Cambodia to Thailand - the nightmare bus journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok!

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We arose at silly-o'clock on Friday morning to catch our 6am bus, Bangkok-bound. Our guesthouse provided us with a take-out breakfast, and we sat waiting for the half-hour late bus. We'd previously booked what we thought was an air-conditioned direct bus from Siem Reap to Bangkok. What we were met with, however, we a different story.

Luckily, we were among the first to board, so we got seats. The later arrivals were not so lucky. The were crammed in the aisle of the grotty little bus, along with the backpacks and suitcases that didn't fit on the pile that had accumulated on the back seats. That's right, the bus didn't even have a baggage hold.

We stopped off before reaching the Thai border to get stickers which determined the next bus we'd be taking. Eventually, reaching the border a couple of hours after we'd set out from the guesthouse, we were handed our luggage, pointed in the right direction, and left to our own devices. We passed through the first check-point, then walked for about ten minutes in the blazing heat with our luggage. Almost making an illegal crossing, due to not knowing where to go, we finally found the queue we needed to be in. After maybe a 45 minute wait, we passed through, had our luggage scanned, and crossed into Thailand. We found a small crowd of foreigners gathered, and joined them in waiting for the next bus. Thinking the worst was over, we followed the guide to our next bus - or what we thought would be a bus. We were loaded into the back of an open-sided truck, and off we went. We were still reeling from the shock of being crammed in a truck alongside baggage and other unfortunate travellers when we stopped at a small restaurant, and were told we were to change to yet another bus. Relieved not to be riding the cattle-cart all the way to Bangkok, we sat down and ordered food and drinks.

Perhaps 45mins passed before we were told to board the new bus - a small mini-bus type vehicle. We did so, and ended up sitting on there for the best part of an hour, waiting for two new people. Eventually, the driver headed back toward the border to collect them, and announced that we were now setting off on the four hour drive with only one stop.

The four hour drive with one stop turned into six hours with three stops, and at every stop, everyone had to leave the bus, so the hope of a decent sleep went out the window. By the time we arrived in Bangkok in the early evening, Edithe headed straight to Starbucks to settle the stress, and I stood talking to a random man who expressed his disgust at the disorganisation of such bus journeys. He'd not been on the bus himself, but regularly watched the drop-offs from his favourite spot outside the coffee shop. I guess for $14 per person, you really do get what you pay for.

Hopping in a tuk tuk to @Hua Lamphong hostel, we relaxed safe in the knowledge that we would soon be able to shower and relax before seeing what Bangkok's nightlife had to offer. Little did we know, we had another hurdle to overcome, in the form of an attempted drop-off at a random hostel. We explained to the tuk tuk driver that he'd dropped us at the wrong place, but that seemed not to bother him. He told us to walk back up the road to find it. We held our ground and refused to leave the tuk tuk until he took us where we'd asked to go. Finally, he did. Then his customer service kicked in and he gave us his number, telling us to call him if we need a tuk tuk later that night. That slip of paper was promptly binned.

We took our time showering, then headed to China Town and ate at a rather pricey Chinese restaurant. Next, we grabbed a tuk tuk down to Khao San Road, got lost by walking in the wrong direction for about an hour, then found ourselves amidst all the bars and street-food carts that signified that we'd reached our destination. We chose a big Irish bar, ordered our drinks and relaxed. The drink prices made us realise that we certainly weren't in Cambodia any more. The place was packed, and everyone seemed off their faces already.

After some time, a Nigerian guy named John came and started chatting to me. He seemed nice enough, and suggested a club "close by" that didn't close until 6am. I assumed he meant on Khao San Road, so we joined him. We ended up on a ten minute tuk tuk journey, arriving at a club called Silky where John paid our entry fee. Inside, it was air-conditioned, so it already won our favour over the Irish pub.

It soon got busy, as did John, and after being told that having arrived with him, I mustn't look at other men (those of you that know me can imagine the response he got!), I made numerous failed attempts to dance on my own. At about 3am, the lights came on, along with the slow music, and we realised it was time to leave. So much for a 6am close. We finished up the night with a few rounds of pool at the restaurant opposite, then headed back to the hostel and crashed.

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