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October 6th, 2008

So we (I) had decided to go to Cambodia via land route, if Melissa had her way, she would be flying. I believe that was a good choice, we had a fairly hassle free entry through the Thai - Cambo border, with a little bit of a tourist trap...will explain while this story unfolds. So we got to the border via VIP bus, $8 4hours. got onto a tuk tuk to drive to the border, less than a buck, in full torrential down pour, water spraying off the sides of the tuk tuk into our legs and bags. He dropped us off this little place they call "visa tourist service" which I think is called "tourists that can pay a bit more than the usual rate" but in the other hand I did not do my reseach into what the visa costs, which is around $20 usd, we paid thirty, it might have changed due to inflation or corrupt gov officials. Anyhow it was a painless service and they did get all the paper work done quick.

After the visa, we got ushered into a hand drawn tuk tuk made of wood, still in the heavy down pour, which we were glad that service was there for a mere 20baht (less than a buck), we were met by our taxi driver(so we thought), who walked us though the border of Cambodia, about 200 meters or more, ah but did mention there were kids with umbrellas that you can use for another mere 20Bahts? While our heads were dry, our lower extremedies was wading though ankle deep cesspool of "I don't want to think whats in the" water.

After the Cambo border we still had few hundred meters to go, and the first look at the town of Popiet was daunting at first, massive pot holes, no pavement, no order to which direction the vehicles were traveling, it was a war zone!

We were asked if we wanted to exchange money to local currency, so, sure I went with it, and only changed a small amount due to you don't even see the rate at this hidden away money exchange. We found out later, you don't even need local currency in Siem Reap, the might USD is all need to get around here.

We finally got to our pick-up point (where our so called driver guide asked for a tip, wanted five thousand reils, but we gave him 50Bahts) for then we were met with others waiting for taxi's also, one guy wanted to tag along with us so I figured we can recover some of the transport cost, but they (cambodians) had other plans and did not allow this. But they had another person in mind to join us, but I had to put my foot down and said no. So we had a private trip into Siem. $70usd for the car and driver.

After reaching Siem we were told that the taxi cannot go further into the city, but the local Tuk Tuk was included, so that was good with me.

story to continue...

 

Compiled travel tips cont'd

-when seaching online for flights, have a couple o dates ready and willing to commit. Rates can be super inexpensive if you do it right. If you see a great deal, book it, waiting an extra day might change...experience...waited one extra day, pay $20 more.
-When buying items from a market type place, ask what the price is, but don't haggle right away, check out other simular stalls, then you will get a general price, and what you are willing to pay, then start the bartering, have fun, smile and never take their first price!
-Selecting rooms has their moments, you won't know if it is going to be noisy until the bar near by actually starts up. Aways check the room before accepting it. I check for clean sheets, clean washroom, and make sure everything works. Security is a big issue as I travel with expensive camera equipment.

 

 

Copyright by: Eddie wong