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8 June: Siem Reap

We arrived in Bangkok at 05h30, none of us had gotten much sleep on the bumpy bus, but surprising enough we were very awake, probably with anticipation of leaving Thailand for Cambodia. The drive to Koh San road took us through parts of Bangkok that we had never seen before. I was still sleeping at 04h30, but Leanne was awake and watching people preparing for the day that lay ahead as well the amazing suspension bridge leading into the inner city.

Upon our arrival we tried first to find our way asking anyone who could help us. One of the workers at a hotel pointed us in the right direction also telling us on which bus to get. Problem is along the way you tend to ask others, for some or other reason on this day there were no English speaking people in Bangkok or at least not the part we were. We asked probably 50 people with limited success, in the end, after lots of walking around, we found the right bus and got on. After an hours traffic jams we reached the bus station. At first glance we thought we were in the wrong place and that they were taking us to a mini taxi station which would inevitably cost us double. Lucky for us it was the right one, we searched for a bus and bought a ticket, unfortunately 80 Baht more than the amount on the ticket, but thats just what happens if you're a farang.

At last we were on our way to the boarder! The bus we had driven the day before failed to compare to this one. First there was the blaring music of the driver, you had to possess ability to reach another state of mind through meditation in order not to become irritated to the point of no return. Second there was the people in front of us who had decided to lower their seats to our laps, making for a claustrophobic atmosphere to say the least.

Only another 4 &frac12; hours before we reach the town of Aranya Prahtet, just before the boarder. Here we had to look for a tuk tuk to take us to the boarder. Of course they charge 100 Baht instead of the 10 Baht that the book says to pay! We were unable to push the price lower than 40 Baht and at this point I had already violated one of the rules, don't get irritated with the locals. One of them left screaming at me just because I told him he was mad to charge met 100 Baht, guess I shoudn't have done that.

The tuk tuk driver stoped and assured us that this is the official passport control into Cambodia. We had heard from friends that there was an unofficial passport control house before the boarder, but this didn't look like it. We are in a dispute for another 10 minutes with the "officials" who also assure us that this is the official boarder crossing. Hardly believable considering its just a table with "officially dressed people" before the crossing. Not having anything to discredit it, we sit down and fill in the forms, its $35 pp, apparently it should be $25, but the cops here take a $5 fee for themselves and theres nothing you can do about it. Uncertainty creeping in I walk over to some tourists waiting for a bus to ensure its the official crossing. My fears become true as they confirm its further down the road. At this stage with fatigue I'm almost about to hit one of the officials and we have a heated fight. Nothing can be done, they have our passports and our money, all we can hope for is that our only loss would be the $10 excess we paid and that we will be able to cross the boarder.

Passports in hand with a shaky looking visa, we head to passport control on the Thailand side, standing in the line we check out and head to the Cambodia side. Only to be stopped by what appears to be a medical station, they want to test us for diseases, to say the least we are not overly ambitious to have instruments prodding us that haven't even been sterilized and are used on the vast majority of Thai/Cambodia/Laos communities. In the end we loose the battle with them telling us we can turn around if they don't do it. Our temperature is taken and a few forms are filled in before we continue to the other side.

What a blessing, no troubles, we cross the boarder and look for a taxi. The one plus of getting our visa's at the "unofficial site" was that the girl informed us of a scheme they were running on the Cambodia side. They take you with a free taxi to the bus station, where you wait a few hours for the bus. Someone then informs you there is no bus coming anymore and your only option is to take a $40 taxi.

From the moment we finished our medical examination someone followed us trying to get us to take the free taxi, in the end we just ignored him and tried to get a taxi directly to Siem Reap. It took some time but we found one, they usually charge $40 for the taxi with up to 4 people using it. Seeing as we were only 2 and couldn't find any other travelers, we tried to bargain for $20 for the trip. We ended up finding a taxi, but we were a little weary, the guy wanting us to rather take the free shuttle shouted that some taxi's take you but along the way you get robbed....you never know who to believe but your own instincts, so we decided to try the taxi we found.

Along the way we stopped twice, each time my alertness skyrocketed just with the possibility of being robbed. But the prayers preceded us, 1 &frac12; hours into the drive I could no longer open my eyes. Every now and again Leanne would wake me up, but no sooner had she done it, that I was asleep once more. At least I could regain consciousness for the remaining 30 minutes of the 2 &frac12; hour drive. We were dropped off by the taxi, who told us once more that the tuk tuk was free. Nothing is ever free. Fearing some other scheme we tried in vain to get the driver to take us into the city. At least the Tuk Tuk driver was free, in a direct sense, but indirectly our accommodation was more expensive seeing as they paid commission to the tuk tuk driver. At this stage we didn't care, we just wanted to get a room, at least it was a nice atmosphere.

Green town was just outside the main section of the city, we decided to stay the night and look for other accommodation. Walking out to the city we drew some money along the way, you can only draw in US Dollars not local currency. We continued through the local market entering Pub street, the local tourist hangout and the prices show it. Afterwards we walked back along the river, lit up with multitudes of small fairy lights. Back home we watched a documentary about a photographer and his Cambodian assistant during the 1975 genocide, before heading to bed.