Confessions of a Wandering Soul

Tips on crossing the Thai-Cambodia border

wanderingneil — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:36:00 GMT

Having crossed the border several times already, it feels really weird for me to share tips now, after all this time.But an incident during my last visit, inspired me to share a few details and tips in crossing the Thai-Cambodia border that will allow you to save your precious dollars, and walk away from the experience without horror stories from the local touts. I crossed the border yet again sometime in April to visit a friend in Siem Reap and again, I was disheartened by how some of the locals try to milk extra cash from you especially when it comes to the Visa.

Many travelers especially Europeans and North Americans journey to this side of the planet, armed only with their Lonely Planet handbooks, which to be honest, does not give you a very realistic account of what happens in the border.

Khao San Road to Siem-Reap

But before that, the first advise I can give you is to not pay more

than 300 baht for a one-way trip from Khao San Road to Siem Reap. A lot of travel agencies along the street will try to charge you 400 to 600 baht and if it you first time to take the trip, you might fall for it.

I recommend you to visit travel agencies along Soi Rambuttri, a street parallel to Khao San Road, which you can reach by going through the Susie Walking Street passageway.

With 300 baht, I can guarantee you that you will have a nice van along with other travelers. The trip is roughly about 4-5 hours depending on the traffic and how fast your driver is. Some vans take more stops in stores and restaurants than necessary and if you are smart, you will notice that these drivers are friends with the store owners and I think they get some sort of a commission for every purchase you make at the store.

Cambodian Visa

Then, just when you think that you will finally be able to cross the border, the van stops yet again at a restaurant and there you will be greeted by someone who claims to work for the Cambodian Immigration, armed with large IDs.

They will then try to charge you $40 to $45 for the visa and will charge you more if you don't have a photo. They claim that those, who refuse this fee, will not be permitted to enter Cambodia.

On my very first border-crossing, I have experienced the same thing and I thought that I was really supposed to pay for the visa along with everybody else but a fellow Filipino, warned me not to pay since as it turned out, Filipinos do not need visa to enter Cambodia.

I felt relieved but I felt sorry for friends I have met along the way who had to pay the $40 to $45 visa. But I was really dumbfounded and heartbroken when I learned that the visa actually, only costs $20 and you can easily get it at the Cambodian entry-point in as fast as five minutes.

Leaving Thailand, you will get you exit stamp at the town of Aranyaprathet and will walk several blocks into the gate of the Poipet entry in Cambodia.

Poipet to Siem Reap

As soon as you get that entry stamp in Poipet, you will be guided to the government transfer bus right at the back of the immigration to the main bus terminal. The transfer bus is free and you don't have to pay anything. The transfer takes about 30 minutes.

At the main terminal, you will take another bus ride which will take you to the heart of Siem Reap after two hours of road trip.

Take note that the bus, will probably stop at a specific hotel, which I suspect if their partner hotel.

Tired and weary of the long ride and numerous transfers, some travelers are convinced to stay at the hotel but I advice you to just take a tuk tuk and ask the driver to the main street and look around for an affordable hotel.

A tip: ask the tuk-tuk driver to take you near Pub Street and there are numerous hotels, inns and hostels around the area.

Currency Exchange

Some touts including those who claim to work for the immigration might take you to a nearby money exchange center right before border crossing convincing you that Thai Baht and US dollars, are not readily accepted in Siem Reap. You

Again, this is a lie. You can easily use both currencies in any store and restaurant but for change, they will give you Cambodian riels. And as you will discover soon enough, the exchange rate at the border crossing is different that that in Siem Reap so don't be fooled.

I hope that these tips will help you navigate through the border. And if you indeed experience these kind of experience, try not to get angry but insist in doing it your way. As soon as you reach the immigration office, it is pretty much straight forward and you can easily secure the visa.

And please pass the info to anyone of you friends who intend to cross the border too as a kind of traveler's compassion.

Happy reading.

When we are together, the world just disappear

wanderingneil — Tue, 22 May 2012 00:59:00 GMT

We came from opposite ends of the world.

