This started out with the wildest border crossing I have ever done. Basically you have Aranyaprathet on the Thai side of the border and Poipet on the Cambodians. Poipet is like the wild east. There migth be a Sheriff in town, but he is probably drunk and his horse is dead. It is a casino, corruption and scam central. Al Capone would have felt right at home.
We were told before that this is the worst border crossing in south east asia. It is by far the worst I have tried. Luckily our guesthouse in Siem Reap had a contact in Poipet who, for a small commission, would help us get through. For first time visitors I definitely recommend something like this. We had a booking to border in a bus. When we got there they set us of about 800m before the Thai side and tried to sell us a ticket further. Plus help with the visa. We just walked away and suddenly we felt very much alone and out of place in the middle of nowhere. The distance up to the border itself was full of all sort of scary people, but we walked fast and got out of Thailand.
On the Cambodia side we walked even faster until we met out guide in the Cambodian immigration. His help and a small "commission" to the border police got us through in about an hour. It took 3 offices (health declaration, visa and arrival-office). Out guide then got us onboard the shuttle bus located among a number of casinos and it drove of right away with only the driver, our guide and us onboard.
After about 5 min we arrived at the taxi-central where a nondescript Toyota Camry awaited us. Ahead waited 2 hours drive to Siem Reap. It is a very strange feeling being two white people alone with a Cambodian driver for two hours of asphalt through the wasteland of western Cambodia. Although everything felt very surreal, it actually worked out alright and we got to destination on time.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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