Grand Palace, that had just been restorated, Bangkok, Thailand
Heidi took a bus from Battambang to the border, walked across to the Thai side, caught a Tuk Tuk to the next town six kilometers away and jumped on a bus to Bangkok, a trip that took all in all 9 hours. Of course, it was not as smooth as it sounds. So here are some details…
The worst part of the trip was the hour from Sisophon to the border. The expression bumpy road is a complete understatement. The bus driver kept making jokes about it. To me, it seemed as if he tried to apologize for these appalling road conditions. When we arrived at Poi Pet, the border town, it was almost nightmarish. Deep mud everywhere, cars stuck in it, but amazingly nice houses behind the piles of mud.
First time travelers to Cambodia arriving from Bangkok must be in shock when they are thrown into this chaos. The dominant image at the border is the fleet of big, wooden carts that are pulled and pushed by skinny Khmers. After asking, Heidi was told that they carry fruits, bottled drinks, basically all kinds of food stuff from Thailand into Cambodia. For each load they take across, they have to pay 20 USD to the custom officials.
At the Cambodian side, Heidi had bought a seat on a minivan for 400 Baht (12 USD) from the border to Bangkok. After a long wait, lots of phone calls, the money was eventually given back to her, when the van did not materialize. So a Tuk Tuk was organized to take her to Aranya Prathet, the nearest town, 6 kilometers away. Soon the Tuk Tuk was stopped by the police, only after a lot of bowing and squeezing the officer’s hand, we were allowed to go on. From Aranya Prathet, buses regularly leave for Bangkok, which costs only 190 Baht. So Heidi was lucky twice: she got the money for the minivan back and she traveled the distance for half the price.
Gilles chose the easy way … Flying from Siem Reap to Bangkok. This was an easy and relaxing trip. In the afternoon, we reunited at the Hotel Woraburi Sukhumwit. We truly enjoy the hotel, which we booked through latestays.com. Booking through this website, you can get up to 40% discount: for 34 Euros, we stay in a huge, superbly furnished room, relax at the roof top swimming pool and feast each morning on an enormous breakfast buffet. It is located at the quiet end of Soi 4, off Sukhumvit Road.
A 10 minute walk brings you into the epicenter of famous Patpong, Bangkok’s notorious “entertainment” district. More about that under “East meets West”…
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