Visa Run to Cambodia

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December 29th 2014

Published: February 2nd 2015

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nomad1979

Chiang Mai to Bangkok by train

NOTE: After the panorama above, there are 54 photos in this blog article which are probably more interesting than the text to most people. Click on a photo to enlarge then "next" to see only photos. Scroll below video and on to the next page. There are captions for each photo, just click on a photo. JD

Another visa-run to extend my stay in Thailand.

I haven't taken the train (photo) from Chiang Mai to Hualampong train station in Bangkok for a few years but the flights to Bangkok were booked between Christmas and New Years and my Thailand visa expired on January 29th. Train #52 is always late. It was 10 minutes late to start and 50 minutes late to arrive. Not bad. I've been on this train when it arrived 4 hours late. If it was as punctual as German trains you could use it as an airplane connection because it stops at the Don Mueang International Airport from where all the Low Cost Carriers leave. I made sure I allowed plenty of time even though my flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia didn't leave until the afternoon so I didn't exit at Don

Chaing Mai to Bangkok

Mueang but continued one hour more to the central train station in Bangkok. Between the airport and the city people live as close to the train tracks as anyone would want to (photo). It's just a matter of time before they are forced to find another place to squat.

Bangkok is an interesting city. I wandered around the Hindu Erawan Shrine (see photo), the four-faced Brahma statue, which has an interesting history. Years ago the Erawan Hotel was plagued with bad luck. After consulting with monks it was decided that the misfortunes were due to neglecting to build a "spirit house" for the displaced spirit of the land. An elaborate shrine was built. Then about 10 years ago someone vandalized it and was attacked and killed by a mob. The prime minister, Thaksin, was accused of using it for "black magic" before a coup replaced him. Now you can buy lotto tickets there, pay respects by buying offerings like food or drink or have dancers perform entertainment in order to build good karma. Afterwards, I visited some of the large shopping plazas then took local Bus #59 back to the airport. Traffic is terrible (photo)

Living beside the tracks

but the local government occasionally offers free transport on some buses and third class trains. This was one of the buses.

Don Mueang Airport used to be the main airport into Bangkok but was destroyed by floods a few years ago. It has developed considerably in the last few months. Now it has many food kiosks in the previously vacant spaces. I just found out about the tragic Air Asia flight which "disappeared from radar 40 minutes after take off when leaving Surabaya for Singapore". This as I was boarding my Air Asia flight (photo). However it was an uneventful flight. The Phnom Penh airport in Cambodia has been renovated since last year but the commotion of getting your visa-on-arrival is the same. No line-up, just a crowd of people pushing to give the officials an application, photo and passport and then rushing to another waiting crowd for your name to be called where you pay $30 (last year $20) and pick up a passport, hopefully your own. This has been complicated with a new totally superfluous Ebola notification form. The additional kiosks at the airport include a Burger King. The price for a hamburger combo is equivalent to

Erawan Shrine Bangkok

three days wages for a garment worker over here. Free SIM cards are offered as you exit the airport. I bought a 3 GB month-long data-pak for $3. Airport transportation to the city includes motorbikes (photo) for $2 to $4, Tuk-Tuks and Taxis for more.

I stayed at my regular place near the Orussey Market / Capitol Hotel area of Phnom Penh. Not recommended for most people. Instead a better area may be along the river where you can orient yourself easier and where there's many more foreigners. The same receptionist at the Nice Guest House remembered me and was flattered when I remembered her name. She gave me my old room with TV, fridge, twin beds, balcony and air con but after the first night I realized that nights had gotten a lot noisier so I switched to a large top floor room with three beds but no balcony nor air con for the same price. Air con isn't needed at this time of year. I did notice that another place I frequented, the Narin Guest House, had been renovated by new owners and was now called the Grey G.H. If you want to stay at the labyrinth

Traffic in Bangkok

Capitol Hotel you have a choice of many room types, all very cheap. The Capitol Restaurant underneathe the hotel has been renovated and now there is a protocol for the service (photo). There is a new menu, new tableware, better food (photo) and this has scattered all the interesting, long term expats to other places. One of the original waitresses (photo) who I remember from when she started over ten years ago remains. She has been forced to learn another dozen English words. Also, the "monks" still come around (photo) with their boy money-collector, to the tables then hop on a motor bike to go to the next donor point.

Phnom Penh has lots of seedy bars and seedy expats. It has a reputation of being dangerous but I've never had a problem and have walked the streets at night. The most dangerous period was when the government downsized its army and all these soldiers familiar with weapons and stolen grenades were let loose without a job. At night, the saddest sight is of poor people, from young kids to adults, scavenging through the piles of garbage put out by businesses. In the daytime, lots of SUVs, Lexus SUVs

AIR ASIA Malaysia

OMG! "Air Asia! I just saw you on the news this morning!"

mind you, can be seen among the moto bikes driving on the streets. They're owned by government officials, mafia and NGO personnel. The money from many charities provide NGO's with a life style they could never afford at home.

