Scambodian border and Siem Reap

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-----Journey to the Scambodian Border--------

A bit of background on making the journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap (location of Angkor Wat). It has long held a notorious reputation for being one of the most difficult border crossing journeys in SE Asia. Terrible roads, rampant corruption, a dangerous border town. Lucky for us, things have improved......well, slightly. So why would anyone do the land run in the age of cheap flights? Currently Bangkok Airlines has a monopoly on flights between the two cities and charges over $200 one way for the 45 minute flight. So the land crossing it was....

We had been well warned to avoid the Tourist buses from Khao San Rd as they overcharge and make the journey much longer than necessary in the hopes you will collapse at the guesthouse in Siem Reap that pays them a commission. So, at 4:25 am we awoke in Bangkok and made the journey to the bus depot. For less than $10 a piece, we boarded our first class bus for the 4 hour drive to the Thai/Cambodia border. For some reason, the bus doesn't take you all the way, so you are dropped off and forced to take a Tuk-Tuk (motorcycle taxi with a carriage on the back) the rest of the way to the border (cost $1.25). This is where the scams begin....the Tuk-Tuk delivered us to a sham Cambodian embassy that attempts to sell you the free form for the border. They insist you need it, but as we had been forewarned of this scam, we refused to leave the Tuk-Tuk and 45 seconds later we were on our way to the actual border.

We had left so early as it is very important to arrive before the hundreds of people on the tourist buses that depart around 8 am. This was a great plan until we arrived at the currency exchange 1 hour before it opened. Booooooo! After this minor delay, we loaded up on US dollars (the currency of choice of corrupt border agents) and walked to the Scambodian border.

We are met by a young man claiming to work for the government that will escort us through the border process. We are none too friendly but he follows us anyway. After telling us numerous times he can't take money from us and the service is an attempt to change the reputation of the border, we begin to acknowledge his existence. He takes us to the obligatory Swine Flu check point before delivering us to the Visa station.

We had been forewarned about the rampant overcharging at the Poipet border. Still it is a bit ballsy for the border agent to stand under the sign that clearly states the visa is $20 and have him demand 1000 Baht (close to $40!). We attempted to point at the sign, he muttered something about 2 or 3 days wait, and then lowered the price to $25. We refused, sat down, and plotted our next move. Since we still had 200 Baht we offered $20 US and 100 Baht for each visa (about $22.50) and suddenly we had a deal. 2 Minutes later we were on our way to fill out yet another form and get stamped in to the country. Luckily, no money for the stamp (they only do that to Asians and call it "Tea" money).

Feeling pretty good about ourselves, we were escorted to the "free" bus to the "tourist transportation" center. You don't really have a choice as the taxi mafia won't pick you up anywhere else. They sell you seats in a Camry taxi and you can't leave until 4 seats are paid for. We shared ours with a French woman and her son and headed out for the 2 hour journey to Siem Reap($24 for both of us).

After about an hour and a half, the taxi pulls in to a roadside stand and tells us all to get out because he needs to 'wash the car'. Clearly ridiculous, but no use arguing. The scam is that the stand grossly overcharges for everything so we simply refused to buy anything or pay to use their grotty toilet.

We piled back in to our newly clean taxi and nearly made it all the way in to town. The final scam is that the taxi stops just outside of Siem Reap and claims "no taxis allowed in city". They dump you out to a pile of waiting Tuk-Tuks that claim they will deliver you to any guesthouse for free. What they are really doing is giving you the hard sell to use them as your guide to the temples and deliver you to a commission paying guesthouse. Stubborn as always, we walked despite the vicious temperatures.

We checked in to the Mandalay Guesthouse just 8 hours after leaving Bangkok, but super proud that we survived the epic journey. We celebrated with 50 cent drafts of Angkor beer and our first tastes of Khmer cooking (yummy! The home of green mango salad, my favorite!!!)

The next morning we headed out to the temples, but as we can't seem to upload photos here, we'll post another blog soon!

Also, many internet cafes are blocking hotmail, so if you are trying to reach me, you can send a private message through this blog.

Just 10 days to go......we'll see you all soon!

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Comments

[Hettie]

Glad you are ok
We are in NJ , having a great visit. Hope to see Michelle on Wed. and then back to Fl. Will be glad when you are back home. Lots of love, Mom