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Published: March 12th 2008
Cambodian Border
Believe it or not, this is the border check point into Cambodia. Leaving the islands early in the morning by boat was very scenic, but started off by us waiting for the boat never to arrive, luckily our host realised our predicament and phoned Pan (our travel guide) 200m away and arranged for us to meet him at the boat. After 20 minutes manoevering between tree clumps, Don Det and wallowing water buffalo, we managed to find our way to Nakasang and the minibus to take us to the Laos exit point where we had to have our visas stamped and passports checked. At this point Pan handed us over to another minibus which would take us to the Cambodian border and beyond. The minibus was pretty full and our bags were on the bus infront, which was a bit of a worry, trying to keep an eye on them!!
When we arrived at the very dusty, remote Cambodian border at Dom Kralor, we had to queue in the sweltering heat. We got to the front of the queue and after the Official had a good look at Daves photo on his passport, referred to a list of "undesirables". He obviously thought Dave was someone else as Paul Gadd was at the
Another haircut?
Anyone beginning to think that Dave has a bit of a fetish about having his hair cut in Asia? top of the list. Dave was then handed his passport back and we mopped our brows. It was a very lengthy process as several of our fellow travellers hadn't previously obtained a visa, so had to go to an official office to process it. This was the first sign of a very long-drawn out day.
We got back onto our minibus to continue over the border onto Stung Treng. We arrived at Stung Treng and were then hanging about under a canopy selling local produce, fruit, drinks, etc for about 15 mins. We were all a little confused as to what was happening as some of us were going to Kratie, some to Phnom Penh, some to Siem Reap and some to Stung Treng. The drivers didn't put our minds at ease either. We were then escorted by foot down to the ferry and crossed the Mekong. After getting back onto the bus, we headed for a Hotel apparently owned by the driver of the minibus who also happened to own the restaurant attached!! We had lunch there and again seemed to hang around at length until several people started getting a little wound up (Dave included). After a
The Royal Palace
Just one of the impressive buildings in the complex. mini mutiny, we headed off on our journey again. On our minibus were two girls from North Wales, who were heading onto Siem Reap, a couple from Austria and Taff who were heading for Phnom Penh. Ourselves and Stephen from America had previously decided to split our journey and stay at Kratie overnight and thank god we did!! We arrived at Kratie at 4pm after starting our journey at 8am and enjoyed a relaxing evening in Kratie. It was sheer heaven to experience hot water and electricity after 10pm after leaving the islands!!
The next morning we were picked up from our hotel at 7.15am by bus which would take us to Phnom Penh. It all started well, but Cambodians don't travel well and within an hour they were all heaving into their little bags and I didn't think I was going to be able to stand 6 hours of this. So, I delved into my little stock of valium and stuck my headphones into my ears and became delirious to the surrounding events. It was a long journey, but we eventually arrived at Phnom Penh at 2pm where we got picked up by a Tuk Tuk driver and
Elephant
An elephant performing tricks in the park in Phnom Penh, booked into our Hotel.
Our hotel is just off the riverbank and surrounded by nice little bars and restaurants. We headed into a bar and were surprised to hear that Cardiff City are still in the FA Cup and Wales have to be beaten by 20 points by the French on Saturday to win the 6 Nations!! Come on you taffs!
Today (Wednesday) we decided to do a suggested walk around the sights that we found in The Lonely Planet which took in the sights we had earmarked anyway. Before we set off, we bumped into Taff, who told us he had an awful journey down into Phnom Penh after leaving us at Kratie and didn't actually arrive until 1.30am!!
It was very hot, but we took our time and enjoyed everything. We went to a market, which was bustly and with lots of local produce (some of which we couldn't even recognise - and stank). Then we went into a very modern shopping mall, which was worlds apart. We saw lots of old french colonial buildings and architecture. We then stopped for lunch on the riverfront and continued our tour at 3pm. It was still sweltering! We went into the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda complex which was awesome. There was gold, silver and bronze everywhere. It would never be displayed like that in the UK, it was fantastic. The buildings looked like a film set from "The King and I".
We ended the day with a relaxing drink in relaxing chairs and couldn't move for awhile - it was a long, tiring day on our feet in that heat.
Tomorrow we head off to Siem Reap and the wonders that Angkor Wat have to offer and we can't wait!! Speak soon.
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Frank
non-member comment
Lookalikes...
Glad youre having great time. As per previous posts the weather is awful here, as I knew it would be as I have just picked up my mid-life crisis car :( Count yourself lucky is wasnt Lee Hirst they we after at Dom Kralor, Duncan Disorderly would have been in jail now getting raped by Mr BIG in the shower :-0