We were sorry to leave Thailand. It was cheap and hot and they had pretty temples.
Now we are in Cambodia, not much has changed but it is less developped.
We didn't have to travel far but it was a long journey. A crazy taxi from Cliff Cottages on Koh Chang island to the mainland ferry. A hard bargained for minibus to Trat town down the coast. A further mad mini bus to the border with Cambodia driven by an old guy with a nasty case of acid reflux and only a loose grasp of which side of the road he should be driving on. Exit Thai territory followed by a strange walk across no-man's land (they squabble from time to time....with guns and everything) and then entry to Cambodia which of course is when the problems started.
The guide books warn against all kinds of ingenious scams and we did at least try to be on our guard but the hardest to avoid are the ones that you see happening right in front of your eyes. In the end it probably only cost us an extra 4 pounds but still....
It all revolves around pretend doctors and health certificates and border stamps and men who you think are officials but aren't really and a series of bogus fees that alone are too small to kick up a fuss about but soon add up especially when there are two of you....and of course being British and a bit afraid to complain, other than under your breath.
But we got the visa and a nice piece of yellow paper warning about H1N1, and lots of lines from other would be scammers that we did manage to avoid. I would settle for a no score draw this time. And of course, I am much more likely to spot the next scam long before it happens......aren't I?
We got a taxi from the border to Krong Koh, 5 miles into Cambodia. Lee, our driver, spilled the beans on the way about his introduction commission for every hotel in town, tours, bus and train tickets and all sorts of other things. It is probably no different to the UK and he did say he had a family to feed - and we did stay at the hotel he recommended and book bus tickets from his friend.....Hmmm!
Cambodia has its own currency but everything is done in prices set on the US dollar. There are 25 trillion Riels to the dollar and nobody wants to buy the wheel-barrows to cart the stuff around...but they still give the change for dollar purchases in Riels so they are obviously trying to get rid of a back log accumulated somewhere along the line.
Wifi is a blessing and our hotel (yes a hotel - and a very fine one on the Kah Bpow River) had it. So we Face Booked for a while and uploaded some photos etc. We had our first pizza in 50 days of travel. Until now we have been doing fairly well. The Khmer eat a lot of fresh water fish so this was probably the first and last chance to get Salami for a while.
We usually are in bed by 9pm. When it gets dark you risk attack by massed ranks of mosquitoes if you leave the light on and don't have an air tight seal to keep them out. Even then a few get in. After a while every tickle gets a pre-emptive slap just in case. It is probably not the most ecologicaly sound policy but most travellers will probably squash first and ask questions later.
Tomorrow we head 300km to Phnom Phen where Paris meets Indo-China. There is a gag in there about the Bangkok Hilton but I know better than to go there.
Now we are in Cambodia, not much has changed but it is less developped.
We didn't have to travel far but it was a long journey. A crazy taxi from Cliff Cottages on Koh Chang island to the mainland ferry. A hard bargained for minibus to Trat town down the coast. A further mad mini bus to the border with Cambodia driven by an old guy with a nasty case of acid reflux and only a loose grasp of which side of the road he should be driving on. Exit Thai territory followed by a strange walk across no-man's land (they squabble from time to time....with guns and everything) and then entry to Cambodia which of course is when the problems started.
The guide books warn against all kinds of ingenious scams and we did at least try to be on our guard but the hardest to avoid are the ones that you see happening right in front of your eyes. In the end it probably only cost us an extra 4 pounds but still....
It all revolves around pretend doctors and health certificates and border stamps and men who you think are officials but aren't really and a series of bogus fees that alone are too small to kick up a fuss about but soon add up especially when there are two of you....and of course being British and a bit afraid to complain, other than under your breath.
But we got the visa and a nice piece of yellow paper warning about H1N1, and lots of lines from other would be scammers that we did manage to avoid. I would settle for a no score draw this time. And of course, I am much more likely to spot the next scam long before it happens......aren't I?
We got a taxi from the border to Krong Koh, 5 miles into Cambodia. Lee, our driver, spilled the beans on the way about his introduction commission for every hotel in town, tours, bus and train tickets and all sorts of other things. It is probably no different to the UK and he did say he had a family to feed - and we did stay at the hotel he recommended and book bus tickets from his friend.....Hmmm!
Cambodia has its own currency but everything is done in prices set on the US dollar. There are 25 trillion Riels to the dollar and nobody wants to buy the wheel-barrows to cart the stuff around...but they still give the change for dollar purchases in Riels so they are obviously trying to get rid of a back log accumulated somewhere along the line.
Wifi is a blessing and our hotel (yes a hotel - and a very fine one on the Kah Bpow River) had it. So we Face Booked for a while and uploaded some photos etc. We had our first pizza in 50 days of travel. Until now we have been doing fairly well. The Khmer eat a lot of fresh water fish so this was probably the first and last chance to get Salami for a while.
We usually are in bed by 9pm. When it gets dark you risk attack by massed ranks of mosquitoes if you leave the light on and don't have an air tight seal to keep them out. Even then a few get in. After a while every tickle gets a pre-emptive slap just in case. It is probably not the most ecologicaly sound policy but most travellers will probably squash first and ask questions later.
Tomorrow we head 300km to Phnom Phen where Paris meets Indo-China. There is a gag in there about the Bangkok Hilton but I know better than to go there.
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