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Published: December 12th 2011
Entering the Kingdom of Cambodia
If I ever had the feeling of walking into the complete unknown, your looking at it.What's a Visa Run, Anyways?
Anyone planning to teach in a foreign country should be sure to research this question. Ours happened a couple of weeks ago. Before departing on our visa run, I thought I knew what a visa run was, I thought I knew the trials, tribulations, pitfalls, etc, etc. Needless to say, this wasn't entirely the case.
Rewind to Wednesday afternoon. We had been told by our employer that we would be heading into Cambodia, picking up our visas, should be back by Saturday, no problems, no worries. By the way, the four of us who were heading on this "quick little trip" needed to be back by Saturday for a regional english speaking competition that we promised our schools we would help out at. Ok, so just drive across the border into Cambodia, drop off some paperwork, wait overnight, head back. Mai bpen rai, right?
Around two o'clock we packed up the car, as one of Tara's colleagues also in need of his visa had a vehicle and offered to drive. At this juncture I brought up the point apparently no one else had been thinking of... can you just drive a car into
Rural Cambodia
Although it is very discomforting to imagine the unspeakable horrors that happened in fields just like these, there is also a sense of calm and simplicity here surpassing the more developed country of Thailand. Cambodia? No one seemed to know. I guess we'll find out at the border then.
The drive from Nakhon Sawan to the Cambodian border is a little over six hours. Our navigational tools included a map printed from google maps and our route was made up of several roads which had been underwater for a month or two. About two hours into the trip the car was nearly disabled as we cruised over the top of a giant mound of pavement that shot up from the road like two tectonic plates that had slammed into one another. The sound of pavement digging into metal at 100 kilometers / hour when you are on a random backroad at dusk in a foreign country is not the most comforting of sounds. Miraculously, there seemed to be no major damage, and we were back on the road.
When we arrived at the border around 8pm we were all ready to pass through, get our Cambodian Visas, and head for the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. Pitfall number one, which no one had cared to mention to us, the border closes at 7pm. We would not even begin crossing into Cambodia until
Mayor's House
Actually, I have no idea whose place this is, but we were surprised to see it in the Cambodian countryside. Probably a prominant water-buffalo trader. Thursday morning. All of a sudden, getting back by Saturday was looking like a stretch. We spent the night in an interestingly decorated Thai hotel room and awoke bright and early at 6:30 am to cross the border...
Pitfall number two - we are told at the border by one of the several official looking Thais in the vacinity that the wait to get our visas would be about three-hours, but that he could take them for an extra six-dollars each to get them done in ten minutes. At this point, with so little time left to make it back by saturday, we decided to trust the man. As he climbed onto his motorbike, however, we all stared at one another nervously, not knowing whether we needed to stop him or not. No one did, and soon he was out of sight with our passports. The ensuing ten minutes seemed like hours as we sat, waiting, discussing hypotheticals. Luckily, he soon returned with all of the proper documentation. "Ok, you need to cross soon to get a bus, don't forget, tip for me..." I don't think so.
After crossing into Cambodia we were able to secure a bus
Traditional Rural Home
These were the more traditional family homes in the Cambodian countryside. to Phnom Penh. At this point, it was eight o'clock am, the embassy closed at three pm, and we were looking at what everyone was describing as a five hour bus ride. At the bus station, that number mysteriously swelled to around six hours, and at one point I think i heard someone say seven. This came right around the time that we encountered pitfall number three - Thai simcards do not work in Cambodia, aka, we have no contact with our boss who sent us, no contact with the schools to let them know if we wouldn't be back by Saturday, in essence, no contact period. To make matters worse my USB 3G internet stick which "works everywhere," except apparently Cambodia, was no longer responding. Eventually the bus arrived and we were on our way.
At this point the absolute best case scenario was as follows: the bus ride takes six-hours and we immediately make it to the Thai Embassy and beg (aka bribe) them to take our visas and process them overnight so we could have our visas back Friday morning, rush to the border, cross back and drive through most of the night to sleep a
Rural Cambodia 2
There is little variance in the landscape. This could basically be anywhere in Cambodia as far as we saw. few hours before the english competition Saturday-morning. This was the best case scenario.
Well, at this point I should mention what we have learned about all but the most expensive thai- (and apparently Cambodian) busses. You know how in America you buy a bus ticket from say, Binghamton to New York City, and the people get on the bus and drive non-stop to the destination? Well here you get on the bus, which arbitrarily stops at different makeshift roadside rest / food stops for arbitrary amounts of time - a necessity, perhaps, given the lack of toilets on the bus. In addition, however, the bus also stops every five, ten, fifteen minutes to let people off, and new people on! Needless to say the six-hour bus ride along Cambodia's main highway to the capital (a two-lane road with massive potholes) with stops at every ramshackle little settlement that pops up, took the better of nine-hours.
