Today; Laos to Cambodia overland... We started early catching an 8am longtail boat to get us to mainland and connect with our bus. Just under three hours later we were at the border crossing. $2 later we had paid a Laos exit fee and had our bags on our back to cross the 100m of ''no mans land'' to Cambodia. On arrival were paying another dollar to have the back of our throats measured for temperature using infra red, supposedly a health screen, although the guy didnt even look at the measurement! Next we were paying $23 for our visa (this was expected), then finally another $1 at yet another booth to pay 3 men to have our passports stamped and our exit card stapled in. Corruption over for the day? We jumped onto our new bus be told we had to wait 20 mins for some more passengers to arrive. 40 min later they had arrived but no room for them...so they were standing and we were off. Bit of drama to start with, an unattended briefcase that was unusually heavy was now at the feet of our fellow passengers accross the aisle. Unfortunately the attendants were getting some grief over the seating situation so none were available for comment. After half an hour speculating on what/who's it might be we had stopped at a local spot and one of the attendants picked it up. They then brought on kids plastic seats for the standing passengers to sit in the aisle. There was another 9 hours to go or so we thought-atleast we had a seat!

Shorlty afterwards they eventually got a pirated version of Karate Kid 2010 on so that passed a few hours. We then stopped off at a service station for tea. In Laos this is typically in as part of your ticket price and we were pretty sure. We all queued for our typical fried rice and were just leaving when the owner ran after us asking for $2 each for the food, we explaned we were on the bus but they said ''not included''. A few dollars lighter we were back on the bus and asked the attendant what time we arrive as we had a guest house booked who pick us up at the station. If you go with any other Tuk Tuk they will only take you to the guest house they work for and claim others not open or no room! He ells us we arrive at 2am-5 hours later than told in Laos. He says the Laos people lie and sell you the ticket and take your money. No direct bus goes to Siem Reap and we had to change at the capital city hours out of hour way. Whether they go short on the buses here and blame the other country in their absense who knows but was hard to accept the Laos people being dishonest.

A few hours later we were at another service station when were told'we change for Siem Reap. This was not the capital but the plans had changed. We got some more food and were frantically trying to get a phone call through to our guest house who expected us at 9pm. None of the locals had credit or the number wouldnt work, some were doubting it's validity! Meanwhile people were getting on to this new coach but we were assured by the attendant there was plenty of room and to relax finish our food and finally we made a successful call through and Irish couple's phone (Dan and Jenny) who ended up booking a room at our place too. We were the last to get on the bus to see that there was no room for all of us! April was not happy. A monk sat with his student firstly moved up to offer his seat. April was not allowed to sit next to him (being a girl). So I got perched on the end of this seat. One of the staff members had to get out of their seat for April while Dan's seat for the evening would be the cushioning ripped out of a flip down seat. We had another 4 hours to go. I got talking to this monk who was interesting, had actually been left with no parents after the Pol Pot genocide so was taken in by the monks as a baby. At this point April unfortunately didnt know who Pol Pot was and was about to go on to ask why Paul Potts (Britains got Talent) made him parentless. Luckily I stopped her in her tracks. The journey went relatively fast but unfortunately a 3rd sick story to report from the student monk. As we left I found that our camera case under the seat was unfortunately a little wet and smelly.

Outside the bus at 1am was a frantic hive of activity from Tuk Tuk drivers wanting your business. We luckily could see a sign printed for April Wright. Others had signs and we found other drivers shouting the names off the sign to steal the passengers. Bags were loaded and we finally made to our guest house following a 15 bumpy ride on the dirt roads. The guest house, as recommended by a Canadian couple (Mike and Angie) we met in Chang Mai, was amazing and we were greeted with friendly staff and a cool drink. Our room possibly the best yet. Four poster bed, foam mattress and cable TV. Every cloud seems to have a silver lining. Big sleep time!