Many attractions are available including The Royal Palace and the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum. The Kmer Rouge leaders are in their 80's now but front page news the other day was of a couple of them appealing their sentences. It's only a few years since they were convicted for being responsible for up to 2 million deaths.

Along the waterfront are lots of hotels and restaurants catering to the foreign visitors. Breakfast buffet for $2.50 (most prices are in US dollars), Angkor draft beer for 50¢. However, the famous FCC, Foreign Correspondents Club, offers a river view and excellent cuisine for considerably more. Also, along the waterfront is a donated structure from "Toilet Federation of the World"(photo). From the waterfront you can take a boat to Siem Reap and see Angkor Wat. The local city bus (photo) also starts it's route here. They only came about within the last 6 months and so far the system is very efficient.

Ride from Phnom Penh airport

Second Safety Hurdle before arriving at the hotel

They're air conditioned but on some you can open the windows so that's what the locals do with disregard of the air con. I took one bus to the end of the line where there was a market nearby and snapped some photos (see photo). As a foreigner I was stared at and smiled at and they all want their little kids to say "hello" and were happy to have their photos taken. Then I caught the same bus back to the city proper. The next day I returned with prints.

A week later I caught the bus to Sihanoukville along the coast. It's about a 5 hour ride for $4 but as soon as you get off at the bus station you are confronted with hoards of moto bike drivers who want to charge $2 to take you for a two minute ride to your hotel. They even have a sign board with the prices posted. If you walk 50 metres past the group you can get the fair price (50¢). Sihanoukville is the city and there are a number of beach areas surrounding it. Ochheuteal Beach is the popular one for backpackers. I prefer Victory Hill which

Art Deco Central Market

Selling snails from her cart

has Victory Beach below it. The type of people there are largely long term expats. Some are rough around the edges but the area is very small and the restaurants are inexpensive with the best food (photo). I stayed a few nights at one of the popular places there, Mealy Chendra, and its not bad. Then I happened to check out a backpackers place because the outside didn't look like a backpackers. They had a dormitory and it was run by a Norwegian guy so I guess that qualified it as a backpackers but the rooms were very comfortable and it had a quiet, comfortable area around a swimming pool (photo) which caught my fancy. From Victory Hill it's a short moto bike ride or a half hour walk to the centre. Then it's another 20 minute walk to Ochheuteal Beach (photo). This is the most popular beach especially for younger people. Lots of bars / eateries along the boardwalk and vendors selling food, drink, manicure and massage. If you decide to walk, you'll be asked every couple of minutes if you want a ride by moto bike drivers . Be careful when walking with a shoulder bag. One Israeli

Central Market

girl was walking while listening to her iPod and some guys on a moto bike grabbed it as they went by. Lots of people on moto bikes saw this but ignored her. Foreigners can afford it they reason. I was looking forward to Victory Beach because I remembered from last year that there were beach chaise lounges provided by restaurant kiosks for their customers. That's all been taken away, unfortunately. Perhaps the hotels in the area complained or they couldn't afford to pay off the police. Sokha Beach seems to be the cleanest. The others have lot of plastic and garbage along the shoreline.

From Sihanoukville to the Thailand border is a four hour bus ride and costs about $8. It doesn't matter if you get off at the town at Koh Kong, before the border, or stay on the bus until it reaches the Cambodian-Thai border. I decided to spend a night in Koh Kong. It's not a popular place to visit but there are a number of expats moving there from Thailand. The visa regulations for Cambodia are quite simple compared to the hoops you have to jump through in Thailand for any of the variety of

Central Market

Cutting ice for your drinks

visas available. In Cambodia for a fee you can easily stay a year, open a business, exit and re-enter across the borders. The quality of living in Cambodia is lower than that of its neighbours but some of expats are more interested in the expenses and here rent and beer are a lot less. This is a major smuggling town and some stores have the prices in US dollars, some in Thai baht and some in the local currency. You can change any currencies here and thousands of dollars are put on street counters to be changed for world currencies. No guards, since there's only one road into Koh Kong and one road out. Unlike the Philippines where armed guards are outside even the McDonald's.

The next morning I got a ride with a moto bike for the 10 km ride to the Thai border, crossed into Thailand and caught a mini bus to Trat. The long distance bus from Trat to Bangkok left at 11am for the 6 hour ride to Bangkok. I rushed to the Hualampong railway station and luckily got one of the last sleepers to Chiang Mai leaving at 6:30pm which got to Chiang Mai