Pattaya, Thailand to Sihanoukville, Cambodia 28 – 30 December, 2006
We checked out of our seemingly luxury accommodations early on the 28th and made our way to where we thought the bus stopped. Our Baht bus driver first went to the wrong bus station, but we soon corrected him and we were waiting along the road for the local bus. Our plan was to catch the bus from Pattaya to Trat 3 ½ hours, then a minibus to Hat Lek near the Cambodian border, then cross the border and spend the night in Krong Koh Kong, Cambodia.
Once again, flexibility became the key to our travels. We caught a bus around 10:30 AM that was bound for Chanthaburi where we expected to change to another bus for Trat. We arrived in Chanthaburi, but the bus to Trat was over an hour late departing. As the border closed at 5:00 PM, we knew we wouldn’t make it, so decided to spend the night in Trat and catch the minibus the next morning.
On arrival, we avoided the swarm of taxi drivers and the woman who wanted us to stay were her relatives for 500 TB (about $15), and selected Pop’s Guest House. This was our first experience with a guest house, but Pop’s seems to be very popular as we have since met numerous travelers who stayed there while in Trat. Pop’s was basic as expected, and D broke out the silk sleep sacks to keep our bodies off the bed sheets. The highlight of the evening was when the adjoining room checked in and we heard through the rather thin walls the comment “Cool, you can poop and shower at the same time”.
We left Pop’s early the next AM for the bus station, and caught the first minibus to Hat Lek and the Cambodian border. That trip was pretty uneventful, and on arrival at the border we had immediately had people unloading our bags from the minibus and loading them on a cart to wheel across the border. We then caught a taxi into Koh Kong, and as usual the driver wanted to drop us off at a guest house of his choice so he would get a commission. Instead, we had him drop us at a café across from the dock for the express boat to Sihanoukville which we planned to catch the next day.
The café just happened to be a guest house as well, so we decided to stay there for the night. It was here we met Kong Lee. Kong Lee wears many hats and he works at the guest house part time to help a friend, works on the speedboat preparing for departure and then again on arrival, runs a part time moto service with his motorcycle, and somehow is interconnected with the tourist police. If you need anything while in Koh Kong, Hong Lee is your man. He can be located at Cat’s Guest House, almost directly opposite the speedboat ferry.
For some reason our plans for the speedboat were sidelined when we were told the minibus took about the same time and you had a good view of the scenery along the way to Sihanoukville. We purchased tickets for the bus, and have regretted it since. The “much improved” road must be much improved only when compared to a single lane cow path through the jungle. Instead of 4 ½ hours on the speedboat, it was more than 6 hours of tortuous travel with 13 other tourists plus the driver which also including 4 ferry crossings. If you ever travel from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville, take the boat! That is at least until the road is completed, not simply improved. You will find pictures of the road on our web site.
After finally arriving in Sihanoukville, we saw a tourist information office across the road from the bus stop. J stopped in to try and get a hotel, but it seems almost every hotel in town was booked because of the New Years holiday. After many calls, they found us a guest house on the quietest beach in the area.
After a look around, we decided we may stay in Sihanoukville for a few days. More details of that time will follow soon.