Less I begin to sound as if I begrudge the entire trip, I should add how truly grateful I am to have been able to visit Cambodia. For those who don't know, Cambodia is a country that has suffered like few others in
Getting Around in Phnom Penh
Travel in Phnom Penh can be undertaken by any means necessary. the second-half of the twentieth-century. In the wake of the chaos brought on by the American War in Vietnam, a small Marxist-Rebel group took power in Cambodia in 1975. The leader, Pol Pot, had been influenced by Marxist theory as well as the local hill tribes he had spent time living amongst. These hill tribes lived in a communal society, where work, land and goods were shared equally and money did not exist. It had been the way of life there since ancient times, completely uninterupted by the forces of capitalism and modernity. For Pol Pot, who had seen Cambodian society advancing and developing, and thus necessarily becoming stratified, these changes needed to be resisted to return Cambodia to its historical roots. Over the next few years in a brutal and violent campaign his government, the Khmer Rouge, abolished Buddhism, money, and modernity. He declared it year zero, closed down the cities, and began deporting people to the countryside to work in forced collectives. Those who were viewed as "intellectuals," were rounded up, tortured and murdered along with various ethnic groups and political dissenters. In many cases, people were executed simply for working in the city, having glasses, or having
RBS
In South East Asia, we say "RBS" whenever we pass a random bad smell. In rural Cambodia, they aren't so random - as you can easily point out the source. Who eats these and why remains my primary question. hands that were too soft - a sign that you were not a worker. Many of those who did survive the execution died of disease, starvation and malnurition in the brutal work communes. By the time the invading Vietnamese army ended the genocide in 1979, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge, an estimated 1.5-2 million people had been killed. Cambodia would suffer for many decades as a result of the social upheaval, including massive famines during the 1980s and a very slow path back to rejoining the international community and urbanization.
Having taught this subject for many years, I have to say that I never really understood the genocide. When you read about it, or even see photos and videos, it seems as though it is such a far off place, almost like it doesn't really exist. It seems strange to say, but yes, it is a very real place. I think this is one of the amazing things I have learned about travelling in my short time abroad. The things we read about in books and magazines are real everts, and real people are living through them. It brought me a great deal of understanding to see this place and
Border Casinos
One of the 7 or 8 border casinos. This one had about 30 Baccarat tables to the one Black Jack table - which took me for 1000 baht. these people. At the same time, driving through the countryside was a bit unnerving. I remember staring at these long brick walls, which had obviously been abandoned for some time and were now overgrown with brush. What were these walls, they look about thirty or more years old. Were they used for... I shuddered several times thinking about the possibilities.
When we arrived in Phnom Penh, some
nine hours later, it was clearly too late to go to the embassy, but it was an interesting sight to behold. As we rode through rural Cambodia, much of the scenery was vast green and golden plains, few hills, and the very distinctive palm trees indicative of rural South East Asia. THe few villages were very small, consisting of some small bungaloes, water buffalo munching lazily and road side stands with the aroma of sun-dried meats and fermented fish floating through the air. For 95%!o(MISSING)f the trip one could truly imagine having been transported to the fourth or fifth century. Phnom Penh, on the other hand, was a bustling metropolis, though with very little in the way of large building. South East Asia was still definitly there, in the small improvised
Pumpkin Soup
If your going to spend Thanksgiving in Cambodia the least you can do is let your fiance have some pumpkin soup with dinner, right? motorbike taxi-cabs, and well, motorbikes period, the street vendors galore and the sprawling markets. Yet there was also somehing very western, very cosmopolitan about the city. Small open air cafes playing western music, french bakeries with posh garden seating arangements, hip and fashionable store-fronts and english everwhere. Although the reil is the official currency of Cambodia, the defacto currency is the dollar, and you can pay your bill in any combination of dollar, reidl and Thai-baht. I'm quite certain that nearly any type of currency you produced would have been accepted.
