Here's the update already!
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2003
1
8
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Saturday, September 27, 2003
There are two ways to get from Bangkok in Thailand to Siem Reap in Cambodia. One is via tourist mini-bus, which is extremely cheap (~$2) but is laden with scams and takes about twice as long as the second way, or hard way, which is the independent way. We chose the hard way. After a fine A/C bus ride to a mile from the border, we hopped on a tuk-tuk to the border and upon exiting said tuk-tuk were immediately swarmed by a huge group of touts, children trying to carry our bags and hold umbrellas over our heads (for $ of course), and we pushed on and battled the touts. We had been warned of the difficulty of the independent trip over the border on a great website, talesofasia.com, and so we came prepared. After being stamped out of Thailand, we headed to Cambodian immigration, which is notoriously corrupt. A visa is supposed to be $20, but at this border they charge you anywhere from 1000-1500 Thai baht, 1000 being equal to about $25. We tried to pay with USD but they demanded 1000 baht. We attempted the bargaining techniques we learned on Tales of Asia, but the guards gave us the silent treatment until we handed over the baht. We were lucky though, we later got a taxi with some Indian Kashmiris and they told us they had been charged 1500 baht each.
01 - Gettin around
After making it through immigration we crossed the border and entered the town of Poipet, which sounds like toilet and essentially is. This is the worst place we have ever seen in our entire lives. Naked beggar children everywhere, carrying babies, reaching into your pockets, the whole time you have to watch the ground so you don't step on the wrong kind of garbage. The road there is literally 10 years worth of garbage packed down and mixed with mud. It actually helps keep the sides of ditches and streams from eroding. We saw a pile of chickens (about 30) that we thought were dead, but realized were actually mangled, legs and wings broken to prevent their scattering. They didn't even have the energy to cluck. The whole time you are walking through this hellhole you are surrounded by a group of sketchy Cambodian touts with disgusting teeth. They are called the "taxi mafia." This is where you get a taxi to Siem Reap, and these guys force the drivers to pay them for "delivering" passengers. We hopped on a moto and went further up the road where we knew the mafia wouldn't be so prevalent. Needless to say, this wasn't a very pleasant introduction to Cambodia. We eventually flagged down a taxi with the 2 Kashmiri guys. They were more than happy to share the cost of the taxi. We agreed on a price of 1200 baht and took off. Went about 20 feet, whereupon our driver got out and sold us to another taxi for 200 baht. We were on our way. The road to Siem Reap can only be called a road in the euphemistic sense. It is mostly unpaved and looks like it was made by dropping bombs through the jungle. Craters literally 3 feet deep that the Toyota Camry was plunging in and out of. They drive on the right here, but since many of the cars are imported from Thailand, the driver still sits on the right. This makes it even scarier when he tries to pass pickup trucks piled high with 20 people. The ride was extremely painful but interesting. Our first introduction to the way the Cambodian people live. Passed brilliant green rice paddies, motorbikes with attached baskets filled with 20 piglets, grass and palm leave thatched huts (the typical Cambodian house), kids and naked babies wandering the roads, and the traditional gas station, a version of which every other family seemed to provide in front of their hut. After a long and painful journey, we finally made to a very nice guesthouse in Siem Reap. Our primary reason for being there was to tour the ancient temple complex of Angkor. 
