Crossing Over to Cambodia (Siem Reap)

At the Thai-Cambodia Border. Photo credit: Ate Gaga

We requested for a wake up call as we are due for the bus terminal really early in order to catch the first trip out.  There were five of us and tons of baggage between us :P  We had to take separate taxis. Ate and Tunga took one while Ate Tata, Mama and myself took another.

The streets were deserted as it was around 2 in the morning.  At one point I got scared when our driver announced he is taking a shortcut to avoid traffic red lights. And he did! I could tell we already lost the other taxi and I was concerned about them getting lost. I got relieved when we were already parked outside Morchit 2 station and found them following us closely. The funny thing was when our driver got out to help us with our baggages, I noticed he was totally barefooted.

Inside Morchit 2 station

In my worry about losing Ate, I forgot to specify to the driver to take us to the first level of the station. The result, we had to drag all our baggages down two flights of stairs.  The elevator wasn't working. It wasn't an easy feat :P

As it was in my case before, none of the ticket stalls were open yet. We killed the time browsing through our photos in Bangkok. At one point, we got coffee from the 7-Eleven store inside the passenger terminal. I got some instant noodles as I was hungry as well.

Inside the bus bound for Siem Reap

Finally the ticket stalls opened. We queued up and got ourselves tickets. Before we knew it, we were already on our way. It was a long trip but after awhile the sky began to lighten, heralding a brand new day. We got hungry just before we crossed the border. Good thing we also bought some yogurt and the bus ticket came with some packed soft cake and juice.

The woman we hired to carry all our luggage.  We actually pitied her
and would have wanted someone stronger to take on the task
but she asked that we hire her.

As is always the case, crossing via Poipet is not a bed of roses. Having a lot of baggages did not help at all. We had to hire a "push cart" which actually resembled more the "kariton" back home. The sad thing about it was that it was being pushed by a frail woman.  Life is hard in some parts of Cambodia, not so different from our situation in the Philippines.

It was a bit disconcerting, having to lose sight of the cart as we had to go inside the Thai Immigration office. We had to have our departure stamped on our passports. There were quite a number of tourist so we had to stand in queue for a while.  I got worried by the minute, thinking of all our belongings and a three-days worth of "shopping" in the hands of a stranger who could run with all of it, with us no absolute way of ever tracing her.

We had to transfer next to the Cambodia Immigration office.   That too, took some time since Ate and Tunga had to get visas as they are carrying Australian passports. I did not wait for them though as I was keen on finding out whether we had to buy new clothes for our three-day stay in Siem Reap. I breathed a sigh of relief to find the woman and her cart full of our belongings waiting right outside the gates. She must have had a hard time pushing. Our stuff must have been very heavy. Ate pitied her and gave her a tip.

photo credit: Tunga

Our ordeal did not end there, however. We had to wait for the van I've arranged to pick us up. I had to call Channa from the hotel twice as we did not quite trust the person who came to pick us up. It was such a mess, with us having to pay extra for some tax or fee that was not at all part of the agreement when I had arranged our transfer. Paid up we did though just so we could get things over and done with. 

photo credit: Tunga

We slept on and off while on the way. There was not much to see but endless paddies and the country side. Ate and the rest might have been wondering if they made the right decision agreeing to me about going all the way to Cambodia hehehe But I knew in time they'd see. Angkor Wat, Bayon and the rest of the temples are must-sees.