Transiting to Cambodia

Today was a big travel day.

We traveled by car from BKK to Siem Reap in Cambodia. After a late start from Bangkok we set out to a very smooth ride in a hugely oversized (for the three of us) Minibus to the Cambodian border. The journey was organized by our lovely hostess in Bangkok, who's great apartment we were renting. Going native is really the thing, as you do not end up in some 5* Hotel that could be anywhere but get to share the life with real people. As rides go this was the smoothest and safest ever, so a big shout to our host in BKK, Mam, for choosing this one for us. To be recommended !

He dropped us right off at the border, so all we had to do was dodge the two/three scammers on the Thai side and get our passport stamped on the way out. So top tip, when you do this yourself - get a private hire from BKK and safe all the hassle with Tuk Tuks and other shit.

Once emigrated from Thailand you have to walk towards Cambodia and basically ignore everyone talking to not wearing sand colored uniform. If you do not have an e-visa you have to go to the Visa hut and pay 20$ for a lovely sticker in your passport. Do not forget a passport photo ! Or get an e-visa (5$ extra), skip that queue and queue up for Cambodian Immigration. Do not forget to get an Arrival/Departure Card from the officials (sand uniform).

You do walk through some no man's land with Casinos and Hookers and mostly unpleasant elements. But if you ignore all of them you're fine.
There was a lot of buzz and hype on blogs and forums on how unpleasant and dangerous (scamming) this place is. Stay focussed, stay calm, say a POLITE NO to everyone (unlike me at some stage), basically just say no but in a polite way and you will be fine. Hide your valuable though. I was totally freaked and stressed out at the beginning, over stressed as it happens. yes - it's not a very friendly place. No - you ain't going to meet Jack Sparrow or Black Beard. Unless you want to. Remember that this is where first world meet third world. You probably make three to four times as much in a month that they do in a year. They just want their cut.
Keep a level head and your wits and you will be fine. It is not as hostile as Wikitravel et al. make it out to be. Do be careful, but do not be spooked.

Once cleared immigration you are herded  onto a bus, that takes you to the International Tourist Transit Center, a place where you get your onward traffic at set prices.

9$ on  bus to Siem Reap (3h), 48$ for a taxi with 4 PAX max. Not cheap but the cab is money well invested, as it only takes two hours. In Thailand I used to think that there was a lot of overoptimistic overtaking - there is even more in Cambodia.

Once in Siem Reap the cabbie stopped to introduce us to his 'brother' (from a different set of parents by the looks of it) who will be our Tuk Tuk driver for tomorrow. 15$, going rate.

We ended up in 120m2 of splendor (only 120e a night), the Karavasara Hotel. Jaysus - if someone said I had to live here for six months in this apartment, I'd say OK. It is FAB. The daughter that stayed behind due to illness would have loved it here.

Off to bed now

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