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Published: September 11th 2009
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We arrived in Bangkok late in the evening and decided to overnight at the airport. Next days we explored the town a bit and arranged our next trip. This took some time as our next destination is Angkor Wat in Cambodia. But before going into that I’d like to say one thing on Bangkok.
Having spent 3-4 days in this city I can’t help but feel that It can compete with any of the worlds oldest jungles when it comes to bio-diversity. There are so many different kinds of humans walking around here that it could be an attraction in itself! This makes walking around in the city very interesting, even more if you add the many cultural possibilities such as Bangkok’s many Wats. It is a city of angels for sure. Albeit populated with angels that traded their wings for stylish clothes and gender transformation!
Cambodia, especially Piopet, is something completely different. Piopet is a town located on the Cambodian side of the Thai - Cambodian border crossing of Aranya Prathet - Piopet. Since its opening around 2000 this has been one of the most popular and notorious border crossings on the world. This is because Piopet has
been a heaven for all manner of criminal persona. As a result, travelers report that even the Cambodian officials are corrupt. For those interested more Info can be found on Talesofasia.com.
Armed with this knowledge we made our way to the border. We did so with local transport as we find it much more rewarding than the tourist options. Also there seems to be a Bangkok - Siem Reap bus scam going on. This involves lengthening the journey so you arrive bruised and battered late in the evening at their guesthouse of choice. In this state people are unlikely to go out and find a better guest house and thus the tour operators can cash in on the commission they are offered by the guesthouses.
Our local bus left early and drove us all they way to the border. Thus we avoided the tuk tuk drivers who are all gunning for commission from the local agencies who can arrange your Cambodian visa. Although convenient at first glance, these agencies notoriously forget to tell that its 5 dollar cheaper at the border. Even worse, many often claim that it is impossible to get your visa at there. We have
Bangkok Wat
Wat means temple often experienced this in India so we just marched on to the border. Here we had to bribe 2 officials to process our visa applications. On the Cambodian side things continued.
During our crossing we had been ‘helped’ by an official looking guy. Although he seemed genuine, nr 1 rule during these situations is to never trust anyone who wants to ‘help’ your for free, certainly if he/she keeps insisting in doing so. And even though he looked official we have seen this trick in India as well. On the other side of the border we encountered more of these ‘official’ persona that wanted us on the ‘free’ shuttle bus. We figured that nothing in the world is for free and moved into town a little to see whether we could spot a taxi to Siem Reap. Here we were immediately approached by a horde of ‘taxi’ drivers that upon questioning revealed that they drove normal cars.
We find normal taxi drivers highly suspicious already, let alone illegal ones!
So among all this commotion we had a brief palaver and opted for the shuttle bus. This bus drove us neatly to the tourist bus terminal were we
Bangkok Guesthouse
Our guesthouse room in Bangkok was a bit creepy/weird due to all the barbie dolls on the wall! discovered that the official looking people were in fact official. At this terminal we arrange a share taxi with 2 Indians towards Siem Reap. Here I need to mention something that happened earlier.
Just before getting our visas and bribing the officials we were informed that we required a h1n1 card. Again suspecting a scam we refused to get it. At that point we met 2 Indian guys that assured us of its necessity and convinced us that it was no scam. As these guys were exactly in the same situation as us we were easily convinced and obtained the card. Funny thing is: I wouldn’t have trusted these guys for 1 cent in India! But in Cambodia were it was apparent that they were in the same situation all doubt fade away.
During our trip to Siem Reap we had some good discussions and laughs. It seems we that we can only get to know the Indian outside of India.
We arrived in Siem reap after a 10 hour journey. Next we rented a room, explored the town a little and went to sleep. Next morning we took it easy, rented a bike near noon and
visited Angkor Wat for the first time.
I will say little of Angkor Wat, simply because every description would fail the capture the magnificence of this place. Instead I would refer you to the photographs. One event I do like to illuminate is one that took place at one of the less touristy Wats. At this particular Wat you can climb all the way to the top. The catch is that the stairs are very steep. It is here were Ilse showed the stronger sex by climbing all the way to the top while I chickened out halfway through. Still, I managed to surprise her at the top by finding an alternative route. In these situation and environment its hard to not feel a little Indiana Jones ish.
After 2 consecutive days at the temples we took a day off to relax, explore Siem Reap and arrange our transport back to Bangkok. There was a minute here when we thought about going further into Cambodia towards Phnom Penh but due to lack of interest we decide against it. On Siem Reap I can be rather brief. It’s a great little town. Although it’s packed with hotels and guesthouses
it maintains a very friendly atmosphere. In my opinion this can be mostly attributed to the Cambodians themselves, who rival the Thai and Malay when it comes to friendliness. As such our relaxing day was very relaxing. Oh and did I mention the cuisine?
Simply divine! If it isn’t for the temples, definitely come to Cambodia for the food. In Siem Reap the Khmer family restaurant is particularly good. It is here they offer up to 40 Khmer dishes that are simple amazing to sample. Usually I’m a person who practices moderation but here I’ve been known to stuff my face silly on more then one occasion!
The next day we left Siem Reap early and arrived back in Bangkok 9 hours later without any major difficulties. It is here were we had 2 days respite before traveling to Chang Mai on road to Laos!
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