Cambodia

“The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it's easy to fall off.”  (Anderson Cooper)

Getting back to Bangkok was not pleasant. First I took about a 3-hour ferry to Don Sak Peir from Koh Pangan. It was really hot and a storm was on the horizon, which made for lots of rocking. Then there was a bus into Surat Thani which is where I met R (different from the one in Koh Pangan) and I was very happy I did. We got dropped at one place and picked up by a mini bus and then had to wait for about 2 hours at another place, and finally a minibus to our final bus. But wait, the fun wasn’t over yet! We had heard stories about the people on the buses gassing the buses so that the passengers will fall asleep and the porters can take things. Not something you would notice right away; a little money, a camera, something that would take you a minute to realize what had happened. I was really happy I was now with someone because I was freaked out! I was careful with my stuff, all important things (wallet, passport, camera, phone) were in a purse that I had on me and my backpack only had my laptop (which they wouldn’t take because I would notice that pretty quick. The ride in itself was awful. The air conditioning didn’t work and the windows didn’t open…I didn’t realize what that meant until later. I felt terrible for the next two days. What I thought was just dehydration was really the after affects of the gas. Please be careful when taking over night buses in Thailand. You can secure your stuff, just be smart and check everything before you get off, but make sure you have a place to stay and prepare to feel a bit sick.

Our bus got in at 4:30 in the morning and I thought I was going to throw up. I didn’t realize at the time why I felt so awful but I just wanted to lay down in the street. Instead, R and I checked into Wild Orchid (across the from the place I stayed last time) and passed out.  I thought I felt better when I woke up but when we went to go find out bus information for Cambodia I felt so sick I had to go back and lay down. When I finally got up I felt good enough to go and see A (who was on her way to Phi Phi Island) and D (she was leaving that night to go back to India) which was really great and made me so happy to see them both! D had to leave for the airport so A, R, and I went and sat at outside at a restaurant but all were pretty sleepy so we turned in early. Unfortunately the gas hangover continued. I felt awful on Thursday and spent most of the day in bed alternating between sleeping and reading. R and I got pizza to go and watched a movie (he wasn’t feeling great either). We did end up booking bus tickets to Cambodia for the next day which was good because we thought we had to feel better by the next day.

On Friday R and I got up early and caught the bus at 8 to Cambodia! The bus ended up being a van which was either too small or had too many people. It was about a 6- hour ride to the town of Piopet where we stopped and filled out the paper work to cross into Cambodia. If you cross the border by bus you need two 4x6 (cm) passport pictures and $35 (you can also pay in Thai baht but it is cheaper in dollars). We also found out that you CAN use an online E-Visa in Piopet to cross the border for a few dollars cheaper (there is a scam which says you cannot use it so people have to pay more money). After you hand in your visa application you wait about ten minutes and get your passport back with your visa. Then we (along with 4 other people) were taken by a guide to cross the border, he made sure all our paper work was filled out properly so we would not be delayed. Then we went through Thai immigration and handed in our departure tickets and then finally through arrivals for Cambodia to get our passports stamped and cross into Cambodia officially. It was incredibly hot and the line was long, bring a big bottle of water and lots of patience.  Finally we all got through and then had to wait a while for our bus to take us to our actual bus which would then take us to Siem Reap.

We had booked a hotel in Piopet while we were filling out our visa applications because it was cheap (600 baht) and we knew we would be beat by the time we got there. We were told that we would be picked up when the bus dropped us off in Siem Reap and taken to the hotel. While waiting for the bus a ton of guys tried to convince us to take a cab. They said it would take 2 hours in the cab while the bus took 4 hours and it would only be 100 baht. It was extremely hot and we were beat and we almost did it…then we found out that they only took 4 people at a time and would end up being cramped and said forget it. We later found out that this cab ride would have been a terrible idea because of the distance, from the bus station where we were waiting to Siem Reap was about 200 km, which would mean that the cab would have been speeding out of control the entire way to get us there in two hours. Plus, the bus was air-conditioned, we made a nice pit stop, and it was under 4 hours.

Another thing to be aware of, our guide recommended us to change a lot more money than necessary. First of all you can exchange only dollars or Thai baht (we took out money before we crossed the border) and there are not many atms in Cambodia so if you do not have enough money take out before you cross the border. The currency in Cambodia is the riel (1.00 USD = 3,984.83 KHR) but the dollar is actually accepted everywhere. So you can get a meal for $2 but on the whole it is cheaper to use riel. Our guide was saying that we should change about 12,000 baht each (1.6 million riel) because each major attraction costs about $20 or about 80,000 riel. We did not change that much money. I only changed about 6,000 baht because I did not want to spend that much. Do not tell them how much you changed, there is an amazing communication network between guides and tuk tuk drivers and the minute they know how much you spend they will harass you.

