Today is the day, we have done the research, know of all the scams and how to avoid them… we are ready to do the border crossing! The overland route from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia through the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border crossing is famous for its tourist scams, everything from scam buses that “break down” numerous times so that you arrive into Siem Reap so late (anything up to 2am) that you’ll stay at the out-of-the-way overpriced guesthouse they drop you at rather than going to look for your own cheaper accommodation (of course the bus company gets a commission for you staying there), pickpockets, being overcharged for a visa, and being told you must change money into Cambodian riel at the border and being given a really crap exchange rate. We made sure we did a lot of research and followed other travellers advice, and actually the trip ended up being quite pleasant!
George and Be, this next bit is for you guys seeing as you will be doing this too very soon! We took a taxi to Mo Chit bus station, no probs, 200 baht from Khao San Road… the first guy tried to charge us 400 so we went with someone else. We left about 6:20am and were there in half an hour, there was a bit of traffic on the road as it was Monday morning. Getting the bus ticket was all good, the ticket booth was easy to find (follow the instructions on that web page!), 207 baht each for first class on the 7:15am bus. We got into Aranyaprathet around 12:30pm, so about a 5 hour trip. Once in Aranyaprathet we jumped in a tuk-tuk for 80 baht (very reasonable) which took us to the border… well, almost. This was the first scam! I would have been disappointed if we didn’t have some sort of scam tried on us. On the way there the tuk-tuk driver stopped at a fake Cambodian Consulate, where we were asked if we had a visa… to which we replied yes (if you don’t have one they try to sell you one for about twice the price)… then they tried to give us an arrivals form to fill out… we just insisted that no, we’ll do it at the border. I’m sure that it would have cost us money to have them help us fill it out! When the guy saw that we weren’t falling for it he gave up, and the tuk-tuk took us straight to the border, no problem! So if the tuk-tuk tries taking you anywhere else, just say no! At the border we got food (good cheap noodles!) and changed money into US dollars, and then went thru immigration… the Thai immigration queue was pretty short, only waited about 10 mins there. Then walked to Cambodia immigration which took longer to get thru, about 45 mins I think, but not much fun when it’s hot and humid and you’re carrying a pack and there’s no air con! Once we got thru we got on a free bus to the taxi area (yes it’s free!), where a tout (actually a very good one) arranged a taxi for us to Siem Reap for US$45 which is the recommended price, so we were really happy with that! We saw one tout tell some tourists that they had to change their money into Cambodian riel, which they did and promptly got ripped off due to the crappy exchange rate… we didn’t fall for that one either and insisted that we pay in US dollars. The taxi took just over 2 hours… the great thing is that the road is paved for 90% of the way so it was really fast! The ride was interesting… lanes seem to be optional here, as are seatbelts and following the speed limit. The driver tooted his horn constantly as he passed slower cars and people on motorbikes (very courteous). But the car had a CD player so we listened to the new Evil Nine CD that we bought in Singapore – sweet!
Our first impression of Cambodia is that it appears to be much poorer than Thailand… a lot of the houses on the side of the road are makeshift and more like wooden shacks than the concrete houses in Thailand. Once in Siem Reap the taxi driver dropped us off and then we got a tuk-tuk to our accommodation. They tried the “oh, I think this place is very far from town” line, to which we replied “no no, it is close!” They checked and lo-and-behold it’s just near the centre of town… given the chance I’m sure they would have happily dropped us off somewhere “closer” that gave them a commission for us. Anyway our tuk-tuk driver offered to be our guide for the next two days and drive us round, quite a common thing here… we had no reason not to agree and he gave us the standard price so all is good, and he will pick us up at 8am tomorrow so we can see the temples!