While our time in Phnom Penh was short (more on that below) we had a wonderful time. I should begin with our cab-driver / friend - Alec. As we descended the stairs from our bus we were immediately bombarded by many shouting Cambodian taxi drivers jostling for a better position to get our business. Since we didn't know where we were, where we were going, or have a map, we stood, discussed, and ignored. Gradually, the mob dispersed and a small, well dressed and very polite looking driver remained. When he approached us he handed us a map, and in flawless english said, "please take all the time
Border Hotel
Yes, I know, what a ridiculous photo. We couldn't help it though, the room was so funny, and we loved the matching lime green walls, towels and mini-fridge. you need, when you are ready, I would be happy to help you." We asked where the Thai Embassy was and for a hotel nearby, and Alec showed us on the map and offered to take us to a hotel. He skillfully navigated through the traffic of a major metropolitan city with absolutely no traffic laws or traffic signals and we arrived at our destination. He made sure we had a room, asked if we needed a ride to the embassy in the morning, and departed without taking any cash, saying we could square up later. Our room was large, air conditioned (for an additional $2) and had an extra bed brought into the room (for an additional $2) to accomodate us all, for a grand total of $17 split four ways. We ate dinner at a small America-French-Thai bistro on the corner near our hotel room. The beautifully decorated open air eatery was surrounded by lush greenery, served Angkor draft beer for 75 cents, and had a full Western and Thai menu. Since it was Thanksgiving, we opted to try the American food and had a delicious dinner with pastas, garlic bread, stir-friend greens, salads and a pumpkin soup
Border Hotel 2
And of course our clock, Tara had to do everything in her power to stop me from grabbing this off the wall! for Tara's third dish. The music was a fascinating blend of the beatles, oasis, damian rice, jeff buckley and many other suprisingly very decent artists. After dinner the men headed for a near-by pub and the women headed in for a night of rest. The first pub we came across had dollar draft beers, plently of ex-pats, a pool table, and was run by some very friendly Cambodian women (who were also very good at pool). We also found out that you do not need a bachelors degree to teach english in Cambodia, in case anyone reading this were ever so inclined. Bottom line, Phnom Penh, marvelous city.
The next morning we awoke at 7:30 am to head to the Thai Embassy. Alec was dutifully waiting across the street and took us to the embassy, where things began to get interesting. When we arrived we knew it would be a stretch to get our visas on time, and that a bribe of somewhere around 2,000 thai baht ($60 USD) was probably in order. What we didn't expect was for them to insist that the visas would take four-days! (Not including the weekend). Meaning we would hang-out in Phnom Penh
Getting Around in Phnom Penh
Travel in Phnom Penh can be undertaken by any means necessary. for five, six more days, missing the english competition on top of several days of work, with no phones to communicate the message. Worse still, when we showed them the documents we had been sent with, they acted like they had never seen anything like them. "No good," was the response. Awesome! It was at this point that we decided, forget trying to argue, lets just get out of Cambodia and we may have a chance to get back across the border before it closes, and then drive the six-hours back through Thailand to make it for the english competition on Saturday morning. We went back to Alec (who had been waiting close to an hour for us across the street), explained to him our situation, and we were on our way back to the bus station.
Knowing that we were in a hurry, Alec arranged for a friend of his in the "hauling foreigners between the border and the capital in his car" business to take us back in a trip that would shave off about 3-hours from the 9-hour bus ride. When we parted ways from Alec, I asked him what we owed him, and was quite surprised to hear "what do you think is a fair price." "I don't know Alec, I don't live here, I'm sure whatever you say will be fair." "Ok," he replied, "but please tell me if this is too much... how about $8." I was shocked. I handed him a $10 bill and told him to keep it, thanked him profusely, and he was on his way. I still to this day am a bit saddened that I did not give him a $20 bill, or a sandwich, or a hug, or something. What a nice guy, and a true blessing to have found. We quickly ran across the street to a market where I got some summer rolls and the Cambodian specialty - Freshly baked, crispy french rolls with a combination of meats, a mixed cole-slaw and sweet and spicy sauce. Absolutly phenomenal. I still to this day am a bit saddened that I did not get at least one more of those sandwiches before leaving Cambodia.
The drive back was a success. We became a bit nervous when our driver (who spoke NO english) pulled over and gave away his spare tire to a "friend" whose car was stranded on the side of the road, and again when he had to borrow a fan-belt from another "friend" at a small food stand and changed it in front of us. Honestly on the main highway of Cambodia (which I have already described), its a wonder that any vehicle survives a six-hour trip in one piece. Anyways, success, we arrived back at the border with three hours to spare. We even had enough time to play some black-jack at one of the many casinos that line the border and buy some $3 knock-off lacoste polos before crossing back into Thailand on a 14-day extension. Our boss, who we could now contact, having returned to Thailand, agreed that he would take our passports to Bangkok to get our visas on his own, and we made it back on time for Saturdays english competition. Our wallets were a bit lighter, and we had sat in a car or bus for about 27-hours in a 72-hour span, but I think in the end we all felt the richer for having experienced it. I suppose when all is said and done you don't pick up and move to a foreign country without expecting a story or two like this, so who, really, are we to complain?
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Mary Sutkowski
non-member comment
Totally understand the amazing cab driver/friend savior scenario!
Dan, loved the blog entry. What a crazy adventure ... and you're so much better off having had it rather than not. When I was in Zambia, traveling alone, I met a man/cab driver by the name of Owen - who took me everywhere, gave me the encouragement and courage to bungee, and made me feel safe. He even accompanied me as my friend to a museum seeing as I was traveling alone. At the end of my three days round a bout in Zambia when we were parting ways at Livingstone Airport, I asked him what a fair price would be to square us away. He was so generous and amazing, I to this day ... wish that I had paid him twice as much. Glad you guys got back in time and found another means to get your visas! Have fun! You and Tara stay safe! :) Mare