Journey to Cambodia Day 5 Wednesday

Wednesday was a day of travel. We woke up at 4am to check out of the hotel by 5am and catch the 6am train from Bangkok towards the Cambodian border. Although it was still dark when we left the hotel via taxi, without a hint of light, the market around the hotel was already alive and more bustling that I'd ever seen it in the daytime! After 5 minutes we were at the train station, a dark, sketchy looking place. We quickly walked inside the main terminal, wanting to avoid the bums and dangerous looking people lingering around the dirty exterior. The tickets for the train cost only a few dollars, even though the ride would last for 5 hours. That's because our seats were third class. For the train and route we wanted, third was the only class.

The train was about eight rickety cars long. There was no air conditioning and the windows were wide open. There were simple wooden seats that faced each other. But it was clean and there was a bathroom. Everyone else on the train was Thai, obviously farmers who travel back and forth to the city to sell their fresh produce. Jason and I settled in around 5:40 and waited. We were hoping to run into our friend Brian, who was also traveling to Cambodia by train from Bangkok. We had tried to coordinate with him but with no internet access the last we heard was that he'd try to make the 6am train, but I don't think he got my reply saying we would definitely be on it. We waited anxiously for Brian, looking out the window to see if he was coming. We thought it was a 50/50 chance we'd see him or not. But then no more than 5 minutes before the train departed Brian appeared in the car door! We were so happy to see him, and he us! Traveling with just the two of us was of course fun, but having a friend to travel with made the long day seem so much better, safer and comfortable! Brian also lives in Wonju with us and we met him at our orientation in August where Jason and he were roommates. He's a really nice guy and easy to get along with.

So the three of us settled in for our long ride. Jason and I had our hefty bag of snacks from the market and the breeze through the windows made it really enjoyable. Five hours flew by as we watched the beautiful green countryside creep by. We stopped at numerous small stations along with way, lined with palm trees and brilliant flowers. We were dreading the time we were to arrive in Poipet, the town on the Thai border to Cambodia. We'd read plenty of accounts on the internet of people being swindled into paying too much for their VISA to Cambodia and whatnot. Although Thailand did not require an entry VISA, Cambodia did. It only cost $20 and was good for about a month.

Our tranquil train ride ended and our nerves skyrocketed. To get to the border we had to take a tuk tuk. They were swarming, waiting for us when we arrived. There were over 30 drives just hoping to get a customer. We took the first guy who approached us because the price was good. We whizzed down the street, hoping we were going in the right direction. Suddenly we veered off on a side road, pulled up to a nice looking building were a friendly man in a clean white suit walked up with some paperwork. He asked us if we needed VISA's. We'd heard about this scam, where the travel agency's will charge you double for the VISA and pocket the change. You get a real VISA, at double the price. Luckily Jason and I had bought e-VISA's online so we just said "oh no, we already have e-VISA's." That immediately cut the deal and away we went. This time we arrived at the border.

Well, we assumed we were at the border. All the border consisted of was a road with a gate over it, surrounded by some shops and fencing, with motorbikes parked all over. It was the most unimpressive thing. We thought a border would be a bigger deal. We also weren't sure where the actual entrance was. Again we'd read about scams where there are fake border entrances, or people try to get you to walk the wrong way, etc. We spotted some other foreigners with backpacks up the road and decided we simply walked in. So we did.

To get into Cambodia we first had to be stamped out of Thailand. Although we were part of the way through the border, we still had no idea where to go. The crossing was nothing more than derelict buildings with difficult to find sings. Numerous buildings were deserted, such as "customs" or "health check." We walked around trying to find a building that was actually in use and finally discovered a small, two door entrance to the Thai immigration center. Inside were five officials stamping people out at five desks. This part was easy enough and we knew once we were stamped out we could be stamped into Cambodia and Brian could buy his VISA. After exiting the Thai side, you are dumped into no man's land.

