We’re running away from the hordes of insects on Don Khone, and making our way to Siem Reap, Cambodia earlier than expected. It’s another long, multi-modal, cross-border trip but this time we’ve been able to reserve the entire journey with one single company, highly-recommended Asia Van Transfer, so we’re hoping for a smoother experience than our crossing from Malaysia to Thailand.
It doesn’t start fantastically well - we’re meant to be picked up at our guesthouse at 9am but half an hour comes and goes and we are still waiting. In the meantime, we’re witnessing a bit of an exodus: quite a few of our neighbours are also moving from the hotel to avoid the noise - apparently tonight’s music is scheduled to last until 2am! At least this is comforting me in our decision to shorten our stay: this was definitely not the place for us. After sending some enquiring messages to Asia Van to check they haven’t forgotten about us, things finally get moving.
The first leg of the journey is a return boat trip to Nakasong, on the mainland. We were expecting the same longboat we arrived in but as it’s just the two of us we’re actually crammed in a tiny blue canoe which rocks alarmingly as we get on. The short ride through the many characteristic islets is very scenic but we sit a bit frozen for the entire trip, scared of toppling the boat if we move too much! As we’re nearing the pier, we cross a tourist longboat who seem very excited to see us - everyone is waving and shouting at us. We chalk it up to eager travellers, but as we’ll learn later that was actually my mum’s group, still very much on a parallel itinerary to us!
Once ashore, we’re led to a waiting minibus - it seems like we’re the last passengers it was waiting for to depart so we quickly get in. However, as the rest of the milling travellers board, it becomes clear that we’re one seat short. Confusion ensues but luckily the company finds another van and we get going towards the border. It’s only a short half hour ride during which we get talking to some of the other passengers - one of them has been living in Thailand for years since he retired, travelling around the region in his spare time.
At the border, we get chucked off and left to our own devices to transit over to Cambodia. It’s a bit of an administrative circus, with several rounds of “important” checks and stamping of our passports (even though we already have e-visas in working order). Every step is accompanied by a request for a “stamping / checking fee” of a couple of dollars - obviously a mandatory bribe but when the grumpy, uniformed man requesting it is holding your passport what can you do? Not wanting to get into trouble, we pay up, but in local currency, cutting costs a little as we get a favourable exchange rate. In between checking out of Laos and then into Cambodia - after a long, hot walk along a dusty 300m no-man’s-land - we’re each about 5$ lighter, which stings a bit on top of the already pricey visas for each country. I’ll later learn that my mum’s group successfully managed to argue their way through without paying - it seems even military uniforms cannot stand their ground against a gaggle of angry French retirees.
Finally in Cambodia, we make our way to Asia Van’s office for the next bit of the journey. It’s absolutely sweltering here, away from the cooling influence of the Mekong, and everyone piles into the few patches of shade in a bid to cool down. Again, we’re one tourist over capacity and it takes a little while to sort out minivans to the nearby city of Stung Treng, where we will finally get on an actual coach for the main leg to Siem Reap - but we get there in the end. The schedule includes one hour here, giving us time to eat at the company’s restaurant, conveniently located exactly where we have to wait for our coach. The food is as bad as you’d expect with this kind of monopoly, but at least fried rice should be safe regardless of hygiene standards, and we are hungry by now.
We end up glad that we didn’t roam further afield for better snacks as a coach to Siem Reap turns up much earlier than announced - and we’re at the ready to snag some comfortable seats before it fills up with all the stragglers. Having grabbed some of the best available spots, in the aisle with plenty of extra leg room, and on the shady side of the bus, we settle in for another six hours of driving. The roads are in an awful state: mostly concrete slabs with big gaps between them, or tarmac riddled with pot-holes, and our coach is rattling a lot; but the air-con is mercifully agressive, keeping the sticky Cambodian heat at bay, and by this point we’re tired enough that we end up just sleeping through the rest of the trip.
As we arrive in Siem Reap city, almost a full twelve hours after leaving Don Khone, Asia Van has arranged complimentary tuktuks to everyone’s hotels, a very welcome touch as it’s pitch black by now. Within minutes, we are quickly dropped off at our “poshtel” (two pools included!), ready to crash into bed. We’re not even that late - the trip was advertised as eleven hours long, and it was just over that door-to-door, including the border crossing. All in all, despite the confusing start and frustrating extortion at the border, this was still probably the most comfortable long-distance travel day we’ve had since the beginning of the trip! Or maybe we’ve simply learnt to adjust our expectations a bit - only after over two months…
Comments