Scamming little bast@rds--a cuationary tale of Cambodia

---

Before arriving in Cambodia, Lucy and I are not in the best mindset possible. As has been documented previously we have had no end of troubles with Lloyds TSB blocking one or even both of our Debit cards due to taking out cash too often. I was livid with the bank again yesterday morning as again they have blocked my card. Worse still they have allowed us to take out cash and then block my card but then allow a card cloner to make a further 8 transactions on the account!

So let me expalin this to you, Lloyds Wank will let me take out money at best once a week before stopping my card and making me ring them. Up until now this has cost over 25 quid to do but now were using Skype (pronounced Skypeeee in Thailand). Yet the bank do not blink an eye when I withdraw cash in Bangkok and then make 8 payments to PCCW Mobile in Hong Kong over the next 2 days. As it turns out there were 13 transactions to PCCW in total, the last failing ast we had already cancelled the cards. Anyway, the cards being cancelled we set about asking the Bank to transfer money into the individual accounts so that we could access cash whilst waiting for the new cards to arrive. Lucy and I both specifically asked the girl to make sure that the individual accounts debit cards were NOT blocked and were ready for use as we would be hign and dry. "Yes, your cards will be fine for you to use straight away sir/madam". RUbbing my hands together I though to myself "excellent."

The journey to the Cambodian border is relatively quick and I am able to get through much of my book. All is good until we have to pay our guide for our visa, everyone is up in arms as he is fleecing us for $40US instead of $20US. He claims that 20 is only if you have it done in Bangkok and we pay more as it is an express service. Not happy.

Next up a few minutes later is the official border town where we will draw cash from an ATM as we have only a few thousand baht. Mike-Card goes in, card comes out, computer says no. Lucy-Card goes in, card comes out, computer says no. Our cards that will definitely work are most definitely blocked, again!

Leaving it at that we say "bollocks to it". Off we go to border control. This is one of the hottest buidlings in Asia, 50-60 ppl all huddles into a cleaners cupboard waiting for the little Pol Pots in waiting to sign, stamp and date our very expensive visas, which incidently say $20 on them as well. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So after an hour of sweating and watching ants crawl over the walls, floors and probably our skins were hearded in small groups to go change our cash at a small shop inside the border. Essentially this is a con, they on supply Riel at a poor exchange rate and all of the locals in the area lie through theyre shitty little rotten teeth saying that there are no cash machines in Cambodia other than the ones for locals, Visa cards wont work etc etc. Thinking they are lying, we check out our guidebook and suprisingly it also states that there are NO ATMs in Cambodia. Now, were up shit creek, little cash, no ATMs, no hope.

After another excessively long trip we arrive at our destination in Siem Reap. It is nice being off our Auschwitz style coach which broke down several times on the way. The roads are unsealed and a permanent building site. Dust galore so we all cough, sneeze, wheeze and dont feel good.

Again to scam everyone, we are not dropped at the bus station but a hotel with swarms of tuk-tuk driver (like flies around shit when it comes to tourists). The offer is that Kriss, the driver, will take us to our hotel for free if we use him for the following day to visit the temples. Done, whatever I just want the hotel.

Kriss is a very sociable and honest driver. Everything we were told about ATM and the visa he said was bullshit. We were, as we had guessed, getting ripped off. B@st@rds!

Light relief came from a young English guy who we met on the bus. he had no idea about the Angkor temples, Pol Pot, genocide...Totally clueless, he only wanted to go to the beach. So stupid I am shocked he found his way out of the womb.

---