No man's land was depressing. Depressing doesn't even begin to capture the feeling of the area, but its as close as I can come. Following the other foreigners in front of us because there were no signs telling you were to go, we walked the few hundred feet to the Cambodia VISA stamp. The paved road was dry, dusty, ill used. There were a few signs for Casino Hotels, but who would ever want to stay in this horrible place? There were groups of men loitering. There were naked children pressing themselves onto your legs and hands begging for money. There were mothers with babies sitting on the ground. The three of us were on high alert, our nerves boiling over with tension. It was an awful place. The worst place I have ever been in terms of what I felt and saw. I was just shocked this was a border!

We did see a sign for VISA purchasing but didn't think it was the right place because a random Thai "guide" had pointed it out but by that point we were ignoring all the "help" people were trying to give us. So we got in line thinking Brian could buy the VISA at the same time we were stamped into Cambodia. After a long wait we discovered... wrong! So while Jason and I made it through to the other side, Brian had to go back by himself and wait for the VISA. The building we had seen earlier was the right one. Go figure.

Jason and I waited for about an hour, clutching our bags to ourselves, nervously watching everyone around us. We were convinced everyone was out to swindle and cheat us. We were tense and eager to leave this horrible place. Our waiting area consisted of a few chairs in front of a bus stop. There were Cambodian "tourist police" stationed about, but they rarely did much to keep the "touts" (Thai "tour guides") away from the foreigners crossing the border. They would follow people, trying to get them to follow them to a taxi, a tuk tuk, a motorbike. There was a free government bus that would pick people up from the bus stop and take them to the main bus terminal, so there was no need to go with these people. One couple did almost go on a motorbike somewhere but the tourist police stopped them and ushered them onto the free bus instead. Still I also saw the police with passports, filling out paperwork, which was strange because we were outside the border. The tout's would bring them to them, so who know's what was going on. Maybe a money scam? The Cambodian side of things was already drastically poorer and run down the Thai side. Looking back I think Jason and I probably didn't need to be quite so tense, but we'd read horror stories on line and had never been anywhere like this.

Finally Brian emerged, to our relief, unscathed, and we quickly got on the bus. A tout got on with us, we did not want him too. He looked nice and perhaps he was really trying to help us, we don't know. I began to doubt my ill feelings towards him until Brian and Jason said, no I think he was a crook. The bus terminal was nothing more than a building with two ticket booths and no walls. But you couldn't buy bus tickets, only taxi tickets. The only way to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia from the border at Poipet was by bus or taxi. Taxi was faster by far but cost more. There is only one road to Siem Reap from the border. One two lane road. And it was recently paved. Amazing isn't it, to think of?

We wanted a taxi for the three of us, and we wanted to pay no more than $35, and pay when we arrived. But the taxi drivers were all in some kind of ring together and were charging $12 a person for a full taxi of 4 people, paid before you leave. We felt extremely uncomfortable with this, even though they were issuing tickets. Since there were only three of us they said "oh, you can go with the Japanese guy, he is just one!" So we met the Japanese guy, who was a nice solo traveler like us. He looked confused as well even though he had bought a taxi ticket. Quickly he pulled out his translator, typed something in, said to us "I think it is..." and showed us the translator where it said FRAUD. We nodded our head in agreement. He quickly refunded his ticket, which they allowed, and walked away. It was impossible to get the people to leave you alone so you just had to walk away. We told them what we wanted but they said it wasn't possible. I spotted a couple around our age wandering around and asked them what they thought. They were Canadian and also unsure but said they would probably just buy the ticket for the taxi because, what else could you do?

Finally the taxi guys came back to us and said, okay, we found you a taxi for $40 flat rate for three of you and you pay on arrival. That was fine with us. Our taxi was off to the side on the other side of the building so of course we all freaked out a little and thought we were gonna be mugged or something. Our things went in the trunk and Brian wisely said "watch the bags!" We were so on nerve! But our taxi driver arrived and seemed nice and off we went.

