Overland adventure

I realized a few days ago that I am halfway through my placement in Thailand: six weeks down, six more to go. At this halfway point, I examined what I’d accomplished thus far and what remained of the things I wanted to do with my time here. Two of my priorities. to do an overland border crossing in Asia and to visit the temples at Angkor in Cambodia, fit together perfectly. I looked at my calendar and realized that I was also due to leave Thailand in the next 10 days so as to not overstay my 30-day tourist visa. I decided that it was either this weekend or never, and so, after a couple of days of research and last minute planning, I write this entry from Cambodia.

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning. The birds and monks were barely stirring as I jumped in a taxi, crossed the city, and caught the 6am bus to the border town of Aranyaprathet. I slept during the smooth 4 1/2 hour bus ride and got to the Thai/Cambodia border crossing feeling surprisingly fresh. Leaving Thailand was straightforward enough: I just filled out my departure form and got my passport stamped. Entering Cambodia was slightly trickier as the immigration officer insisted I pay 1000 baht (~$30) for my tourist visa despite the large sign above his head that read “Tourist Visa: 20 US Dollars.” All of his border guard buddies were just as corrupt and my attempt to negotiate was shot down pretty quickly. Powerless and frustrated by my inability to communicate (how do you say, “it’s corrupt assholes like you who abuse power and take advantage of foreigners that are bringing down the reputation of this country and limiting the development of tourism and foreign investment” in Khmer?), I paid for the overpriced visa and was immediately accosted by a half-dozen touts trying to convince me to take their taxi. It took a while to shake them off and I eventually successfully managed to secure a ride at a reasonably fair price. After a somewhat fitful border crossing, I was on my way to Siem Reap, the town next to the Angkor temples.
My belief that the border crossing would be the most laborious part of this trip was soon proved false. Unlike the smooth highway from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet, the road from Poipet, the Cambodian border town, to Siem Reap was a chaotic mess. Rickety buses and overloaded pick-ups and motorbikes jostled along in a deadly game of slip’n’slide on the slick muddy track. Mud and filth splashed on the taxi’s cracked windscreen, further restricting the already limited visibility.

At one point, traffic slowed to a halt. A truck had overturned, sending merchandise sloshing through the mud and blocking the passage. My deft driver saw a detour and soon we were speeding along a parallel road through a quiet village. I gazed out of the window soaking in the Cambodian countryside as it streaked by, counting the long-horned white cattle and watching children run and play along the road. All of a sudden, *THWACK!* Oh Jesus, we’ve hit a child. But then a poof of feathers. Thank god, it was just a chicken. And we speed on, without stopping to inspect the damage or apologize to the poor farmer whose chicken we just flattened. A fatal poultry hit and run.
Finally, after several other near-death moments during the 4-hour /150km drive, I arrived in one tense and mildly traumatized piece in front of my little bed and breakfast in Siem Reap. I checked into my $6/night room and immediately passed out for a nap to recover from my adventurous overland Asian border crossing.