Walking to the Border of The Kingdon of Cambodia
Siem Reap, The Kingdom of Cambodia
November 30-December 5, 2008
Why would we go to Siem Reap? For Angkor Watt of course.
Having only heard of Angkor Watt from my good friend Rita who had travelled there last year, I was very curious to see this ancient site, which is also a World Heritage Site.
Our arrival into Cambodia was not pleasant. We were herded around by people trying to seem official but not really explaining anything. From the bus we were first warned of children begging and who may possibly cut us to get money and to follow the guide carefully when walking to the border. We hadn’t even booked a guide so not sure where this fellow came from. The line-up at the border office, a kind of ramshackle extended trailer, was a couple of hours. Then we were herded into another bus to a nearby transfer station where we had the choice to take another smaller bus or a taxi. We opted for the taxi. We had hooked up with a lady from Australia, Trish, (she was in the process of writing a cookbook so testing foods all over Asia) who we hoped could travel with us in the taxi but it could only hold 4 with luggage so she joined another taxi group.
We were told that is would be a 6 hour ride to Siem Reap from that point. So we settled in but after one stop on the dusty bumpy road and 2 ½ hours later we stopped just outside the city. The taxi driver didn’t speak English to explain what was going on so he was on the cell phone making calls. We were saying “Please go to the hotel”. Suddenly we were surrounded with 4-5 young Cambodian guys. We were told every taxi stopped here and that now we would have to get into a tuk tuk for the last 2 km to the city. Well Mark refused to pay a cent or get out of the taxi until we had arrived at the hotel. They didn’t like this as they wanted all the money for the ride immediately, then throw us into a tuk tuk. After some altercations and tension, it was finally decided to pay the tuk tuk driver once we arrived at the hotel.
I had a place that I wanted to go directly to, a referral from a French couple we had met, but the tuk tuk guide, not sure who he was but was joining us for a ride, kept trying to persuade me to go elsewhere.
Anyway we finally arrived at the hotel, disgruntled and confused but safe.
The rest of the time in Siem Reap was wonderful. We woke up the next day. Put out of our mind what had happened the day before, put our trust in the people and the city. The first hotel was fine but we soon discovered for a few dollars more we could get a pool and WIFI so we moved to a hotel with a swimming pool located only a few buildings down. It was lovely to say the least.
Heading in a Tuk Tuk to Angkor Watt
Lianna
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1 comment:
Hi guys. I can't believe this entry into Cambodia is your first experience like this. Not to put you off of Indonesia but what you described I came to think of as normal. I'm really glad the rest of the time at Angkor was worth it. I LOVED it there. I also enjoyed myself in Phnom Phen but I was staying with friends so hassle free.
Keep up the writing. It's been fun seeing Asia again through others' eyes.
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