He was an aspiring architect. He was born, and he studied and lived in the cold, busy streets of Berlin.

And I was a disgruntled public relations officer in Manila, who at that time, was at the crossroads of my life.

Six thousand and three hundred miles of land and vast oceans separated us, not to mention the seven-hour time difference between our two cities.

But on that rainy July morning, near daybreak in the streets of Khao San Road in central Bangkok, amidst an ocean of people and an explosion of sounds, odor, and sights, fate brought the two of us, strangers who were worlds apart, together.

I arrived in Khao San Road past midnight, determined to find myself.

For weeks, I have been trying to escape my worries about the future. My workplace bored me to death, my love life was a total mess and my family was as dysfunctional as ever.

And did I mention that it was my birthday?

Any means of escape, would have been a great idea.

I traveled to Khao San Road after hearing tales of adventures and conquests from fellow travelers. The place, as they told me, was not necessarily an idyllic destination. In fact, it was just a short strip, composed of stalls, shops, travel agencies and budget hotels that offer accommodations at mind-boggling rates.

They shared, however, that it is a place for any journeyman, any person who is trying to find himself and put his acts together. After all, this street, which offers anything, from the absurd displays, shirts and jeans knockoffs to, cruises in the most distant lands you will ever hear, you can find anything, even yourself.

This truly appealed to me and prompted me to pack my bags and hop on the next available plane.

But on that night, amid the flurry of different tongues, the endless parade of pad thai noodle carts and rows of clothing shops, I was simply lost.

I went to Lucky Beer, one of the busiest pubs in Khao San Road, hoping that three bottles of beer and the endless chatter around me, would make me dizzy enough, so I can finally rest in my hotel, just a few steps away.

Then I saw him.

Tall, broad-shouldered, with natural blonde hair reaching his shoulders, he sat in the corner, beer in hand, watching the different crowds that had been chattering inside the bar.

I could tell that like me, he was alone.

Being polite, I knew that it was rude to stare but there was something in him that made me look again and again and this, he noticed.

Our eyes met and seeing that I was sitting alone, he stood up and said, "You're not Thai." It was a statement, not a question.

I told him I was from Manila, and he smiled. He's heard of it before but has never met anyone from it, he told me and I smiled back. He told me he was from Germany and I told him about sausages and Octoberfest, which I learned, is actually held in September.

With a giggle, we started a small talk, which as the hours flew by, turned to an intimate confession of our deepest wants and desires. Oblivious of the noise from the drunken Scottish lads next table, and of the loud noise thundering from a jukebox nearby, we talked and talked in earnest, sharing our thoughts on the most mundane topics ranging from German sausages to the distance lands we have traveled.

All the while, I couldn't help but notice his eyes, icy blue, that seemed to smiled with him every time he cracks a joke.

He told his stories with so much conviction and emotion, which I was lacking for weeks now.

At 4am, after decimating 12 bottles of beer and a half bottle of cheap vodka, he looked me in the eye and asked me, gently, if I would would be interested to join him in his hotel.

I looked into his blue eyes and saw nothing but passion. His and mine. I said yes.

For two days, we ventured into the labyrinth of Banglamphu. We explored the whole strip of Khao San and the streets around the Chao Phraya river.

At night, we dined out in whichever restaurant we fancy and then locked up inside his hotel room and discovered the mysteries of our own bodies.

In those two days and nights, we only cared for each other not giving much thought to anyone else. It was like seeing each other clearly, and everything else is a blur.

Our separation was bittersweet. He was traveling to Australia and I was set to explore the Mekong region. We promised to stay in touch, with emails, chats, but we knew they were futile.

We knew it was over.

Coming from two opposite ends, finding a common ground was just too difficult, if not totally impossible.

On the morning of my scheduled departure, he asked me if I enjoyed my trip to Thailand.

I paused for a moment, reflecting on the past three days. I looked up to see his blue eyes once again and answered him honestly. I told him that I could recall very little of my time in Thailand for during our time together, it was only him I could see and everything else was lost in the background.

He gave me a long hug and then I was out of his room into the hot, humid and noisy street of Khao San Road