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From the train station at Aranya Prathet a tuk-tuk (80 Baht) whisked me away to the border where I was dropped off at what I thought was a legit visa issuing office. This particular border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia is famous for its scams. With salaries being so low workers look for ways to supplement their earnings basically by ripping off tourists. When the tuk-tuk stopped and before I'd even put a foot on the floor there came a man to shepherd me and a handful of others into a nondescript office all the while saying "visa, this way". Alarm bells started to ring when I was quoted 1200 Baht ($40) for a visa. I'd read beforehand that it was $25. Maybe it was the fact that I'd just got off a 6-hour train journey after sleeping only a couple of hours and waking up at 5am, or perhaps the fact that the other travellers were paying the same amount, but I just wanted to get to my destination so I handed over the money (plus another $6 "commission fee") only fully realising later that I'd been done like a kipper. I paid about $20 more than I should have
for the visa although I did at least have the common sense not to buy one of their bus tickets to Siem Reap. They said I wouldn't be able to buy one on the Cambodian side and tried to sell a ticket at 500 Baht ($16). I got one on the Cambodian side for $9. The people at the border were just awful and even without the shameless scamming it would still be by far the worst crossing I've come across. My advice to other travellers would be to just ignore
everyone and get the visa during the crossing and don't let anyone do anything for you! When I
finally got across to Poipet I ignored the shouts for the "free" shuttle bus (undoubtedly another scam), and instead walked the 1km or so to the bus station. There I was greeted with the usual "quick, quick... the bus leaves in 5 minutes". I took my time, got my ticket, used the bathroom and bought some water and found out later from some poor, extremely fed-up tourists that the bus hadn't moved for the last 2 hours. Until
every seat is full it doesn't go anywhere. Thankfully things got better after
that and I randomly bumped into a Canadian guy who I'd met at the Laos-Thai border crossing from Vientiane. When we arrived to Siem Reap we shared a tuk-tuk to Siem Reap Hostel on the east bank of the Stung Siem Reap River. It was a
great hostel with free internet, free pool table, super comfy dorm rooms and an ice-cool swimming pool that seriously wouldn't look out of place in any high-end resort. All for 6USD a night... bargain. It was also a real sociable hostel and very easy to meet other backpackers there. I stayed for a longer-than-expected 7 days.
The reason people come to Siem Reap is obvious. It's a stone's throw from the Temples of Angkor. In fact it's so close it's even possible to walk to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. The town itself is actually quite nice and has plenty of good and cheap restaurants and a pretty decent nightlife. Besides the obligatory excursions to the temples, the thing to do around town seems to be getting a massage which I did at the Angkor Night Market (5USD / 1 hour) with a group from the hostel. I was
also hoping for some serious water fights since I was here during Chaul Chnam - the Cambodian New Year festival that coincides with the traditional solar new year. In Thailand people take to the streets armed with super-soakers or at least a handful of water balloons with the aim of dousing anyone silly enough to walk within striking distance. I think the reasoning is that it's supposed to wash away the sins but really it's just an excuse to spray random people in the face with a water pistol. I was hoping for something like this in Siem Reap, but disappointingly it seemed like I was in the one place where there aren't any big celebrations / parties.
On Tuesday I relaxed around town and at the hostel pool to recover from the previous day's trip from Bangkok. I met a great group of people at the hostel consisting of a Dutch guy, English girl, three Canadian guys, a French girl and a German girl... a real international group. On Wednesday we went together in two separate tuk-tuks to the temples of Angkor. There are two options to see the temples - $20 for a
single day pass or $40 for a three-day pass. Half of the group went for the three-day pass and the other half, myself included, went for the one day. I really thought that for me one full day would be enough. I was wrong! I ended up heading back for a second look the following Sunday with another group from the hostel! The theory was that if one day weren't enough I could go for a second and still only pay the same amount as a 3-day pass. In retrospect I should've just gone with the three day right from the start. Still, we got there around 9:30am and for 12USD (3 dollars each) our tuk-tuk drivers would be with us the whole day and chauffeur us around to anywhere we wanted to go. It was a cheap and convenient way to see the site - far easier and far less sweat-inducing than cycling around. We started with the temples inside the walled city of Angkor Thom, starting with the Bayon with its 216 enormous smiling faces staring down at every angle from up above and moving on to the Baphuon and Phimeanakas temples before swinging by the Terrace of
Elephants - a giant viewing stand for public ceremonies - and the Terrance of the Leper King - the royal crematorium. Then we were whisked off to Ta Prohm which has well and truly been reclaimed by the jungle before breaking for lunch and finishing the day off with a stroll around Banteay Kdei and, of course, Angkor Wat - the best saved till last. Each temple really was magnificent and it's a crime that this site wasn't included in the New 7 Wonders of the World.
The plan was to stay the whole day until sunset but by the time we'd seen Angkor Wat I think everyone was satisfied and also fed-up with the oppressive heat. So we called it a day and headed back to town. At the time I honestly thought I'd seen enough and I had no plans to return but over the following couple of days it dawned on me just how much more there was to see and I began to get itchy feet to go back for a second look. As the original group disappeared, new people came in to the hostel and with a new group on
Sunday I went back to the temples, this time for sunrise which meant getting up rather early. Unfortunately, we didn't get so lucky. It wasn't the awe-inspiring, breath-taking, multi-coloured sunrise everyone was hoping for... it was just too cloudy. However, it was a completely different experience walking around Angkor Wat without the heat or the tourist groups getting in the way. I was glad to see it again in a more relaxed way and I felt like I got a much better appreciation for it the second time round. I was obviously keen to see some temples that I hadn't seen before so we swung by Ta Keo - an unfinished structure, and the first Angkorian monument built entirely of sandstone - and then stopped at Preah Khan - one of the largest complexes at Angkor. That was enough and on the way back to Siem Reap we drove back through Angkor Thom for one last passing glimpse at the impressive Baphuon and the imposing faces of Bayon.
The second visit made a big difference although I still left feeling slightly regretful that I hadn't gone for three days. The day after - on Monday
16th - I took an early bus out of Siem Reap. My destination - Phnom Pehn.
Suerte
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