Siem Reap 04th - 09th October

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Thai - Cambodian border

I was not expecting all the imaginative scams that happen on a daily basis, crossing the border from Thailand, tour from Koh Chang, to Cambodia.

Scam No. 1 starts on Koh Chang:

You get on a minibus for around 900B (£18) which will take you all the way to Siem Reap. That is a very lucrative offer considering the time and energy you would require to make your own way from Koh Chang to Siem Reap. It probably would cost you only £10 but you would also need 12h instead of 6h to get there. I, of course, am very lazy and prefer comfort and luxury over sweating with your massive back-pack trying to find where the bus leaves from A to B.

The minibus stops in front of a restaurant, which also provides a Visa-Service, and the driver says that the departure from there will be in around one hour. So you think: ‘Oh, brilliant I can have some lunch here and have my visa-on-border done without any trouble; while I’m eating’. I would have blindly paid that fee and so would have the Russian couple who I had befriended on the journey. Thankfully, we had a Cambodian/American on the minibus who said that at the border the Visa fee is half the price. I must admit for the luxury and comfort we had and in European terms paying $40 instead of $20 would be quiet acceptable, however when you travel on a budget every dollar counts and considering that $20 is a hell of a lot money in Thailand and Cambodia, we all decided to strike and not obtain a visa at the restaurant. As we told the tour operator that they, of course, got very angry and claimed that we had to pay a $15 vetting fee. Calmly, I tried to find out what the vetting fee would be for, but no one was able to give me a reasonable explanation. After a while of friendly arguing they finally gave in and took us to the consulate, where they again claimed that we must buy the visa from the consulate, but we knew better and asked to be driven to the border where we finally got the visa for $20. Thanks to the Cambodian/American I saved $20.

Scam No. 2 at the border:

At the border an extremely friendly Cambodian man welcomes you and claims he works for the tour operator. After the first scam this man tells you all about the possible scams that happen in Cambodia. This includes the police officers at the Visa offices who demand an additional dollar for your Visa, so you should have only a $20 note ready and your passport photo - nothing else. When asked for an additional dollar, explain that this is the only money you have left and you should be able to get away with paying the correct visa fee.

Once you have your visa you meet this man on the other side again. At which point he has your trust as the above is very true and the majority of police officers in Cambodia are corrupt. Now he would mention that most cash machines in Cambodia are involved in a scam and only dispense dollars instead of Cambodian Money. He advises you to withdraw Thai Baht at the Cash machines at the border (the last one where you can do so) and exchange it at the bus station where the exchange rate would be fair and anyway it would be better to exchange from Baht to Riel than Dollars to Riel. This man was so friendly and helpful throughout, but it certainly was a scam as the exchange rate was crap and the cash machines in Cambodia are just fine, but they do only dispense dollars. I fell for this one big time and exchanged 5000Baht. But you live and learn.

Siem Reap was very touristy but nice and Angkor was an amazing and humongous temple complex. A three-day pass to see the temples is too long. By the third day I had enough of ancient temples and since I have not wanted to visit one more temple. I think the pictures talk for themselves – it is definitely worthwhile to see in person.

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Photos

P1040286
the Tomb raider temple