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Published: January 7th 2007
Hello everyone,
This is just a real quick blog to say that we have arrived safe and sound in Cambodia - Siem Reap to be more specific... we are uncontactable via the phone so I thought I would just drop a quick blog for those concerned (MUM!) so they know that we werent kidnapped by any Khmer Rouge or Beggars!
We got off to a late start this morning thanks to my blonde hair! We were meant to get up by 5am to get the 6am bus but when setting the alarm Reety put in 5.45am instead of 4.45am! doh! We got the 7am bus however so all was not lost and we appeared to make it to the border well ahead of any of the scam buses....
The bus trip was long (although we are not sure of the exact length due to my watch being in locked luggage)... by the time we got in our taxi in Cambodia it was 1pm and we still had to do the 150km 3 hour journey to Siem Reap!
Thanks to the Tales of Asia website we were well informed and avoided being scammed the whole way! We got
Dusty Road to Siem Reap
Check out this little boys house to the right!through the Thai border fine and were then accosted by 3 little Cambodian boys aged about 6 begging me for food.... :-( Lets just say with a bag full of food in my hand it was Heath who ended up having to go hungry! I figured we would probably be able to survive with the amount of body fat between us longer than they would.... Then I came across a skeletal woman sitting on the ground with a small baby.... all I had left was 2 waters which I gave her, feeling awful!
When we made it to the Cambodia visa office the scammers were out in full force! It is $20 USD for a visa but they always try to make you pay 1000 baht (about $30USD) and if that fails they ask for 100 baht on top of the $20 and if that fails you end up getting your visa application put to the bottom of the pile.... They tried it on us for about 10 minutes telling us that the new regulations were 1000 baht.... Sorry we dont have any baht.... Then they tried to make us change it at a currency exchange booth convieniantly located
Dusty Road to Siem Reap
Not sure of the name of this little town but even Heath refused to use the toilet! at the Visa office... ummmm no the sign says $20USD so thats what we are paying *shaking at the knees but determined to not be ripped off*.... They eventually took our visa applications and tried to ask Heath for 100baht on the side (thinking he wears the pants obviously!!) but little did they know how much Heath hates parting with money.... $20USD was it today! We settled into some hard seats expecting a long wait but only had to wait about 10 minutes (it wasnt very busy thankfully!)... off to immigration we went where we filled out some forms and we were on our way!
We had arranged a taxi to pick us up from the border and he was there waiting... easy.... we settled in for the long dusty ride! The road just has to be seen to be believed... I didnt get any great photos as it was too dusty to put the window down and too bumpy anyway! It took 3 hours to do 150 kms so you can imagine the nightmare... I am off for a massage soon as my neck is bloody killing me!
When we arrived at our hotel our tuk tuk
driver Marom that we have hired for the time we are here (at a measly $12usd per day) was out the front waiting and he is such a gorgeous person... he speaks excellent english and is SO nice I could cry! (Thanks Cathy and Gary for the recommendation). I wont go on too much but I had tears driving into Siem Reap.... the place is so full of poverty and beautiful smiling people... it is hard to put the two together! But I will leave more of my impressions for the next blog!
As for our guesthouse all we can say is WOW! The Villa Siem Reap is run by an Aussie couple and they have done a top job! It is gorgeous and at $25 a night it is pure luxury! More on that later too! Gotta go get a massage.. we are safe, well and so excited to be in this amazing country! We love it so much already!
Love to you all... I havent published the Kanchanaburi blog just yet as the photos are amazing and I want to incl as many as I can (and internet is slow here) so I will come in
Dusty Road to Siem Reap
I lost count trying to count the amount of people in this ute! Amazing! tomorrow night for another hour and finish it off... also stay tuned for the next instalment on The Temples of Angkor and Cambodian Beauty xxxxx
Reet & Heath xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Cheryl
non-member comment
I was dying for a Reet blog fix, and here it is!! Pics are great, take care xxxx