Trip to Cambodia started `as promising` and `as usual` for me and Steffany. We negotiated with the alarm clock long enough to oversleep. Well, to oversleep according to the plan. Left the things at the dormitory with promise to come back in a month and moved to the BTS. Of course, when we had to take a but from the last BTS station to the needed bus terminal, we thought `the same number, but the different colour if the bus – must be the same`. Turns out – not the same. The good part – the bus took me to the bus station, but the bad part – not to the one I needed. I’m not even sure where it took me, because it was a small first class bus station where the buses go who the hell knows where. So I went back on the street, caught a bike-taxi who took me to the real, searched one. Just in time. `to the border of Cambodia` was all the women selling tickets needed to hear from me – I got the ticket for 212 Baht [~6 EUR]. By the way – the bus must be taken from the Northern – Mo Chit bus terminal. I bought the ticket at 7:58 and my bus left at 8:00. Four hours of promised bus ride became 5.5, but at least it took us straight to the border, not that last city that is 10km away from the border. Some guys, after we left the bus wanted to sell visas or provide some services and they all looked pretty upset that I already have it all I need. By the way, just a friendly reminder: if you go to Cambodia – apply for visa or e-visa via internet before. E-visa takes 3 days, 25$ and no troubles on the border. Checked. Leaving Thailand was no problem at all. Just after you leave it, you need to fill in some sort of health form, when a guy, in his fifties, will most probably ask you if he can travel with you, if you are traveling alone. But also at this point I met with a Thai girl and an Irish boy and we decided to share a cab to Siem Reap.
Coming to Cambodia is not really complicated, but a little more crowded and messy. But, after some time in a line, you get your passport stamped and here you are – welcome to Cambodia. We took a taxi, 3 people for 1000 Baht to Siem Reap. It’s around 2.5-3 hours of way, so, knowing that they have some sort of monopoly-mafia thing with taxis here, it is a pretty good deal. Of course, since some guy took us to the `taxi`, he wanted some money for that as well. Then another guy did not want to let our driver go, since he needs some sort of approval before. Well, after some discussion in the language I do not understand, we moved. The road is of a good quality, although pretty strange. Seems like there are no rules on a road – you cross double line in the middle if you feel like it, you use horn and use it quite aggressively. Road is being used by everyone: cars, buses, taxis, tuk-tuks, bikes, scooters, pedestrians, cows, ox, buffalos, etc. but the ride was pleasant except for the fact that our driver had some sort of tick in his head. Seriously, every time he had it I wasn’t sure if that’s an emergency and if I should try to stop the car, so we would not crash. Well, we didn’t crash, but I was constantly in fear during the whole trip.
We stopped at one of the hostel just after I realized that I cam in town just in time: there is a photo festival opening and is in the middle of the celebration. The city is full of people, lights, singing corners, fireworks and so on.
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