There was a bit of panic in our last few days of Ko Tao before heading to Cambodia. A recurring issue that had come up was the need for dollars when crossing the Khmer border. The issue was that to enter the the country via the border, visitors need to pay for a visa to a border patrol that is very strict about the quality of the dollar bills used to pay. We had heard about how backpackers had had perfectly useable dollars turned away due to tiny rips, stains and even from just being a little too creased. The big problem that we had was being on a small island with very few banks and money exchange booths offering the US currency. In fact, almost all of the vendors told us to go to one of the four banks on the island who had already told us that the best place would be an airport on a completely different island.
After scouring every single vendor, we finally found one who happened to have 100 dollar bills and another who had smaller; the only two vendors on the whole island who had US dollars. Now with a bit more preparedness we felt a little more ready to face the notoriously strict border of Cambodia. After waiting in the hot bus station for our vehicle to pull up, the first part of the journey left the anticipation to drag out even further, especially with stops at shops and the staff checking that everyone had their Thai Visas and the money ready to hand over. We learned that if we didn’t have the 40 dollars required for entry, we could pay in Thai Baht, although the conversion rate determined by the border meant that you would be paying 65 dollars instead. This was our first glimpse at how a government can take advantage of foreigners and we breathed a sigh of relief when the bus staff handed back our passports with the Cambodian Visa printed inside.
The drama wasn’t quite over yet though, with the bus battery being too low for the engine to start. Once we caught wind of the situation, all of my past experience with UK coaches and buses breaking down flashed before me and visions of waiting for hours for a replacement bus started to manifest. This was cut short when a member of staff asked all of the men to come and help jump start the bus. I stepped off to see most of the males pushing against the front of the bus and once I’d joined in, I quickly realised that we didn’t need as many of us pushing the vehicle as we had but everyone so willing to help, we successfully got the bus running within 10 minutes. The whole situation, although the most logically practical, was something that would be absolutely unheard of in the UK.
After getting everyone back on, we made our way to the physical border to have our new visas and passports checked. There were three queues to choose from, Amy chose one and I committed to another. 45 minutes after being seen to and waiting back at the bus, Amy came back to check whether my queue had moved at all which coincidentally had began easing up once a group of young Australians on some sort of tour got through all of their passports after half hour. Eventually I rejoined Amy back on to the bus with a lunch waiting for me. There was a definite relief of getting through the border successfully and though the rest of the journey to Siem Reap was still a few hours, we could rest easy knowing we were now in Cambodia.
We were greeted off of the bus in Siem Reap by a young Cambodian driver ready to take us to the hotel but not before trying to persuade us to hire him as a driver for the following day. It’s not an uncommon thing for drivers that pick you up straight off of the bus to try their hardest to sell you a tour, even stalling leaving until you give them a hard answer. Apparently “we’ll think about it” isn’t solid enough. Eventually he settled for adding me on Facebook so I could message him as soon as we had decided. We carried on into Siem Reap, with the driver making unnecessary haste over roads that were approximately 80 percent pot holed. After spending most of the journey in the air with our bums refusing to stay planted on the seats, we got to the hotel, feeling the impact of every hard swerve, dip and bump on our bodies.
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