Dust and dirt
We said our goodbyes, donated 90% of our ‘stuff’to neighbors, packed our ”box” into two backpacks and headed towards Cambodia on Tuesday morning. I had done my research after many warnings about Poipet, the border town that we would be crossing through. Warnings about tour bus scams, hordes of children swarming you and exploring your pockets upon arrival, immigration officials demanding 1500 baht (when it should be $20) for your visa and refusing service unless you pay up, taxi touts that will get you to pay $70 for a ride to Siem Reap and then dump you at a commission-paying guesthouse…all sorts of things. We were smart and got our visas in Bangkok, ensuring that they would cost $20 and allowing us to bypass most of the border hassle. We also decided to take a government bus and then arrange onward transport from the border – surely we’ve been in Asia long enough to avoid surprises and walk away unscammed!
We did manage to walk away scam-free, but there was a significant element of surprise! i spent all morning at Bangkok immigration, then met Gabe immediately at the bus station – we were on a bus for $7 apiece within 15 minutes. We arrived near the border around 5:00 and, as the only white people on the bus, we instantly approached by a well-dressed, english-speaking guy who was all too happy to pur our bags onto a waiting tuktuk for a ride to the border. The price was right about $2 – but I knew as soon as he got into the tuktuk with us that there were strings attached. Once at the border he ‘helped’ us through, saying the our best bet was a share taxi and that he knew of two chinese guys who were in the visa line and would be happy to share with us. i knew from my research that this was correct, but wondered where he was getting his cut from…
The border process was painless thanks to our prearranged visas, but once through we decided to be difficult. He wanted about $18 per person for four people in a taxi. I told him that I knew it was $40-50 and he insisted that whatever i read on the internet was from a year ago, i had to understand that gasoline is expensive now. It was hard to argue that, but i was pretty sure that I’d seen those figures on pretty recent forums. We proceeded hesitantly.
The change from Thailand to Cambodia, in a few short yards, is drastic. Poipet is notoriously seedy and i’ve been told to never be there after dark; regardless, the roads were red mud, everything was just incredibly dirty, tattered and smacked of poverty. Everything, except the giant casinos intended for the wealthy Thais! Naturally, the chinese guys had gotten ‘held up” and would be unable to share our taxi. How about they give us a special discount and give us the entire taxi for only $60?? We shook our heads, stood our ground, and said we didn’t have that much. There were other drivers standing around and we started to talk to some, asking their prices, but the tout started towards them and they instantly backed away, telling us to ask him. Defintely sketchy.
We continued to be difficult and we could tell that this guy really wanted a fare, so he told us to wait, that he would go
”check” on the Chinese guys. He magically reappeared with a British man a few minutes later, telling us that we could go for $15 each but to keep quiet, the other guy was paying $20. We decided this was reasonable and, not wanting to gt caught in the encroaching darkness, agreed and climbed in.
It all worked out wonderfully! We only had three passengers, and our fellow passenger just so happened to live in Burma, a place that he moved to after 15 years in Cambodia doing humanitarian water/sanitation work. He spoke great Khmer and was a wealth of information, a really fascinating guy. The trip was unreal. The road is apparently kept in terrible condition because Thai Airways, who dominates the route between Bangkok-Siem Reap, pays the Cambodian government not to fix it. Basically, we had four hours of bumpy, muddy downright chaotic driving! It was pouring rain, the road is red mud, from what we could see, everything on the sides of the road was under two feet of water and there are all sorts of other cars/motorbikes/trucks/cows to dodge. I could see why the taxis look the way that they do!
It was an adventure though, and we stopped halfway at a little shack of a store/home where an 8 year old sold us some Angkor Beer and spoke to us in perfect english before asking for a coin. We obliged and wondered what was up ahead…
Eventually we entered civilization and the taxi driver, prohibited from entering the town,pawned us off on some tuk tuks who gave us a free ride to our guesthouse. Everyone spoke incredibly good English,nothing like Thailand. Our guesthouse was surprisingly nice and, at $5/night with free internet and 50 cent beer, I think we’ll stay a few days! I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, so we went straight for the guesthouse restaurant,a big no-no in the world of backpacking. We were appropriately disappointed, after being greeted with a super-boring menu we paid $1 apiece for “thai-noodle soup” – we were presented with Ramen.