Finally we arrived in Siem Reap at about 8pm and were taken to our hotel (Phoum Khmer Boutique Hotel), which is extremely nice, and as mentioned before only 600 baht (300 each)! However, before we could settle in we had to sit through a “presentation.” The guy that picked us up from the bus and took us to the hotel wanted us to choose and commit to sights and activities we could do in Siem Reap (essentially getting us to pay for things so he could make money for his company). We listened to everything he had to say and then made a plan to meet with him the following morning to talk and then make out decisions. This gave us the opportunity to discuss what we wanted to do and more importantly top research. He had given us prices for what it would cost to go to the floating village and Angkor Wat plus the tuk tuk to each. Both the market and Angkor Wat was $20 but it turns out he overcharged us a lot for the tuk tuk, he told us it was 150,000 riel per day when it really should only be 100,000 for BOTH days. Plus we were not sure what things we wanted to do and when and we were extremely tired from a long day of travel (which is the trick) so my advice would be, listen, write things down and then get back to them.

The next morning (Saturday) we met with D (the driver) and decided on the following: floating village for later in the day and Angkor Wat the following day with all tickets included plus the tuk tuk fairs. We also made a very big deal about not being harassed at the floating village. Usually when taken out the guides will take you past the orphanage and pressure you into buying things for the kids. This is not a good idea. We were even told by the guides on the bus (who were fantastic) that if you want to give to the children, donate to an orphanage on-line or at an office. You will be encouraged to give money and the kids are trained to stop what they are doing and sort or preform. We made it clear that this was not what we wanted and D told us to just be upfront about it in the beginning of the tour and we would not be bothered.

Finally we finished up and went to go find dinner. This turned out to be really hilarious! We didn’t want to go far because we were so tired so we picked a place near us. We had to go somewhere else because they didn’t have an English menu so we would have no idea what we were getting. The next place we tried had English but not a lot of vegetarian options (for me). R ordered a dish with one kind of meat but got another and there was really bad singing for background music. It was almost impossible to communicate with the servers but the whole thing just seemed funny. We ate what we could and were just happy to be there in one piece!

We left for the floating village around 3pm because we stopped at the night market first just to look around. Then we had an amazing drive to the river. It was about a half an hour ride through Cambodia. No roads, no buildings that would be considered a house by Western standards, and lots of naked kids. It was beautiful. The sky looked like sun and rain all at once and it felt real. I felt like I was really seeing Cambodia, that unlike other countries when you have to actually try to get out of tourist areas, it was all right in front of me. The floating village itself wasn’t that impressive, it was the experience that was great. We got on a boat and sat on the front while a kid around 9 years old drove and a guide sat with us and told us about the lake and river. It was all so real. The motor of the boat was old and loud and we got stuck a few times (the water is really low because it is right before the rainy season) and they had to push us out using a big stick. We watched the sun set on the water and could not stop looking at the sky! The air was cooling and I felt so relaxed and at ease. We had another great tuk tuk ride back to our hotel, which included more sky and breeze. After we went out to dinner on Pub Street (tourist area), which is right next to the Night Market. There are lots of different restaurants, places to shop, and a surprising amount of tourists. We had a good time people watching and enjoyed ourselves but didn’t stay out long because we had a big day ahead of us!

Sunday started nice and early (5 AM)! Angkor Wat is “the largest Hindu at first, then Buddhist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. The Small circuit is 15 km and the Big Circuit 34 km.” We watched the sun rise at Angkor Wat (the main and largest temple) and then we got taken to the Angkor Thom, which included the Bayon Temple (the magic mountain), which is 3 stories and 43 m in height, Terrace of the Elephants which is two and a half meters tall and 300 meters with carved elephants that spans Angkor Thom, as well as Baphuon, Phimeanakas, and the Royal Palace area. Bottom line, there is a ton to see! You can get a day pass for $20, three-day pass for $40, or a week pass for $60. In my personal opinion there is absolutely no need to spend more than a day there. Furthermore, I found no need to spend the recommend 11 hours there (5 am pick up for sunrise and then staying until 4pm)! First of all, this is right at the end of the really hot season so I was sweating a little before 8 in the morning. Although the temples are in the woods and surrounded by trees and shade it is still really hot. Plus, I had no need to spend over an hour at each site, however that is only my personal opinion. If you are extremely into architecture and love tours then maybe you will disagree but for me, that is way too much time. We spent 5 hours there altogether and that was plenty. By the end we were melting and everything started to look the same. We ended with having a snack and then seeing Angkor Wat and that was quite enough! We got back to the hotel and passed out for the afternoon! Then we went and had dinner at a really awesome place called The Blue Pumpkin which, I highly recommend and encourage everyone to look up! It was a very long and very productive day!  

Monday was productive in a completely different way. We spent all afternoon and early evening at The Blue Pumpkin working (blogging, reading, writing, and researching) which was really great. I didn’t sweat the entire day (which is something like a miracle here) and was very relaxed. I also extended my flight to Bali so I can go to Laos without feeling rushed. On Tuesday we went into town (Pub Street/Night Market area) and got our tickets to Laos (we were going by bus) which was anywhere from $22 to $26 (depending on if you wanted to pay for the ferry in advance or not). Then we spent some time looking around the market and just wandering. We came back for dinner and then did the real night market (the whole area is called the night market but there is a small specific section that is really only open at night) which was nice as it is not as hot at night.

Tomorrow we take a bus to Laos! I am so excited that I am actually getting to go to all the places I had dreamed about! Not being able to spend much time in any one place is unfortunate but I am trying to see what I can and just appreciate everything. It is so crazy that a little over 7 months has gone by since I left home, but I can officially say that I am still happy to be traveling and doing what I love!

Signed,

Determined Jet Setter