The Road To Cambodia...

The trip from Bangkok into Cambodia is often quoted as one of the must do journey's in the world. It's reached this status because of the many horror stories associated with the route - usually during the rainy season when the road floods and the journey taking many hours.

There's also the border crossing, with it's scams, pick pockets and hassle.

In reality - it's not that bad - particularity when compared to some of the journeys I've done in Bolivia (I'm thinking of the one to Uyuni). And most of the road is paved - although the border is still a challenge.

So it was up at 4am, to get the 5:30am bus from Mo Chit Bus terminal. I managed to sleep on the bus, and felt OK almost five hours later when we arrived. I'd got talking to a couple from Poland on the bus, and we decided to go through the border together.

It's a little overwhelming when you get off the bus (even after Bangkok), but we managed to squeeze all three of us, and our luggage onto a Tuk Tuk for the ride to the border.

On the way the driver takes us to a "Visa Office" on the way, but we just keep saying: "take us to the border"- the first of the many scams avoided. The border at Poi Pet is well known for being a place you want to spend as little time as possible. It's dirty, smelly, and doesn't look like the kind of place you'd want to stop anyway.

There are people hassling you all the way - kids want to hold umbrella's for you, people want to carry your luggage, everyone is shouting to go to the visa office with them. And the area is known for pick pockets (usually the small children of which there are lots milling around), so we just set of walking to find the office to get stamped out of Thailand. No problems finding it - although there were some long queues.

From there, it's over the border with an incredible Khymer arch (no photos as I didn't want to get the camera out). We then found the visa office, and filled out the form. The cost is $20USD - but the guard insists that we give him 1000 baht (about 20 pounds) each for the "express service". We insist that it's $20 USD, and I get joking with the guy saying that we just want the regular service.

It was all good natured, and he realized he wasn't going to get any money so dropped the fee to 100 baht. We refused, so he took us to the visa office window, where the next guy demands 100 baht. I was at the front of the queue, and said I didn't want the express service and would wait. He took my passport and closed the visa office - and refused to take any more passports.

We waited a few minutes, and I'm thinking it's only a couple of quid, and I should just pay and get out of there. As I'm just about to get the money out, the guy throws my passport through the window onto a bench in the waiting area.

I go and retrieve it, and it's got a one month Cambodia Visa in it. The other guys then went to the office and got the visas.

From there, it's a quick walk to the immigration office and after a lengthy wait, we finally get stamped in to Cambodia.

Perhaps the biggest scam of all is that there are no buses after 8am - and the "taxi association" controls the prices. Your supposed to go on an official bus to the bus station, but it sounds like it's a total rip off.

As I was going to Battambang, we decided to say farewell and head our separate ways. With some messing around, it would have been possible to get there fairly cheaply. But someone had told me the fastest and best way was in a taxi. So for the ridiculous sum of 30 pounds, I got a taxi for the 2 and half hour ride to Battambang - rather frustrating - but at least I got here.

Finding a place was pretty straight forward - there's loads of cheap options here - I got a room at the excellent Royal Hotel right in the center of town. That night, I got chatting to one of the Moto guys to check out the tours for the next day and I mentioned I'd never ridden a motor bike, and asked him if he'd show me how.

He laughs and takes me outside, and runs through the basics and then say here - have a go. So I end up riding the bike down this dirt road with loads of pot holes. It seemed pretty simple - and so much fun, that I decided to rent a bike the next day for the tour...more of which - next time :-)