That was enough to hold us over (it was 10 pm by this point) and we headed into the town to check it out. It’s overrun with tourists, begging children grabbing at your pockets, tuk tuk drivers asking you every 30 seconds if you need a ride, women with their babies asking you to buy them formula – and nearly no vendor food! We’d been warned that western food is better than Cambodian food, and it didn’t look like you had much option!
We finally settled at a market and picked something from a menu full of fried rice, noodles, soup…after Thailand, it was painful! Today was much more rewarding, as we had daylight and time to explore. We were still pursued by every driver in existence (crazy to me, because this whole place is walkable!) and a kid here and there looking to strike up a conversation before asking for a coin, but after a day of walking and discovering local Khmer restaurants (NOT the pizza and mexican places on every corner), i think we both like it a lot better here. They actually have trees, theré’s a lot of French influence in the architecture and food (meaning there is bread!) and the people are very friendly, even if they are only interested in you for what you might purchase. They even drive on the right side of the road, which is surprising difficult to get readjusted to! It is incredibly poor and dirty though – a reality check, for sure. The US dollar is the de facto currency, as the riel is so overinflated that it is only used for small change. It’s odd to be back with dollars (but no coins) and it’s hard to break my habit of speaking Thai to these people!
It is POOR, no doubt about it, and it’s sobering to think of how recent their tragic history is – there is evidence everywhere. It’s hard, because these people really do need help, but you cannot give in to everyone, or even many. I have a feeling that it will only get more intense, as we are in a relatively wealthy tourist area – note that these people still liv in small wooden bungalows with a mattress and a makeshift shop, selling whatever they happen to have, out front. It’s a world away from Thailand.
The craziest thing is that EVERYONE speaks english, most very well. There is certainly motivation, as it is a surefire way to make money (difficult for us, because now the touts can argue and reason with you, instead of the conversation stopping at ‘no.”), but so bizarre after Thailand, where the grasp on the language rarely extends past ordering food and introductions.
I will write more soon, but wanted my parents to know that we made it safely. Tomorrow we will head to Angkor Wat for our first day – we are going to rent bicycles and take three days to tour it. We will be sure to stay on the roads – landmines are still very prevalent, thanks to the good old USA, and should have plenty to write about very soon! Hopefully we will find internet fast enough for photo-upload, as this really is an entirely new world…
*please excuse the typos, this keyboard is circa-1973 and the internet connection isnt much better…
Tags: 1
allisonrae
October 1st, 2008 at 8:47 am
[…] Original post by allisonrae […]
October 1st, 2008 at 10:40 am
Thanks for the update Sweetheart, its good to know you and Gabe are safe, so stay that way! Love you,
Dad
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Glad to know you arrived safely! Stay that way!
Juli
October 27th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I would put some rude, dirty remarks but I see the parents are watching! Good bloggin. Glad you both made it through the trek with only minor emotional trauma. Alright, time to sleep on my nice pillow top mattress after my $12 Great Clips cut.
November 28th, 2011 at 7:06 am
Such an excellent article! I have no clue how you were able to write this report..it’d take me weeks. Well worth it though, I’d assume. Have you considered selling advertising space on your website?
January 29th, 2012 at 4:08 am
It’s arduous to find knowledgeable folks on this matter, but you sound like you understand what you’re speaking about! Thanks
February 22nd, 2012 at 10:45 pm
I recently had my websites rebuilt and i am trying to come across new ways to make it better.Your design is quite nice and your posts are well-structured. I though that it would be nice to say that i will use some of your “know-how”.
May 11th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Have a tried to lick my balls? yes but I dont see how that is any of your business and I think you shouldnt ask.
May 28th, 2012 at 11:50 am
Touche. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the good work.