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Published: July 27th 2009
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The question that we wanted answering but nobody could tell us was - "How long does it take to get from Siem Reap (Cambodia) to Four Thousand Islands (Laos) overland and how much?"
Originally we were told that we would either have to go back to Phnom Penh (a big detour) or catch a plane (very expensive). Clearly all the travel agencies springing up around Siem Reap were doing great business selling air flights so weren't very helpful at all - Of course they would fail to tell people about the $25 airport tax because it's an international flight!
Ultimately we managed to get all the way to Laos in under 2 days for less than $20 (bus fares each) - not bad going. Here's how we did it....
We left on a bus from Siem Reap at 7am bound for the working city of Kampong Cham. We didn't know what to expect when we got there and hoped to pick up a bus heading north toward Loas. The advantage of going direct to Kampong Cham is that saves over 3-4 hours going back to the capital of Phnom Penh. On top of this most buses leaving Phnom
Family bus trip....
....Cambodian style.
Note - Claire in background. Penh heading north towards Laos do so in the morning so by the time you get from Seam Reap there are potentially no more buses running that day so you have added costs of staying another night there.
When we arrived in Kampong Cham (about 12 noon) we were greeted with the usual crowd of moto drivers trying to get our custom and take us to a recommended guesthouse. However we told them we were trying to head north towards Laos fully expecting to get left alone. All of a sudden there was a increased level of excitement in the group and several moto drivers said "you want Kratie?, there is a bus but we must hurry".... this was a good sign as Kratie was the ideal place for us to head for considering the time remaining in the day and knowing it would be another 5+ hours. The moto drivers were very convincing (aren't they always) that we had to go with them right there and then or we'd miss the bus heading to Kratie. Normally we would take our time and get our bearings but this didn't seem like one of those moments... the thought of having
to stay in the obviously more desperate working city of Kampong Cham overnight just didn't appeal to us for the sake of a $1 each moto ride with all our bags. The funniest thing about this (looking back now) is that the cheeky moto riders took us up the road turned left, up the next road turned left and yes you've guessed it at the next road turned left bringing us within 100 yards (just round the corner) to a bus ticket office. You have to admire those moto drivers for their opportunist talent. The next funny bit is that the bus wasn't due for another 30 minutes so we could have walked there was time to spare - oh well at least anyone reading this knows what to do now. Anyway after haggling a bit over the price (which started off at 8000R but got it down to 5000R each) we got the tickets and boarded the bus.
We must have been getting used to all the long travelling now as the journey was quite bearable as the sun began to set and the temperature dropped. Local people getting on and off the lifeline transport joining the many
At the border...
...and happy we made it in under two days from Siem Reap! small villages together along the Mekong river and so we continued heading north towards Kratie and slowly but surely within reach of Laos.
The bus arrived after dark and we sorted a room for $5 - to be honest most guesthouses here are pretty good and most people only stay here as a jumping point heading north or south for a day or two. The biggest mistake we made on this whole trip from Seam Reap to Laos is not realising that we could have got up early at 6AM to see the Irrawaddy dolphins before setting off for Laos - very annoying - please don't make the same mistake as the opportunities in Laos are not as good.
We organised a minibus to take us to Don Det (Four Thousand Islands) - south Laos for $8 including the boat trip.
We left Kratie at 8am on a mini bus bound for Laos border (takes about 3-4 hours) travelling via Stung Treng (25 miles from border). You could see the various change in landscape as we travelled northwards; rubber and banana plantations. The border crossing checkpoint at Voen Khem was nothing more than a wooden shack and
Our boat ready for Don Det crossing....
...complete with young wannabe captains. a barrier with a couple of guards that required $1 towards their Christmas fund before you go to the Laos checkpoint which was 200 metres away and basically the same routine.
Apparently if you turn up outside Monday to Friday, 9am - 4pm you could find yourself having to pay a larger Christmas fund contribution of $20 - $30 before the guards will re-open the checkpoint. Of course it is quite possible that this will happen at both Cambodia and Laos checkpoint so best to avoid this expensive situation arises altogether.
Piece of advice for anyone travelling up from Cambodia to Laos is that you
MUST have your visa before you arrive at the border as there were
NO facilities to offer "on arrival visas". The best and quickest place to get a Laos visa is in Phnom Penh (where the Laos embassy is) and we heard mixed reports on the level of service and the price, going direct versus getting a guest house to help. We ended up paying $44 at our guesthouse but know it can be acquired cheaper.
Final note to travellers heading for the border, both Kratie and Stung Treng were offering a
Laos house on stilts.
Our first impressions once in Laos were that these people lived the same basic poverty stricken lives as the Cambodians. Later we would discover what actually made them so different. three day visa service if you get that far and don't have one.
We exchange mini vans on the border and travelled the remaining 6km to the boat crossing for Don Det. The mini van driver happily waved us in the direction of the boats but as we had paid for the border crossing with boat included we weren't going to fall for that old chestnut (now that we are savvy travellers). We insisted that the driver show us to the boat and surprisingly he could no longer understand simple English (this is usually a sign of a scam in progress). In fact, in was more interested in striking a deal with some new backpackers heading further north and leaving quickly. Finally we pestered him enough that he walked over with us to the right boat and proceeded to hand over some money to the boatman. Cheeky bloke would have pocketed that if we had not made him come with us. Lets hope that the rest of the Laos experiences are not the same.
We boarded the boat and headed for Don Det... one of the "Four Thousand Islands"..... happy knowing we had made it in under two days and now hopefully people reading this will consider this route too....
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Katy
non-member comment
Bus from Kratie to 4 Thousand Islands
Hi, How did you organise the minibus in Kratie? Was it easy? Thanks, Katy.