Bye Cambodia! Road back to Bangkok

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Geo: 13.655, 102.565

The photos speak for themselves, this trip was really not different at all from the trip into Cambodia. Except I knew what to expect this time. I hired a taxi from my hotel which got me to the border (6hours $15 US), and there I found a guy at a folding table outside the border office who sold me a ticket on the next bus back to Bangkok (5 hours $14US). I had 90 minutes to kill before the bus left so I went into one of the only buildings in town and wow, I was not in Kansas anymore. Inside the hotel was a huge lobby with crystal chandeliers and red carpeting. It was like a gaudy Vegas joint. And then I saw the gambling room. Who knew Poipet was a Cambodian Vegas? It certainly didn't give that hint from the outside! I had a really nice lunch in a clean air conditioned restaurant, and then made my way across the border to the awaiting bus. Easy peasy.

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Photos

The casino at Poipet
Along the desolate border between Thailand and Cambodia is a very small strip of hotels on the Cambodian side. They are filled with Thai folks who come here on their vacations to gamble. There is absolutely nothing to see or do outside the hotels here, so I guess the Thai people that come just come for the tables. Actually I was pretty stunned at the interior sophistication of these buildings considering the lack of infrastructure outside. I stopped here for an hour and a half and had lunch waiting for my 2pm bus to leave on the Thai side. It was a really nice respite from the heat and dust of the trip through Cambodia.