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Published: August 23rd 2006
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So we left you last,relaxed and ready for road in Trat. On Koh Chang all conversation about Cambodia had lead to bad news...corruption, swept away roads, rough sea crossings, pirates, ambushes. We were beginning to wonder if maybe it would be easier to book ourselves a hammock in Phuket and wait for our November 24th flight to Manila...but no we braved the frontier.
We awoke early in Trat and ventured out to grab a songthaew to drop us to the bus station where we would catch a minibus to the Thai-Cambodian border (Hat Lek->Koh Kong). We were joined by two ropey looking Italians and an East Berliner, who I was convinced was going to plant drugs on me and let me rot in a Cambodian jail until I was executed. Our first battle was with the minibus driver, who point blank refused to leave until his bus was full (we had 6 passengers and needed 10) this was a problem as only one bus and one boat leave Koh Kong daily for Sihanoukville and by all accounts you did not want to have to spend so much as 24 hours in Koh Kong. We coughed up the dosh for the
extra 4 seats between the 5 of us and we were off! The German was a mine of information about Cambodia as he lived in Sihanoukville...we all listened intently as we had been informed how corrupt immigration is on the Cambodian side was. The journey passed smoothly (despite the bus subsequently filling up and us not seeing a refund of our cash!) We had quickly been stamped out of Thailand and our little merry band of intrepid travellers ventured towards Cambodian immigration. It was a breeze, ya they are corrupt...the visa costs USD20, I produced USD40 and was told we don't except USD, Thai baht only! Funnily enough another USD10 seemed to do the trick. Still a good deal as the THB price is 1100 (about USD30) and we later met a Spanish guy who had been charged THB1200!
Phew we were in Cambodia!
Next step was to get to the bus station in Koh Kong (we had bought tickets off the hotel in Trat breaking cardinal rule number one of travelling...never buy tickets off anyone but the actual company). Some touts (new best friends) adopted us and drove us across. Halfway there the story started...the bus company
just called me, there is no bus today, the roads are all swept away! Oh no...we weren't to be taken in by this (afterall we have been to India, we know every trick in the book!) So we said fine but we went to see the travel company. All these negotiations were made doubly frustrating by the Italians who spoke little to no english and kept asking us what was going on! Incidently the German had ditched us..obviously knowing something we didn't!
We were brought to a guest house who confirmed the story...no bus today! The rivers are too high. Hang on a second...rivers? but we are going by bus? Oh ya but there are four river crossings by ferry! This was news to us...we had heard the roads were no more than dirt tracks through the mountain, that the buses frequently broke down and everyone had to get out and push...but ferry crossings! After much heated debated (still translating everying to the Italians who were now treating us like Mum and Dad and didn't want to leave our sides) they convinced us to stay in their stinking hotel....room inclusive of giant mozzies and no less than four geckos!
We soon calmed down and figured it would work itself out! We ventured into the town to see how we would pass the day! All we could find was a geordie guesthouse where we met the owner, John and his newborn baby Jack. He confirmed the story about the buses not being able to run and we felt a little foolish for being so cynical and believing they were trying to dupe us. He said the buses were madness during monsoon and could take up to a day to go the 200kms to Sihanoukville! We decided then and there to opt for the boat and just lose the price of the bus ticket!
Now let me go back a step. The reason we had opted against the boat in the first place was we had met a couple from Tyrone on Koh Chang who said the ferry was horrendous. A Russian river boat was never intended to travel high seas...especially as Thai and Cambodians are not good seafarers! Anyway we decided 4 hours of hell on a boat was better than 15 hours of hell on a bus!
The rest of the day we actually managed to
enjoy...Ed played pool with the Cambodians in the hotel. He was put to shame by a 14 year old pool shark. Despite the bad beginnings we soon realised Cambodians are much more friendly and open than Thai people. We took some pictures in the market and the vendors giggled furiously at themselves on the digital display.
Next morning we jumped on the ferry, only to be joined by the German from the day previous and a Spanish guy who was also staying in our hotel. He informed us the Italians had given up and headed straight back for the Thai border. We felt a little guilty as we had bored of translating and I think they couldn't make head nor tail of what the Cambodians were telling them. Ironically the sea was like a pane of glass and there was no more than a ripple for the 4 hour journey. Ed ventured out to sit on the roof and was so scared by scrambling up there with little grip that he couldn't come back down and got mildly sunburnt. Meanwhile I sat inside believeing he had gone overboard an hour back and was now swimming with the fishes.
We arrived in Sihanoukville and made the 2 foot jump to the pier with our backpacks on, we were accosted by the moto touts. Before Ed knew what had happened his rucksack was tucked between the teenage drivers legs and he was plonked on the back on the scooter. I yelled at him to hold on and he begged the driver to go slow before he raced off into the distance for his first trip on the back of a bike (well scooter).
Sihanoukville is a lazy seaside resort...we found a fabulous hotel, complete with bathtub for the princely sum of USD13 a night. Dollars are the de facto currency of Cambodia...easy to see why as 10,000 Cambodian Real is the equivalent of just over 2 Euros...the smallest note (100 Real) is equal to 2 cent. After 4 nights in 4 different hotels it was great just to take some time to get our laundry done and chill out. We sorted out our visas for Vietnam and are ready to travel to Phnom Penh tomorrow.
So all in all the journey was smooth and hassle free, we still aren't sure if we were incredibly lucky or if India
has toughen us up so much that it seemed easy. I think its luck!
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Claire Mc.
non-member comment
reading with envy!
Hi Amy! (and Ed of course!), am really enjoying reading the blog. I check in regularly and can't wait to hear about Vietnam - it has been on my 'must visit' list for some time. All well here. Holly getting bigger and bolder by the day!! Enjoy, enjoy, Claire.