A freezing “we’ve got air-conditioning and we’re going to use it” overnight bus later and I’m back in Bangkok and the safety of Suk 11. From there it’s onto Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat). The guidebooks don’t carry much information on it, but being the second biggest city in Thailand I decide there must be plenty to do. I’m wrong. I do get in a day trip to Phimai, the site of a well-preserved pre-Angkorian Khmer temple. Fed up and hungry I returned to Bangkok to regroup and plan my venture into Cambodia.

After a few wasted days I got the bus as far as Aranya Prathet, on the Thai border. The border crossing and the visa forms couldn’t have been easier. The only problem was being made pay a thousand Thai Baht instead of the official twenty dollars. With exchange rates there is a difference of five dollars. I have grand plans of getting one of the local trucks as far as Siem Reap, but once across the border I get lazy and pay for a tourist bus that all the guidebooks warn against. A couple of hour’s wait and the bus finally set off on the worst road I have ever seen. At least two of the bridges were out, which doesn’t really mater in the dry season since you can just drive around through the fields. The bus stopped twice for breaks and twice we had to push start the bus. We arrived in Siem Reap over six hours later and not the four hours I was told when buying my ticket.

The bus then stopped at a guesthouse, where they did everything they could to try and discourage you from leaving. Even though I was tired, this really bugs me so I ended up going to another guesthouse and paying extra.