Crossing the boarder overland from Thailand to Cambodia at the entry point of Poi-Pet was one of the most difficult things that Caitlin and I have had to do on our entire trip. In the slightly corrupt, moderately regulated Cambodian boarder crossing system, the tourist is subject to scams, thievery, rip-offs and safety violations. Now that Caitlin and I were becoming more travel-savvy and increasing our repertoire of backpacking experiences, we has a feeling that this would be, to put it lightly, a day that would challenge us.
Zooming down the highway at 140km per hour in the air-conditioned minibus from Bangkok to Poi-Pet, I came to realize that the meaning of road lines and road lanes are "open to interpretation" for Thai drivers. This 2-laned highway was the stage for a chaotic yet strangely co-ordinated dance, which involved the weaving and swerving of vehicles from as small as motorbikes to as large as transport trucks. The substantial shoulders of the sometimes pock-marked and pot-holed surface of the sun-faded black top were being used as makeshift lanes, allowing the frequent transformation of the road from a 2-lane highway to a 3-lane highway.
We passed a large tanker-trunk in front of us and moved into the opposite lane. Panic-stricken, I realized that we did not have enough time to pass the trunk safely, as we were driving towards a head-on collision with the car approaching us from the opposite direction, whose lane we had just encroached upon. Suddenly, and to my relief, the approaching car moved so that it was driving half on the shoulder and half in its lane, safely drifting around us. Our driver waved his thanks to the car as we passed it, easing our car back into its correct lane, and leaving me to slowly unclench my tensed-up muscles. As we drove further, I realized that what has just taken place was a regular occurrence. In fact, we spent most of the trip with two tires on the shoulder, allowing room for the cars in the opposite lane to pass one another.
Soon we came to our last stop before the boarder crossing, which was a small restaurant and travel agent office. We got out, sat down and were handed the paper work that we needed to fill out for our crossing. Once we completed the forms we were brought into the office of the travel agent to discuss the purchase of our Cambodian entry visa.
"We can arrange for you to buy the visa right now and then you won’t have to do it at the boarder," the travel agent informed us. "You only have to pay 1300 baht."
"Wait a second," I replied. "Why do we have to pay 1300 baht? The price for a visa upon entry at the border is $20 US, 1300 baht is nearly double that amount. The price should be 600 baht."
"Yes, yes, yes…" he smiled smugly, "but on the Cambodian side of the boarder you will have pay 1200 baht even though they are supposed to charge you 600. So really you are only paying us an extra hundred baht, and it is an extra hundred for your convenience. If you purchase your visa on the other side of the boarder you will have to wait in a very long line, and it is so hot out today. You will wait for three hours, and by that time you will have missed the bus on the other side of the border that will take you to Siem Reap. It is worth the extra hundred baht."
Caitlin and I told our "travel agent" that we would risk the long lines, thank you very much, and pay when we crossed the border. The formerly cheerful travel agent did not so much as glance up at us as we exited, thanking him for his help.
Since the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia is not in a good state, we could not get dropped off near the border. Instead, we walked 10 minutes in the blistering 40 degree heat, under a cloudless blue sky, with our 70Lpack, 15L day bag, and purses in tow to the border crossing point.
We got our passports stamped as we exited Thailand and stepped onto Cambodian soil. A sign pointed us in a vague direction down a busy street. We walked down the road, clutching our belongings tightly.
"You are from Canada?" a man "dressed" like an official said to us, eyeing the Canadian flag patches on our packs. "Let me help you. Give me your passport and I will lead you to your bus."
"No, thank you," we replied, fully aware that this man was by no means a border official. We also knew that when he said "give me your passport and I will help you" what he really meant was "I am going to take your passport and not give it back until you pay me a large amount of money." We had been warned that there would be men conducting these scams at the Cambodian border.
After a hot and confusing half-hour of walking, we finally found the visa office where we were "supposed" to pay $20 USD for a 30-day tourist visa. This was where the unfriendly Thai travel agent had warned us that we would wait in a 3-hour line. However, we entered a nearly empty office. Two other backpackers waited in line, and a few border officials slouched in chairs, looking bored and tired.
Caitlin and I approached the desk to get our visa. A sign above the desk said clearly in bold font "travel visa - $20 USD". The man behind the desk asked 800 baht, which was 200 bath more than we were required to pay. I told him we would not pay that amount because with the exchange rate we only needed to pay 600 baht. The man straightened up and made eye contact with the other official behind me that indicated "800 baht is what you pay," he said.
"No! 600," I replied defiantly. Finally, he gave in. He tried to get Caitlin to pay 800 baht as well, but she also put her foot down.
Next we went to customs and got our passports stamped for entry and then headed to the bus stop to catch a ride to the bus terminal where we would get on the bus to Siem Reap. At the bus stop we were not quite sure what to do. A man came up to us and said, "You are the two girls from Canada. I have been told that I need to meet you and take you to the bus station. Just give me your tickets and we will go." Caitlin and I looked at each other and exchanged a silent glance that said, "this seems all too familiar."
"It’s ok," we replied.
"No, I am supposed to take you. You are the two girls from Canada."
"No, we’re fine. You only know we are from Canada because we have flags on our bags." Right then, we spotted the Thai man who had been helping us on the other side of the border. He approached us and told us that the man we had been talking to was speaking the truth; he was supposed to take us to the bus terminal. My insides squirmed uncomfortably. This is awkward, I thought. We apologized to the man, explaining that we had been dodging scams the whole day that had sounded quite similar to the conversation we had just had.
We left for the bus station on a bus full of middle-aged Germans on a guided tour. They all laughed when my large pack got stuck between the bus seats as I walked down the narrow aisle. Feeling very much like a turtle with an overlarge shell, I slowly wiggled free of my cumbersome pack, pushed it down on my seat and joined the Germans in their laughter. Minutes after sitting down we arrived at the bus station.
When our bus to Siem Reap finally arrived, the Cambodian man whose job it was to take us to the bus asked us for our ticket. We told him we would like to keep it because we were not yet on the bus. He was persistent, so we made our way over to the bus and got on it. He followed us on, demanding the ticket. As it was our only copy, we wanted to make sure that we gave it to the driver. Another Cambodian man who spoke English very well came over and offered help. He explained that our guide would not get paid unless he had our ticket as proof that he had actually taken us to the bus. Caitlin and I handed our tickets over. This is one of the biggest difficulties of travelling in Southeast Asia: so many important things are lost in translation.
After a 3-hour ride on our "supposedly" air-conditioned bus, we finally arrived in Siem Reap. We decided to stay in a hostel that would give us a free tuk-tuk ride from the bus station to the hostel. We zipped through the busy and dusty streets of Siem Reap, taking in Cambodia and thinking about how thankful we were that the border crossing was finally over. Little did Caitlin and I know that Cambodia would open our eyes and teach us so much about being grateful for everything that we have.
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