The countryside of Cambodia was different than Thailand. It was more bare, with wispy grass and only clumps of trees. (We later learned it had been slashed and burned.) It was dry. Every 10 minutes our so we would come to another clump of houses lining the single road. The houses were no more than shacks built of wood, sometimes on stilts. There was trash everywhere around them. Every home seemed to have a shop in front of it too, selling coconuts, some food and drink, and liter bottles filled with some kind of yellow liquid. There were very few homes and shops. It was very sad to see. And very shocking. And very unnerving. At one point our driver pulled off the road and stopped the car. We all freaked out again! We thought we were going to be mugged or kidnapped! Jason and Brian quickly jumped out of the car as the driver opened the trunk where our bags were. Jason even accidentally hit the driver in the leg with his door. A little boy was standing around outside near the car. But the driver simply needed gas and the tank was accessed through the trunk. We felt ashamed of our illogical fears. Kidnapped? Mugged? What would be the point?

Jason did notice something funny about the gas pump though. It wasn't actually gas at all. It was propane. Somehow our car, which looked like a normal Honda or whatnot from the outside, had been modified to run on propane. We learned that gas is super expensive in Cambodia, so this was much cheaper. When we rolled onwards we could smell propane through the air conditioning for a few miles. Apparently also throughout this time, while Brian and I dozed, Jason was on constant alert. And he was also cursing me thinking "why did she drag me to this awful place?!"

But after only an hour 1/2 we arrived in Siem Reap unharmed. And we passed the bus on the way, seeing the Japanese guy snoozing through an open window, guess he made it too.

In Siem Reap our taxi driver dropped us with a tuk tuk driver who would take us to our two different guesthouses. We didn't have to pay them because our driver did. He actually was very nice and said everyday he drove to and from the border to make some money. Cambodia is a very poor country. He gave us his phone number in case we needed a taxi again.

The tuk tuk driver was also nice. He asked us the routine "where are you from?" questions and when we arrived at our destination, Rosy' Guesthouse, he asked what time we wanted to be picked up in the morning to go to the temples. We declined and he was okay with that and drove away. We were still totally on edge and had expected an angry fight with our driver but there was none. Already Cambodia was different than Bangkok, and we were not used to it, in the beginning we questioned everyone's motives. A little caution was and is a good thing, but were going overboard.

Rosy's Guesthouse was a welcome sight! It was now 4pm in the afternoon! Brian was at a different hostel so he planned to walk to ours at 6pm. Rosy's was on the small river running through the town so it was easy to find. On first impression Rosy's was awesome. (It continued to be awesome throughout our stay.) The downstairs was a large patio area with a small bar, a pool table and lots of chairs for dining. The girls at the front desk were extremely nice, in a sincere, warm, welcoming way, and took us to our room without even going through the formal check in process. She showed us around the room, pointed out the bottled water and told us to clean up and come down to check in when we were ready. Our room was simple and comfortable. The view out our window was beautiful, lush green trees, until you noticed the trash from the neighboring house. Around six we walked downstairs after having showered and chilled on our nice big bed. Soon Brian showed up. Finally we were relaxed and excited to be in Cambodia! Our first impressions of the city and our guesthouse were excellent. Things were starting to slow down.

We decided to eat at Rosy's that night and ended up having some excellent food, both Cambodian and Western, coupled with milkshakes and Angkor beer for only $1! Everything was so cheap and delicious! We were thrilled to keep eating something other than Korean food and the simple, fresh and tasty food at Rosy's hit the spot. We spent the night talking and laughing. We called it a night relatively early, around 10 or 11pm, and planned to meet Brian at 8am the next morning to head to the Angkor Wat temple complex about 10 minutes out of town.

Things were about to get good, very good!


To read more about Cambodia's history check out these pages (page 1, page 2) paying special attention to the French influence and horrible time during the 1970's of The Khmer Republic. A truly devestating past they have not recovered from.  

For some information an Angkor Wat check here.