I left Bangkok on the 0555 train from Hua Lamphong station. It was still dark. I stocked up with some pastries and coffee, and I had the mince pies and a Christmas pudding that my son Ralph had given me for Christmas.
The train left on time and slowly made its way through the suburbs of Bangkok, halting the mass of road traffic at a series of level crossings as it tried to free itself from the teeming city. Then we were in the country, and heading almost due east for the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet, 5kms from Cambodia. The fare was 45 Baht, less than 2 dollars third class for 6 hours which must represent pretty good value, even in Asia. The train stopped quite a few times, and all types of people boarded, mostly women carrying their produce to another town to sell.
A very kindly looking woman sat opposite me, and we smiled at each other a few times, and eventually started a conversation, and fortunately she understood and could speak quite a few English words. She was an operating theatre nurse visiting her sister for a day in Aranyaprathet. And she was able to explain to other woman who I was and what I was doing. And the women shared some of their coconut sticky pudding which was delicious. So the hours passed quite quickly and we were arriving in Aranyaprathet. I had read up the blogs about transiting the border so I had some idea of the routine. There were some scare stories about visa scams but I found it quite straightforward.
I took a Tuk Tuk for 2 dollars to the Thai border, as expected the driver offered to take me to an agency for my Cambodia visa but I just insisted he took me to the Thai border office. The exit from Thailand was quick and I was walking through the Angkor Arch and looking for the Cambodian visa on arrival office. The office was actually just before the Arch on the right hand side, and I had my visa in about 10 minutes after filing on a form and paying 30 US dollars. Then walk 100m to the border checkpoint for entry into Cambodia. This took about 30 minutes, the place was heaving with westerners, mostly backpackers. We are now in the town of Poipet, a town full of casinos for Thai visitors who cannot gamble at home. I then caught the free shuttle bus to the 'International' bus station. Once there, there were quite a few others going to Siem Reap so it was a question of teaming up into groups of 4 (shared taxi), or 9 (minibus), or waiting for the next bus which would only go when there were enough people. in the end I teamed up with a couple of Americans from Montana who were spending time in Cambodia and Vietnam before taking part in the Yangon (Myanmar) Marathon (yes - even Myanmar has one). The taxi fare to Siem Reap was 12 US dollars, which for a 130 km 2 hour journey seemed reasonable. You then realise that the US dollar is the main currency in Cambodia, although you can change your money into the local currency, the Rial, but there is a standard exchange rate applied to US Dollar/ Rial transactions of 1/4000. The Rial comes into its own when paying less than a dollar for things or paying say 2.5 dollars where you pay 2 dollars plus 2000 rial. Or if you give them 3 dollars, you get 2000 rial as change.
The journey to Siem Reap was uneventful, and taxi was definitely better than minibus or bus. The road, contrary to some reports, was in excellent condition, and had a hard shoulder most of the way, so cycling would not have been a problem.
The taxi dropped us off at their office, leaving us to find a 'remorque' to take me to my hotel. standard fare is 2 dollars round town but you should offer 1 dollar. A remorque (french word for trailer) is a motor bike with a trailer for the passengers which does more or less the same job as a Thai Tuk Tuk or an Indian Auto rickshaw anywhere else. I stayed at La Residence Blanc D'Angkor, a pleasant hotel and quite modern, paying US 43 including breakfast.
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