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Day 1: Bangkok to Siem Reap The boys and I decided to go visit Cambodia and Angkor Wat for a few days. And, since my family has been giving me a hard time for staying in same cities and same hotels, I decided this trip would be more of an adventure than a 5 star holiday. I won't skimp on some good things but we will try to make it to Cambodia the cheapest way possible and stay in Siem Reap at an inexpensive hotel. First, we did not make any reservations for transportation. We did make hotel reservations as I would not be able to make the journey without having security of knowing I had a place to stay. So, I went to Expedia. I found a great deal for 3 nights in Siem Reap at the Angkor Miracle Resort & Spa. They were having a sale at Expedia and we took advantage of it and booked our room for 45 USD per night for a pool view. There were cheaper hotels but I heard this one had good Internet and it got good reviews on Trip Advisor, so I booked it. http://www.angkormiracle.com/ While we were in Bangkok, we decided that we wanted a true adventure and so we chose to take the train to Cambodia. It was a hard decision for me as they had only one and it was not air conditioned and it was very rustic but we decided together this would be fun. The boys told me there was not enough room for my luggage so I packed only ONE backpack. When I got on the train, I saw I had been fooled as there was plenty of overhead space! (but, it would have been a real pain in the butt if I had taken 5 bags to cross the border. less is better on this trip) We woke up at 4:30 AM and got showered and left at 5:00 AM. We took a taxi to the train station. The taxi cost 60 baht or about 2USD. The train station only took us about 10 minutes that time of the morning. The train station was Bangkok's main Hualamphong station and the morning train left at 05:55 every day and arriving Aranyaprathet 11:35 (so they say, we were about 30 min late). Once you get there, you walk over to the place that sells the tickets. This area has many windows and if you ask, you will be directed to the right one. We all approached and gave our ID's and I was told 48 baht (1.50 USD). That was the price of my ticket but the boys were free as they are Thai and only had to show ID card for the free ticket. We got our tickets and made way to the track that we were told to wait at (also on the tickets). The boys told me: "be careful of your pockets" and I said OK. I do remember one boy I met in Pattaya had lived at this train station from the time he was 8 until he was 15 and moved to Pattaya and he said he lived with a group of kids and they all mugged people and picked their pockets. Since I know of this, I was careful. The train is 3rd class only and there is no air conditioner. They do have bathrooms in all the cars but it is VERY basic. The seats are comfortable and you sit 2 to each seat. The boys and I took the spots we wanted and were happy with them. But, the window was broken and so we quickly moved one seat over. That was a good move as a few people sat there on the 6 hour journey and the window came crashing down on them. We met a nice couple from England and had a nice chat with them. The train stopped at every little village and town we passed by. Sometimes, there was not even a station in the town but there was just a little dirt near the tracks where people were waiting. We were offered food and drinks on board by the vendors that get on the train and walk up and down the entire time. We got some water which was 10 baht. We did not eat on the train but many people did. There was a wide variety of people on this train and we met everything from businessmen to students to GoGo boys. There was also a great deal of tourist and backpackers on board. It was a very eclectic mix. The seat broke on me. Sad story. But, yes, my girth killed it (or at least flattened it). The boys laughed but I was very embarrassed. It wasn't destroyed but it just moved down a bit. But, it was as loud as the thunder you hear in the midst of a store! I stayed where I was at for a bit but then I moved over to a single seat. It was much better for me. There were periods of time when the train was over full and times when it was sparse with customers. So, when one seat emptied out, I took possession and was very happy the rest of the trip. The train is comfortable and the people working it were all very kind to me and stopped and chatted with us. We got off at Aranyaprathet a bit after 12 and there were Tuk Tuk's waiting for us. They were waiting directly outside the train and as we were getting off, they were all yelling for us to choose them. I chose one once we got off and he said it was 100 baht to the border. I said fine and off we went. It was about 3 miles to the border. The Tuk Tuk driver tried to take us to the wrong place so he could earn some more money. They do this often. But, I knew this was not the "Official" place and I told him No. No. He finally took us to the right place to enter the line to exit Thailand. They tried to take every other group of foreigners to the same place. LOL When the group saw me raising my voice and directing him to turn around and go to the right place, the English couple did the same thing and 3 others followed. They didn't know what to expect at the border but they said they were glad they saw me leaving. You must leave Thailand and get your passport stamped. I did that and as soon as you leave that area, you are approached by 100 people trying to get you to get their "official" Cambodian Visa. I didn't listen and just looked directly across the street to the real visa office and went there. My little group all followed. The boys did not have to do this as they had to get in another line to get their 15 day Free Visa. The visa to Cambodia is 20 USD. It takes a bit to fill out the paperwork and then give them a photo and your passport and they will give you the visa. It took only about 10 minutes total. After I left there, I saw the Casino I like and I headed straight there as we all wanted to eat and use the restroom before the next journey. We also may have wanted to play a bit of blackjack. After the casino, we had to get the stamp to enter Cambodia. This one took a bit longer as now the process you and take fingerprints of EVERY finger. This did not happen last time I went to Cambodia but it did this time. The process made the wait longer. It took me about 1 hour to get this done. The boys were waiting outside for me as they didn't have to deal with all this bS. Once outside, again everyone wanted us to follow them to either a taxi or a bus. We were tired and decided a taxi. I got the driver to agree to 1000 baht to take us to the hotel in Siem Reap. It took a bit over 2 hours. The hotel is very nice. The pool is beautiful. The Internet works great. The rooms are very comfortable. We had dinner here and that was also very tasty. The boys forgot to bring swimsuits so they took a Tuk Tuk to the night market to buy something to swim in tomorrow. The entire journey took us 12 hours. It was a very long day but I was able to see the Thai countryside and it was beautiful. Rice fields, water buffalo, amazing birds, green wherever we looked and the amazing Thai smiles. It was defiantly a trip I will remember. We will be in Siem Reap for 3 nights and are very excited for our tour guide tomorrow to see the ruins!

One really doesn't know much about a country (or its' citizens) until one does what they do. Much more interesting and much more fun than just being an "Ugly American". Thanks for the report as well as the pix. Best regards, RA1

thank you for the report!