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Our "accommodation" in Stung Treng
Anyone remember the series Prisoner Cell Block H? A piece of advice when travelling, especially in developing countries: just because two points on a map are close together does not mean that you can get a straight road from point A to point B! We wanted to go to Laos from Siem Riep in a day. Thinking that we were being hardened responsible travellers we factored in another day just in case there was only one bus from the Cambodian border town that we missed and had to take the next day. Both Siem Riep and the border town of Stung Treng are in the north of Cambodia and looking at the map, we guessed that it would take a 4-6 hour bus journey to get there. Not quite. First, we must take a 6 hour bus ride south to Kampong Cham to then get a 4 hour bus ride north to Krati to then get another 3 hour bus ride more north to Stung Treng - this doesn't even include the border crossing. And that was the most straightforward way. So what should take 4-6 hours would in fact take us at least 14 hours. And that's if everything runs smoothly. Which it didn't. So we catch the
first bus to Kampong Cham to discover that there is no other bus until the following day. And this is only the first leg of the journey. So we get accosted by an overly-eager "helpful" man who insists on us taking a taxi to our destination. So we find a driver who tries to overcharge us. It's not the New Year for another week and already we're hearing excuses for why the prices are rising. Not wanting to be stuck in another sweaty city we agree on a reasonable price. But we can't go yet - not until we find 6 more people to squash into the Tayota Camry. Two hours later and it's off we go in the sweat box. Lucky for us, one of the 9 passengers was a little boy and all of the passengers (except us) were Asian which means a little more leg room in what I can only describe as a claustrophobic's nightmare. It wasn't as bad as I first envisaged because I got the window seat and me and Emma got into the habit of alternating bum cheeks to lean on every half an hour. (Yep, there was no space for both).
Halfway through the journey we had to get out of the car and wait for another taxi driver and for replacements for the passengers who had been dropped off along the way...so that was another 2 hours waiting around. All in all I survived probably because I was mesmirised by how obedient the little boy was and how the elderly man who had trouble breathing before getting into the car didn't have a stroke/heart attack. So we eventually get to a decent looking Mr. T's hostel Stung Treng to learn that we would be stuck here for at least 3 days because we have no visa to get to the border. After that, the cracks in the hostel's decentness started to show. We were so warped from our mammoth voyage of Cambodia's length and breadth that all we could do was sleep...until we saw what we had to sleep on. I managed to actually sleep quite well but poor Emma whose mattress was so thin that she had to fold it in half throughout the night didn't sleep a wink (I have really surprised myself on my sleeping abilities on this trip!) I think we would have put up with
$2 manicure
My dusty hobbit foot the hovel-like surroundings if this border town had the allure of Tijuana. Unfortunately, it was more like of those towns you would never go to unless you were born there or unless Ryanair built an airport there. It sucks the life out of you. Adamant not to be defeated we send away our visa applications and head 3 hours north east to Ban Lung, Ratanakiri.
Supposedly dubbed the undiscovered jewel in Cambodia's crown, this place was definately unique. A three hour taxi trek over bamboo bridges and dust roads was closest to the safari I have ever been and the town of Ban Lung was no different. It's generally a hard place to reach because in monsoon conditions, the dust turns into a swirling mass and it's all uphill and in the dry season the dust means there's virtually no visibility for anyone who attempts to walk/drive. So when we finally reached the equally dust town, the two of us went on a scavange for these masks the Asians are renowned for wearing but to no avail so I opted for a pink sarong which meant looking like I had gotten lost on my way to the set of
a Bollywood movie. The only way I can describe this place is to liken it to a town from the wild west but without the swinging-doored saloons! Dust was definately the key word of the day and by the end of our time there it was in everything we owned. Ban Lung isn't the most livliest of places, it's more about the surrounding landscape where you can do treks. Sadly for us, we had virtually no money and if it weren't for the leftover euros in my purse that I was able to change in the Western Union, we would have been screwed. Anyone who will be doing this route, take all your money out in Phnom Penh because there are no more ATMs until central Laos. And that's not close! So with the few sponduligs we had we splashed out on a $2 mani-pedicure and paid another $2 to get a moto-taxi up to the volcanic lake. I wouldn't chance walking it unless you want a mouthful of dust and to fancy hoping that oncoming traffic might see you underneath all that dust for 1 hour and a half. Ban Lung is not for everyone and certainly did not tick all my boxes but Emma liked it so it really depends on the individual. I didn't like it because the thing that it offered can be found in Laos and Thailand but in areas with more atmosphere and with better scenery. But then Emma liked it because it was totally different and offered a different flavour of Cambodia with friendly locals not looking to make a quick dollar out of you. But that's the beauty of travelling, you get taken off the beaten track or away from your itinerary and stumble across something that could really open your eyes.
Alas our time was up in Ban Lung and it was back to the best forgotten Stung Streng. We weren't counting our lucky cards this time and really thought we might be stuck for another day waiting for our visa. Luckily for us our cards were the winners and we literally walked out of the minibus from Ban Lung to be handed our visas and to be told the bus was waiting for us to go to the Laos border. Suddenly Stung Treng was the best place on earth - how different things can seem when things go your way!!! A short boat and bus ride away was the Laotian border and we did not look back after being forced to pay a departure bribe of $1...so goodbye Cambodia and hello Laos!
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Emma
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Dusty Ba Lung
Haha, I have definately become lazy in writing my blogs, this is so more descriptive and interesting than what I had to say! Really enjoyed reading it.