Collected early from the hotel by mini van and stopped off at various hotels to pick up other travelers. We missed the boat by 2 mins so had to wait around for the next one. Remained in the van to cross on the car ferry and set off for the Cambodian Border. There were 2 batty girls with us who had their suitcases with them and denim shorts ripped in the nastiest of places. They were highly amusing though- heard them talking about how they love the taste of hamster food and one of them offered the other a honey nut hamster nibbler on a stick- ha! Once of the ferry, we were off! Although we took a wrong turn and ended up where we started, we finally got on the right way. Whenever we asked people advice as to how to get to Cambodia- "fly or bus it?" every time we were told to take the "rocky road" since it was supposedly "all part of the experience" ha- that just proved it was gona be a tough journey! So off we went. Really wasn't too bad at first. The driver didn't really know what he was doing and kept making random stops but not letting us out. We stopped at a restaurant and he disappeared for ages so I just nipped out and grabbed some pineapple before we set off again. We stopped for the millionth time and the dude claims that we're getting 2 more passengers- ha! As if! Every seat was taken!! So the rucksacks that were sat in the front seat were then attached to the roof and these 2 poor girls were crammed in. And off we went. Oh my, we were told we would reach the border at 1pm and after all of the coffuffle with missing the boat, the driver mucking around, we didn't get there until 4pm! Needless to say a little hot and bothered (although Darren and I were the 2 lucky ones on the bus to have our air con over head working!) tensions were rife as we had to take our packs off van and walk with them from the Thailand side of the border, to the Cambodian. What a nightmare. We had to rush past locals trying to sell us crazy produce, make sure no one slyly put anything in our pockets and keep up with the rest of the group. Absolute nightmare. Kirsty's little legs were just not carrying her fast enough and my pack was ridiculously heavy. So here came the first argument between the solid couple. Darren was having none of my pace and for me to go as fast as he wanted me to go to keep up, I actually had to run! I don't know why I was going so slow but he just did not believe me that I was doing my best. Anyway. Finally reached the border and had to go through an oober dodgy passport control and be asked lots of irrelevant questions and given suspicious looks- all very intimidating! Finally changed some Thai Baht into Cambodian Reel and loaded into a different van. This time Darren and I were crushed in the front seats next to the driver. This is where the exciting part of the journey kicked in. The road pretty much turned to rubble- the term 'pot hole' could not begin to describe the vast craters in the ground . If I hadn't know, it looked as though a meteor shower had previously hit. However, in saying that, these holes may well be the after math of various mines blasting off, since this was 'mine field country'. So, in thinking this, it made me feel all warm inside. This thought was enhanced by the actions of the driver. He seemed to spend most of the mental journey on the wrong side of the road, then randomly veering almost off the road on the other side, zig zagging, unsuccessfully missing the vertical drops, engulfing us in dust and dirt. This made me thing he may in fact know the safe rote through the mine site and I had a tiny shred of hope that we may in fact make it through. If we, in our trusty van, were finding this tough- I can't begin to think how the poor wee lady on a bike, carrying 4 pigs in a weaved basket on the back, were feeling! Or the dude carrying numerous live chickens, hanging from their tail feathers, upside down, with a face full of dust and choking in the exhaust fumes. Nasty. We also passed a couple of pick up trucks piled to the brim of full villages of people. There were genuinely like 30 people, in varying generations, in these trucks- some just standing with their feet on the back bumper, holding on for dear life! They all had balaclavas with bobbles on top- looked like robbers heading for a ski resort. Although they may have looked like an intimidating bunch as they approached, once they saw the colour of our skin- they were waving away and shouting hello. Highly amusing. Darren finally managed to get a little shut eye, but the jerkiness of the journey made his head roll about like it was about to roll right off! I thought he was gona hava broken neck if the van bounced one time too many. An unfortunate incident came about when the rain started. The road was pretty much made of mud and stones, so when a huge lorry screeched past us- just inches away, Darren got a face full of mud and stones- as did the rest of the bus. Twas just horrible- he had filth excreting from his eyes, mouth and nose. That was what you call a wake up call! The side mirror had been knocked back and the windscreen was black. The driver screetched on the brakes as the windscreen wipers did their best to clear the thick mud from the window. Scariest moment ever- being bounced about by pot holes, yet having no idea where you were bouncing too! Finally the windscreen cleared and we were back on track!! Darren wound up the window and I tried to get as much mud off his face as poss. Twas a bit uncomfortable sitting next to the driver, since we were so squashed, the gear stick was whacked against my leg every time he moved it and I throughout the whole journey, I couldn't tell if my leg was rubbing up against the seat, or the driver's leg. Luckily when we stopped for a bite to eat, I could see it was just the seat- phew! On the last leg of the track, as the air con was failing miserably, we put the window down again. Unluckily, we had a relapse of splashing. Another lorry threw up a pile full of dirt through the window, and this time, down Darren's back. Not cool. Luckily, he was so tired, it didn't really take much effect and by this point, we had almost reached the city. In the distance, we could see a glare of light behind some trees, which could only be one thing- the airport. Twas so weird driving past the ultra modern landing strip, when we had just traveled along the most basic road and passed by huts at the side of the road, with such poor living conditions. As we drove into the city, Siem Reip, I was a little surprised at how basic the roads were and some of the buildings. I didn't really have any expectations but I know the city is a tourist spot and every other main city in Asian countries I have been to, was pretty built up, with many modern aspects. The city was packed full of rich, Western hotels, but surrounded in poverty and poor conditions. We reached a slightly smoother road, which took us through the city, to a random dudes house. Obviously a mate of our driver, who wanted us to stay there. No one on the bus was having any of it and demanded we were taken in to the center of town. After much debate, we all had to pay our own way to get to our accommodation. It was late, very dark and we were all a bit disorientated after such a dramatic journey. So it felt fantabulous to finally make it to the hotel we had previously booked. The hotel was pretty nice, and we were in walking distance of some restaurants and luckily they had ATMs in the main street. We hit the hay since it had been a long day.