to the sound of the most god awful music! It was just a horrible experience and to be honest, there wasn't much do there, so decided to get out of there and make a little side trip to the Ratanakiri Province to a dusty little town called Ba Lung.

After a four hour, dusty, bumpy ride I made it to this wonderful town. It was a haven compared to where we had come from. We had a nice guesthouse with a shower, television, nice beds...pure heaven. We spent our time here relaxing, we even managed to get our nails done! Manicure and pedicure for two dollars, not bad. Also visited a volcanic late was really refreshing for the soul.

After a couple of days respite we went back to Stung Treng to collect our Visas and head to the beautiful Laos. I think that fate has a wonderful way of working in your favour, I really was glad the way things had turned out and that I had gotten the opportunity to see this side of Cambodia.

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