Liliana’s South East Asia Adventure

ok So yesterday i got up around 6:15 am to catch a bus at 7pm to go to Bangkok,Thailand. So there was traffic and the mini van was late. When it arrived it was around 8am give or take. So it takes abut 10 minutes for us all to load up because they have to fit our bags in the van along with us. This one guy from France had this huge Pierre Cardon Suitcase on wheels. It was the size of 2 big backpacks. To each his own I guess. So we sit dwn and then the guy tells us all to get out that he can’t fit all our bags and that he’s going to put them underneath our seats. Now first off let me tell you I was warned about taking the bus to the border. the road is supposedly one of the worst in south east asia. Well i had 3 options. 1. Take a flight which would of cost me $100 USD plus $25 USD departure tax. 2. Take a taxi for $40 USD or 3. take the bus for $12. Well I wasn’t going to pay for aplane ticket and i didn’t know anyone else who was leaving the next day so I decided to take the bus. It turns out its a mini van and not a regular sixed bus. The reason being a big bus on these roads is worse then if they use a small van. So at first I thought they were just transporting us to the bus termainal for a larger bus and then I find out that no we are all going in this small mini van to the border. 5 hours. Ok I think to myself. I can do that. It will be a challange. In the backrow four of us were crammed together with bags under our feet. They even had seats in the middle of the ailes for more of us to sit. So ww leave finally and end up going to pick up more tourists from other hotels. Just when you think you can’t fit anymore tourist they do. I think their was 21 of us jam packed in the van.

Somtimes the road was ok but most of the time the road was supper bad and as I was in the back with others we were coming out of our seats bouncing up and down. It was supper funny in a comical way. If you know what I mean. So maybe 1 1/2 hour into the ride we hear this grinding going on with the engine. The drivewr pulls over and I’m thinking shit. At first I thought this was going to be a fake brake down because on one of these routes over in SEA that is common. they then make you tired and take you to their hotel. Well unfortunately it was for real. It turns out the back axle was broke do to more people then the van could carry and the worst roads ever. They start to pull out stuff to try and fix it but they are not machanics. So we are waiting in the hot sun for 10 minutes when a couple people start to walk down the road to shade. A few minutes later I follow suit as we didn’t know hw long it was going to be.

The locals were really having fun staring at us like we were some special on Discovery or National Geographic. After 10 minutes or so of sitting in the shade at a bus stop under a canapy this Scotish guy pulls out cards. So for almost 2 or 3 hours we sit 4 of us and play different card games. I learned 2 new ones and taught them how to play bullshit. The Scotish guy was not good at bluffing his way neither really was his girlfriend. At one point he took 2 seconds or so to pick a card. Of course we all shouted bullshit. It was quite fun and we had 10 or so locals standing around us watching us play. I suppose nothing much happens around there. The van was so broken that they had to get another which ended up coming from the border. finally it arrived and we left. So guess what? i’m leading to the first climax in my story. I think. 30 minutes later if even the bus gets a flat. A flat. So we all get out and wait for them to change the flat. Maybe 20 minutes or later they finally get it fixed and we pack back in. So were going down the road again and maybe an hour or more later something else happens. We flat again. Yay. Hay but this flat is not as flat as the first. so we all get out and the guy luckely is able to burrow a tire from the back. The back tires had 2 per side. minutes later or maybe more who knows a van pulls over and we pry that it is for us. It is thank god. Two of us spot it as we were sitting where it was pulling over. the guy who spoke english then says I need 15 people to get in this van. Supposedly we are close to the border. Well I don’t wait. After the first flat as I mentioned we changed vans. 3 people decided to catch a truck instead of waiting. It turns out we had 21 people for 18 seats. So actually early when we started we had 24 people and not 21. Well it works out more or less I decide to go in last so I could sit on the bags as was mentioned. I end up sittin gin one of the fold out seats and it is horrible. Actually the seat itself is ok its the back part that was very uncomfortable. So I end up sitting with my back not touching it. To make it worse I had menstrual cramps and the road and position of my stomach didn’t help any. I didn’t have much leg room as a bag was at my feet plus that stupid French guys suitcase.

Anyway forword ahead to the third van and 20 minutes later we reach the border. the the bus that had flater got fixed and the rest of the people were in that. When we get there they put us on a nice big bus to take us to the official border check point. It was only 2 minutes down the road but man it was nice. So we get out grab our bags and head to the line for Cambodian customs and immigration. The french guy who’s actually nice I guess and I were the first to go through customs. A bus guide from Thailands side was there and told us to head on over to the Thailand Immigration. We do and then 20 minutes or so later we are on the other side. the guy tells us to walk straight and that we will see people ie other tourists who have been waiting for us. I spot some people sitting on some couches outside and realize they are the tourists who’ve been waiting for us. I smile and say have you been waiting long. They were not really happy but then again I would of been more happy waiting where they were with free cold drinks then what happened to us. the nice thing was that they had a bucket of free drinks. Most of it was soda and so i didn’t want any. I’ve been clean for 2 years. Anyway I found canned orange juice which was ok. It was cold and that was really nice. So after everyone arrives we get onto this tourist bus that is unbelieveable. It is two levels really nice. The bottom part was where we put our bags and next to that it had a toilet. Let me repeat myself a toilet. I was so happy. the seats upstairs were really and spacious. They had tv screens and everything. The difference between the two countries transportation system for tourists was amazing. Obviously thailand has more tourists so teh roads are great. Cambodia gets tourist but the $ supposeldy goes in teh pockets of a few. Our guide or what ever you want to call him was saying that thousands of tourists go to see Angor wat which is the ruins. most pay $40 USD for the 3 day pass. He was saying where does all that money go? Anyway I need to go.

So we arrived four hours later. supper nice bus and they drop us off at Kho San road which is the backpackers area. I decide t splurge on a hotel. I go to the D&D which i’d heard about before. They receptionist tells me a single is 550 baht which when I did the calculations was suppose to be $13 or so USD at 40 Baht a dollar. well I had no baht so the guy says that i can get an exchange rate of 36 baht per dollar. My change from a $20 is less then a dollar. I was so pissed off but it was after ten and I didn’t want to search. what ever breakfast was included and so was a swimming pull. Most of the time i’m spending $5 to $10 USD per night for rooms. Anyway today I went up to the pool had some lunch and then had a facial which i’ve never had. For $5 USD 1 hour they did 9 steps including using a machine to suck out my blackheads. quite nice then I went and had a little more food and had an aromotheropy massage with coconut oil and something else. This was only $7 USD. Again this was really nice. Well I deserved it after yesterday plus I could never afford this back home so i figure why not. Gotta go talk to you soon ciao I’m off on the 25 to India

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.