On the Road, Into Cambodia

Will and Jen buying the bus tickets

We are on the move!  We boarded a large coach bus to take us from Bangkok to the border of Cambodia.  Tickets were 200 Bhat each, or about $6.  We got to the station by 6 am, picked up breakfast (coffee for me! Bananas for Will) and boarded relatively on time.  The trip was to take out 5 hours, stopping at a few places along the route to Aranyarathet, the last town in Thailand before reaching the border.

We amazed us for the first part of the journey was the amount of stuff-- and what kind of stuff-- Thais carry in their vehicles.  We saw mattresses, livestock, people--even a mobile pool in the back of a truck for live fish.  It is astonishing. 


 We made one stop along the way to refuel at a gas station.  It had a convenience store, street vendors, and a rest room. It was a very swish gas station and it was nice to get out and stretch for a bit.    We picked up some fresh pineapple, a bit of sticky rice cooked in a banana leaf, and some doughnut like pastries with date jelly inside. 

street vendors

Our chariot getting gas

Shrimp Candy at the "store"

 We also used the bathrooms.  Note, that even in Thailand, the ladies' room has a line.  The sinks to wash your hands are outside of each bathroom, two stalls on each side for each gender.  The facility seemed to be kept clean, as there was a woman with a hose, constantly spraying the stalls.

And the actual toilet? ...

A wait at the ladies' room is universal

The bathroom attendent

Well, a Thai toilet isn't much more than a hole in the ground.  It is either a low basin or a completely sunken into the floor basin.  Men can pee easily into the pot, but for us ladies, it is a bit more challenging.  Straddling and squatting are key in the process, as well as keeping your trousers hitched up high, as you do well to remember the lady hosing off the floor has just been by.

The Loo

And to flush?  It is some science-y thing, where pouring water into the basin by using the blue pan creates pressure of some sort and the grey water is washed down the loo's hole.  You can see the blue pan rests in a another, square basin, that is full of water.  

And you flush, how exactly?

Now, don't ask me how to flush when there is more than just pee in the loo.  We did not encounter that issue, so I don't even know how to solve it.  Except, I am sure that the woman with the hose had a nozzle with a powerful sprayer attached to remove any tracks left behind, should there have been some.  Ahem. 

After a while, back on the bus, and back on the road. We made it to the border without any hitches.  We were met at the last bus stop by a tuk-tuk, who loaded us and our bags into the extremely small and ill-balanced vehicle.  I imagine it was something like a clown car getting us and our wheelie-bags in and out of what is basically a motorized bike with a cart. 

The tuk-tuk took us about 6 km and then, we were off on foot to walk through passport control on the Thai side, through the Cambodian gate (with a lovely image of Angkor Wat craved on to it), through the Cambodian passport control.  Wham, bam, stamped, thank you ma'am!

Walking towards the Thailand passport control office to leave the country

Once we crossed into Cambodia, we exchanged money--only to find out later what a waste it was. More on that later-- and bought tickets for lift into Siem Reap in a 10-person Mercedes van.  We thought that Thais were impressive with what they carry on their bikes and tuk-tuks.  Man, they have nothing on the Cambodians.  (more on that later too). 

Walking to the Cambodian gate

Welcome to the Kingdom of Cambodia!

It was quite an experience, walking across the border.  Lots of people traveling back and forth, trading and visiting two casinos located in between two countries, or being tourists, just like us.  Quite something, and quite fun!