on crossing borders

You wake up at 5am in Banglamphu, Bangkok. You pack your bags, shower, whatever. By 5:30 you find out that no cab driver is willing to give you a ride to the bus station on the meter. You settle for a 150 baht and go.

You arrive to the Morchit bus station in 20 minutes, just in time for a 6am, 1st class ticket to the border. You get your 250B ready… wait no, it’s only 212B. Surprise. But it leaves at 6:15 and it stops every 20 – 30 minutes, just like in 2nd class… Surprise indeed.

At this rate you’ll be lucky to get to Aranyaprathet by noon.

Surprised again. It’s only 10:30 am and you’re there. Plus, you’re so close to the border you can stash those 80 baht you were saving for the tuk-tuk. But beware of those travel agencies posing as Cambodian immigration officials. They’ll even stamp the form onto which they’ve stapled your passport photo. Then they’ll ask for 1200B and drop the price to 1100B as you walk away and warn you that you’ll be turned back if you don’t pay them the money…

You breeze through Thai immigration while the 100 or so Thai people who were there before you still wait.

Enter Cambodia.

Going through the immigration process there takes half as long as in Thailand but only because there is nobody in line.

Twenty USD plus 100 baht or 800 baht. They love dollars in Cambodia.

One more line past the casinos and you’ve officially stamped your way into the country.

It’s 11:30 am.

You ignore the “tourist bus” agents because you don’t want to pay $10 to ride an overloaded bus that makes frequent stops and won’t even leave until it’s “fully” loaded. Instead you walk a few more blocks and wonder when these tourist bus agents are going to finally leave you alone. They are a passionate bunch.

Eventually, a cab driver drops in on the action and brings down his fee for the “non-stop” ride to Siem Reap, from $35 to $30.

He likes this price but you don’t so he gets into his Camry and follows you for one more block (while the tourist bus agents are begging to know where you want to go and why you‘re not taking the “free“ bus). Then he drops the price to 900 baht. The two other people that you’re with decide that 300B per person for a ride to Siem Reap is a good deal so you jump in for the ride.

Less than two hours later (after a gas stop and a “toilet” stop) you’re at your destination. Or at least at the tuk-tuk station where they pay the taxi driver $3 a head for potential customers (at potentially zero cost to you). They’ll get paid $7 if they deliver the goods to a particular guesthouse but instead reluctantly take you to where you ask them to, Prince Mekong Villas, because they don’t pay commission for guests, at least that’s what Eric (the guesthouse manager) tells you.