The dancing road to Siem reap, Cambodia

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  Siem Reap, Cambodia
Friday, April 11, 2008

We set off from bangkok at 07.00am on the Sunday morning. There was 2 small mini buses which were very smart ( With the oh so important great air conditioning )Once out of Bangkok we made good progress and got to the Thai / Cambodian border in about 4 hours. We had lunch before we crossed the border. The place was a bit dodgy. A very poor area, with lots of beggars and children hassling all the tourists. It is the worst conditions I certainly have ever seen people living in.
We got to the border and went through immigration etc. Our luggage went over on a barrow with a young lad pushing it( We were to get a different bus on the other side ) I did wonder whether we would ever see it again, but our guide Blair said they had never had a problem yet !! It took ages to get out visa's checked and stamped but finally we got through. Still stinking hot - no change there, but thankfully there was a big fan in the immigration office that we all huddled round !!!

120 miles in 6 or so hours!! Why it took so long

We found our bus fairly quickly and the luggage had all arrived at it too. The contrast with this bus from the last was significant. It was old, looked a bit delapitated, several knocks, scrapes and bangs on it - Anyone familiar with Gt Yarmouth I would say it made Caroline Seagull coaches look luxurious!!
One thing you need to realise about Cambodia is that there is a time change when you cross the border - You need to put your watches back about thirty years !!!
We then started our journey to Siem Reap which is about 120 miles. I soon realised why we were still expected to take about another 5-6 hours to complete our journey as the roads really are terrible. The road we were taking is actually Highway 6 - but it is 90% mud track ( although they are working on improving it now )It is nothing more than mud tracks. Although you are meant to drive on the right, I think that is a rough guide and not an exact science. It gets its name as the dancing road as there are so many potholes lumps and bumps that the old buses jump about like crazy, leaving you dancing about inside the bus!!
We drove mainly though open fields and farmland and very small villages. The people are mostly living in shacks, the good ones having corrugated metal sheeting. Clearly the people are extremely poor. The children are playing in the dirt and the rubbish at the side of the roads, and it made the other side of the border seem affluent

Cambodian State Highway 6

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Mercifully there was still some reasonable air conditioning on the bus. the driver would have to stop every hour or so and get out and check the bus - wheel nuts etc before we could continue.
There were many signs of road improvements having started along the route. We were told however that the Government were being paid by Thai Airlines to go slow on the project, as once completed it would dramatically effect their business between Thailand and Cambodia - seems quite believable to me!!!
We start to run into Siem reap, I am really surprised about how big the place is. there are also loads of Hotels - apparently it attracts 2 - 3 million tourists a year. So we eventually get to our Hotel at about 17.30, it is quite large and looks pretty good.........

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Crossing the Border from Thailand to Cambodia

Driving into town, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Our Cambodian transport- Not built for comfort !

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