Sorry but this has to go down as an entry in itself, "the border crossing from hell".
We were told its an 8 hr trip. It is but 4-5 of those hours are spent at border crossings or ferry crossings.
After a two hour bus journey we reach the border, basically there is nothing there but desert and a few garrages. The garrages are the baggage check and passport control.
We all queue, then a second bus arrives. We can hear them stamping away, but the queue doesn't go down. This goes on for at least two hours. Then I watch an english woman place her passport on the desk in a pile, so I do the same... another hour goes by. and after getting to the front of the queue this is what I discover...
Vietnamese women are collecting peoples passports for a few dollars and slipping money inside them then putting so they stand out on the counter and the official can then take his bribe. He then moves the passports so you cant see what he is doing under the desk and he stamps first the bribary pile then may include two other normal non bribed passports in between so he looks like he is being kosher!
How do I know this... well a violent argument started after the first two hours... these women were queue jumping with their pile of passports, and were spotted by either a viatnamese or cambodian tourist. He went beserk saying I saw money pass. Next another pile of papers were handed and placed before our pile. The westerners helped by our viatnamese hero spotted these and lifted them up showing the money so the offic8ial had to put them to the back of the queue.
Remeber at this point it is in the blazing heat with no shelter and we have been queueing for 3 hours. Eventually all the passports get done, mine last (next time I'm slipping some money in). The ironic thing is that the bus has to wait for everyone on the tour, so if your passport isn't in the briabary pile the bus can't go off without you, and the others have to wait for you anyway.
Next we have a bag check, they didn't do mine, but others they pulled apart and then a walk of 500 yards in blazing heat to cambodian side of the border. Not a problem there, we get a bus a go on the 4 hour journey.
Why another 4 hours that's easy the so called one road is full of pot holes, no tarmac in places and the most dangerous thing on the road are the animals that wander where they like. You have to be careful because a cow will pull out in front of you with no indication what so ever. They don't get points on their licence.
It was an interesting journey with afwul cambodian kareoke videos played on a tv screen when the stupidest of cambodian sitcoms isn't being played. Not sure which is worse the music or the comedy.
This looks like the poorest country so far, although I am not sure it looks that way becuase of the dry season.
Next we have to wait at least another two hours for a 3 minute ferry crossing on a bus, with this bloody awful video and no air con while its not moving. I think it was even getting to the cambodians on the bus.
Finally, we get to the city by 6, and I find an ok hotel on the riverfront (most expensive place I have stayed yet). I think I picked the wrong place because of the amount of single white guys entering a room with a young cambodian girl on either arm, entering the room and leaving an hour later. Get the picture?
This was recomended by the your moto driver I had found (young guy doing night school and morning school, then rides a bike and uses it as a taxi during the day). He arranged to meet me in the morning.
All in all, allthough I sound like I am winging (then again I am a winging pomme) the day was fantastic... I stood on the wrong place on the ferry and got completely soaked... it was a great experience and a fun day and one of those you just have to say what the heck and write about it after...
The meal at dinner was superb, a typical cambodian dish and a couple of beers ... heaven. It was shrimp with a sort of milky coconut tomato lemon grass flavour...delicious. Followed by movie channels in my hotel room couldn't ask for a better day.
Posted by alexd at April 5, 2004 06:16 AM