Andrew Pell: Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia

I had read and had been told that crossing the border into Cambodia was not as straightforward as it should be. This was definetly the case! I started the day early with a 6am skytrain to the bus terminal followed by a 7am bus to the border. After a 5 hour bus ride with icey air con I arrived in Arunyaprathet. This place is known for its casinos and dodgy touts! After being dropped at the market it took no more than 2 seconds before I was completely flanked by smartly dressed young men (a dead giveaway of dodginess in Thailand and Cambodia!) I somehow managed to put my backpack on and walk away from the touts who promise to help you with your visa! Help means making you withdraw Cambodian riel at a ridiculously poor exchange rate and then overcharging you for the visa. Thankyou again lonely planet! It seems all a bit of a blur but I managed to find the border crossing and Thailand departure area which was nothing more than a brick shed with a tin roof and an industrial sized fan howling away. After completing this it was once again a short unsigned walk to purchase a Cambodian visa. It was nice to see other foreingners also looking completely bamboozled by the process! The grumpy arsse Cambodian official decided he wanted the payment in Thai Baht and not US dollars. Lucky I had just enough to cover the $1000 baht fee for the visa. I think I got ripped off by about $5 Aussie dollars but it wasn't worth the argument and the official was clearly not in the mood. Finally I had a big Cambodian stamp in my passport and was now in an equally dodgey place called Poipet. It was now a 10minute wait for more foreigners to come through to poipet in order for the Government bus to take us to another bus terminal 15mins away! Craziness. An American family and 2 Canadian girls all hopped aboard the 'government' bus. After feeling a little safer on board a bus we had a smartly dressed Cambodian man who spoke to us about Cambodia and how much they disliked Thailand. He organised a mini bus to Siem Reap for $10us each which was quite a good deal. Thinking that we could all relax on the 3 hour trip to Siem Reap we had a few weird stops where we were expected to by snacks. After being promised that we would be dropped off at our individual hotels we stopped 5kms out of town because the driver 'didn't know where the hotels were!' I was ushered onto a motorbike with my big backpack somehow balanced between the drivers legs. Apon arrival to my hotel the young Khmer man who spoke great English organised to pick me up the following morning for the temples of Angkor. Thinking I would have a great guide for the temples I was greeted by another man the next day who spoke minimal English! Ah Jesus! I think the whole scam thing started way back apon the government bus and i was the perfect tourist! Anyway, my guide turned out to be pretty damn good and He definetly earnt his cash. I had him for 3 days which included 2 sunrises and 2 sunsets so we had some long days. The temples of Angkor are actually amazing! I think you need to see it to appreciate the amount of work that went into these huge buildings. Angkor Wat was clearly a standout but way too many tourists seemed to spoil the moment. Banteay Srei, Sray Srah and other smaller temples were other highlights for me, particularly when you could find yourself to be the only one in the temple. One thing to mention is how hot it gets during the middle of the day in Cambodia! It is similar to the aussie sun but somehow more potent and of course more humid. You could find yourself walking up 10 or so steps and be completely wet with sweat. Craziness. I feel like I have a lot of reading to do to learn more about the history of the temples. Hope you enjoy the pictures.