The Boarder and Onward to Siem Reap

Only 8 hours in Bangkok after arriving from Sangkhlaburi we were on a bus to Aranyaprathet at 5:30AM. Aranyaprathet is the Thai border town with Poipet, Cambodia. About $8 and 5 hours later we were crossing by foot into Cambodia.

The boarder on the Thai side seems pretty normal. It’s just a market with a building you walk through to get your exit visa stamp. However, you will be bothered by Cambodian touts trying to sell you their services. In our case, we couldn’t get rid of ours. But he didn’t seem too invasive. Of course he said he was a Cambodian government employee, which wouldn’t mean much anyway, and the information he was telling us was definitely true, since I studied diligently about every scam that could happen at the border including those of touts. We didn’t need his services, but he wouldn’t go away. So we let him follow us around since if we had one at least we wouldn’t keep getting bothered by others.

We paid our $20 visa fee, and I paid a small bribe of $2 to grease the wheels of corruption. We entered no-man’s land. Neither Thailand or Cambodia and crossed into Cambodian immigration control. Stamped and passed. Our tout wouldn’t enter the government buildings but was always waiting outside. We then followed him to the free transport terminal and when we were about to leave in our “taxi”, he asked for a tip. He said 3000 baht ($100 USD) would be fine. I literally laughed and told him that I knew all the info he told us. We didn’t request his services and if anything, he was just following us. I gave him $5 for his trouble and to avoid any confrontation. Not to mention, he was good tout repellant since we were marked as “claimed”.

Our taxi driver pulls out of the transport terminal, and ten seconds later pulls off to the side of the road. Walks outside and pulls off the “TAXI” signs magnetically stuck to the car doors. He said, “Now, no police stop.” This was my first clue that things might not go as smooth as the freshly laid road to Siem Reap was telling me. The driver was going very slow. About 50km/hr with a speed limit of 80km/hr. I didn’t want to worry about it for two hours, so I just went with it. I thought to myself, he’s probably just trying to save gas or something. Then a phone call. Then a bathroom break on the side of the road for the driver. Then another phone call. Then another bathroom break. However, we were heading in the right direction. Maybe he has a small bladder, I thought.

Siem Reap was in sight and suddenly we pull down a small dirt ally and up to a parking lot behind a building full of tuk-tuk drivers. I heard of this scam. But before I could say anything to the driver, he literally ran out of the taxi. A man comes to the door and starts telling us that we will get into a tuk-tuk, in a non-asking tone. I’m in the front seat so I begin the negations. I tell him, we aren’t getting out of the taxi. I tell him that we paid to be taken to our guest house. He spills the usual bullshit telling us that the driver doesn’t know his way around the city. I tell him I’ve been told about the scam he is trying to pull. He gets upset and starts spitting profanity. Even making some treats about being at the bottom of a river. I keep my cool and strike a deal with this guy. He says his name is “Cobra.” I tell him I’m paying him nothing and he is taking us to our guest house. I seal the deal with a hand shake and tell him that I trust him.

In the tuk tuk he decides to ride along with us. Explaining why he is wearing a face mask. He says it’s because he has a deformity or something on his mouth. I know it is because he doesn’t want to expose his identity. Even though he pushes us to go to a different guest house and use his services, we arrive at our guest house. I give him nothing and tell him and the driver we will be taking bikes around the city tomorrow. I learn later that he is part of the mafia, according to the man running our guest house. Good bye Cobra, king of the snakes. Did I mention? I hate snakes!

Although we had a few bumps in the road along the way, we arrived in Siem Reap unscathed. The next few days in Cambodia become an unforgettable adventure, making Cambodia one of my favorite countries I’ve ever been to.