Blogs from Poipet, North, Cambodia, Asia

Day trip to Poipet with Carpets for Communities today. Met MarKo at e bus station a bit before 8am and it was about a three hour trip from there. On arrival we walked to the local office. On the way, Marko convinced me to buy sugar cane juice. They have long lengths of sugar cane, put some ice in a plastic bag, in goes the juice from the sugar cane, plastic bag has a straw inserted, then it is tied up. All for the tiny sum of about 25cents. Very sweet though. At the office we met Bunchoun, the office manager. Poipet is essentially a border town and where people cross into Thailand. The city itself didn't seem like much, although apparently it is known for its casinos, being that Thailand bans gambling. Needless to say ... read more

Today was another early start to share Dave and Amy's taxi to the boarder crossing at Poipet. I was up at 6am to have a little breakfast to keep me going. I had bought a bag of muesli from the seven eleven last night and amazingly it was wheat free. Showered and packed I checked out and waited patiently for the taxi to arrive. The three of us piled into the cab and set off for Cambodian Thai boarder. I'll admit I was a little confused, and worried, when our driver mentioned Phnom Pehn with a cheeky looking smile on his face. When we stopped for fuel I turned and asked the American couple if I had been hearing things. Dave agreed that that was what he had heard so we doubled checked with the driver ... read more

Well, we made it into Cambodia today with a few dramas along the way but we are safely in our 4 star hotel listening to a live 'lounge' singer whilst on the internet writing you an email. We left Bangkok this morning on the 5.55am train so we were up at 4.30am, checked out of our hotel, caught a taxi to the train station, found the right ticket counter, bought a ticket for the right train and found the right train and were on it 30 minutes early. This all sounds quite easy except for the fact that NOONE speaks english and they nod & say 'yes' to every question we ask! We were quite proud of ourselves at this stage. Little did we know what was ahead of us!! Bangkok to Aranyaprathet (city near ... read more

Stuck in the cycle For our last day in Poipet we were all up bright and early and walked up to the border before breakfast. It was a real eye opener to see all of the day labourers that P had mentioned, pulling their carts and lined up to waiting to be allowed into Thailand and hopefully get some worker. There were so many people with carts - both men and women, often with their kids with them. I was struck by how orderly and controlled the lines were - two straight lines of carts, no pushing etc. Apparently these people make about $1.25 or $1.50 per day. Even though it was only 7am, it was hot - I can't even imagine how much hard work it must be to push and pull a heavily laden ... read more

After the very early morning and late night the day before, we'd agreed a sleep in would be a good idea, and that we'd have a sleep in and meet for breakfast at about 8.45am. Things didn't quite go according to plan though - there was a funeral at the neighbouring temple so we awoke at 5.30 to the sound of singing (projected via loud speaker), drums and music. Fortunately it only lasted 30 or so minutes before it stopped.... and then started again 5 minutes later. And so the day began, with everyone on time we enjoyed a nice breakfast at a nearby cafe before heading to P's place to learn a bit about the work she has been doing in Poipet and the issues that face the people living there. I was really struck ... read more

We all clambered onto the bus early in the morning for the 6 hour road trip to Poipet via Persat. F joined us for the trip to Persat to show us a project there for people with disabilities. After a presentation from the project co-ordinator, a Khmer national, who told us about how they had helped villages to set up pre-schools, pig banks, cow banks and rice banks, we jumped back in to the van to visit two of the nearby villages to see how some of the projects worked in practice. When we arrived at the first village we were met by the village chief himself and the leaders of the disability group. Thanks to our earlier language lessons, were were able to return the greetings we received from the people who lined the path ... read more

1. As the backpacker bus from Bangkok reaches Poipet on the Cambodian border realize that you are the only traveler on the bus whose ticket is valid only to Poipet instead of the site of Anchor temples, Siem Reap, 8 hours on from the border. Get absolutely pissed when the driver demands you to flash in more bahts to take you to Siem Reap and walk out of the bus. Flag down a tuk tuk and enter Cambodia on your own. Not knowing what's awaiting, feel a certain sense of pride of not letting those scammers take advantage of you. Flag down a pickup truck and let it tour you around the nasty little hell hole that's Poipet while it tries to pull more passengers. After an hour's tour find yourself crammed on the tiny cargo ... read more

"Long the armpit of Cambodia, notorious for its squalor, scams and sleaze" Lonely Planet ... read more

De oversteek naar Cambodia was een schok. De armoede sloeg ons als een zweepslang in het gezicht. De wegen liggen half open of zijn zelfs onbestaande, de straatkindjes klampen je aan met de gevleugelde spreuk "One dollar?" (In Cambodia wordt naast de Riel vooral de Dollar gebruikt) en je ziet de mensen er houten karren voorttrekken, volgestouwd met waren. Achteraf bleek wel dat we meteen het armste stuk van Cambodia hadden gezien. De echt idyllische schoonheid van het land zagen we pas rond Kampot. De streek rond de grensovergang van Poipet wordt als het wilde westen van het land bestempeld. Voor we bij de Thaise grenspost aankwamen, werden we met een brommertje afgezet aan een hutje langs de baan, waar onze visa in orde werden gebracht. We vertrouwden het zootje eerst niet, maar na de visa ... read more