Crossing Into Cambodia
We've been in Cambodia for just over 24 hours and we've gone from one extreme to the other. Last night we crossed the border at Koh Kong, on the Gulf of Thailand. It was so flooded around Trat, on the Thailand side, that there were traffic jams of cars and scooters waiting to go through water that was axle-deep.
From the moment we reached the Cambodian border the hustle was on. The rain was coming down and men ran out of the shadows with umbrellas and questions. We'd arrived just before 8 pm, when the border closes, and when we crossed, I found myself holding two umbrellas and wondering what was going on. We somehow ended up in separate taxis with two different agendas. My driver was a madman. He was driving too fast and he hit a flooded patch of road and went into a yaw. The car did a 45 degree turn and almost went off a steep embankment, then went the other way and took us into a muddy strip on the other side of the road. Somehow he did manage to make it into town.
All the taxi drivers get commissions from guesthouses, so that will explain why the Angkor beer was on the house for my driver. He made it known that he could take care of any of my needs-- money-changing, hookers, drugs. I told him I was ready to go to bed.
In the morning Zander and I met up again at the pier for the "boat" to Sihanoukville. I say "boat" because it appeared to be a cross between a submarine and a UFO, except it was decrepit and made in Malaysia. I couldn't believe how many people they managed to stuff onto this thing, and then how many of them were throwing up once we hit the open sea. The water was rough and a grandma sitting two seats away couldn't hold things down. The little kids were peeing on the floor and the waves were hitting the windows of our boat, tilting us at a 40 degree angle back and forth.
Now we're in Sihanoukville, a resort town on the southern coast. We're about 4 hours away from Phnom Penh when we choose to go up there. First we'll head to Kep, another town further up the coast. The weather is gorgeous again, and it's very invigorating to be exploring a new culture. Still, I can't help but get the sense that this town is a little too free and easy, an illusion for us westerners.
From the moment we reached the Cambodian border the hustle was on. The rain was coming down and men ran out of the shadows with umbrellas and questions. We'd arrived just before 8 pm, when the border closes, and when we crossed, I found myself holding two umbrellas and wondering what was going on. We somehow ended up in separate taxis with two different agendas. My driver was a madman. He was driving too fast and he hit a flooded patch of road and went into a yaw. The car did a 45 degree turn and almost went off a steep embankment, then went the other way and took us into a muddy strip on the other side of the road. Somehow he did manage to make it into town.
All the taxi drivers get commissions from guesthouses, so that will explain why the Angkor beer was on the house for my driver. He made it known that he could take care of any of my needs-- money-changing, hookers, drugs. I told him I was ready to go to bed.
In the morning Zander and I met up again at the pier for the "boat" to Sihanoukville. I say "boat" because it appeared to be a cross between a submarine and a UFO, except it was decrepit and made in Malaysia. I couldn't believe how many people they managed to stuff onto this thing, and then how many of them were throwing up once we hit the open sea. The water was rough and a grandma sitting two seats away couldn't hold things down. The little kids were peeing on the floor and the waves were hitting the windows of our boat, tilting us at a 40 degree angle back and forth.
Now we're in Sihanoukville, a resort town on the southern coast. We're about 4 hours away from Phnom Penh when we choose to go up there. First we'll head to Kep, another town further up the coast. The weather is gorgeous again, and it's very invigorating to be exploring a new culture. Still, I can't help but get the sense that this town is a little too free and easy, an illusion for us westerners.
posted by Franz K at 8:01 AM
1 Comments:
Hey Franzi, this is the route I took years ago, from Ko Chang to the Cambodian border and on to Trat and Sihanoukville. Give us some pictures out here, brother!
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