Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Tuk Tuk's: An Adventure into Cambodia 2013

[TotallyOz]

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 the same places 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!

[firecat69]

Great story and great photos.  Ask your guide to take you also to some of the less popular ruins.  Much better for photos with nobody there and just as spectacular!1

[baobao]

I would love an adventure like this. I've been into Cambodia but have always flown in and out. Thanks for sharing the experience... maybe next trip!

[vinapu]

Great pictures and great story, I'm green with envy, waiting for more.

 

From lesser visited places I recommend trip to Mt. Phnom Kulen , sacred mountain of Cambodia,40 km from Siem Reap,  Kobal Spien / river of 1000 lingas ! / with carved riverbed and miniature but picturesque Ta Som temple.

 

Heed firecat's advice about less popular ruin- Banteay Samre I had to myself for quite a while for example.

 

For carvings Banteai Srei can't be beaten, it will be crowded though but is on way to both Kobal Spien and Mt.Kulen.

 

If you are man of size watch your head in some passages in ruins.

[Guest anonone]

Great report. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

 

Love the details about border crossing. Definate resource to review when we finally decide to take a similar trip.

 

Have a great time !!!

[Smiles]

Why was the train ticket free for 'your' boys?

Surely not just-because-they're-Thai. Or ... ?

This certainly happens in national parks and monuments etc etc, but Thai Railway ain't no monument. Hell, it's hardly a railway!

[t0oL1]

"They do have bathrooms in all the cars but it is VERY basic. The seats are comfortable and you sit 2 to each seat."

 

Had to laugh here, but I know what you meant to say.

[TotallyOz]

Smiles, I am not sure why they were free. I was told that all Thai nationals were free on this route. I know no other Thais were charged along the route. I was told this was something to do with a recover program but I don't know the extent. But, my guys were not treated any different than other Thais. All were free. And, their ID's were checked two times on the train.

 

t0oL1: glad you know what I meant as I didn't mean it the way it sounds. But, it might have been fun that way.

[TotallyOz]

Day 2 in Siem Reap

 

I woke up early today and headed downstairs for a good breakfast. The hotel provides a very nice buffet and I love omelets. The ones here were excellent. The have a wide variety of food for foreigners and locals. It was a lot of Asian delicacies as the majority of the guests are Asian tour groups. The hotel manager said mostly from Korea, China and Japan.

 

I had arranged a tour guide for today. The cost was 25 USD for the day for the guide and the van was another 50 USD. We need a van as there were 3 of us and the guide and driver. We were told that most likely it would rain today but we booked the guide anyway. It did rain. The entire day. There were a few short breaks but we were soaked the entire day. Many of the photos you will see are in the rain. It was just a very cloudy and drizzly day today!

 

The driver and guide were excellent and well worth the money.

 

We stopped by an ATM first thing as I knew we would need American currency to pay for the tickets to get inside the Angkor Wat temples. The ATM's here dispense USD but most places take several forms of currency. The cost is 20 USD for one day, 40 for 3 days and 60 for a week. We were going to only get one day but we wanted to do one more temple the next day so we booked for 2 days. They take a photo of you and you are printed out a pass.

 

From there we were off to see the amazing temples in the area. It truly is a marvelous site. There is so much to see and it is often up and down stairs and hiking in the trails.

 

You can read about the temples from other sites but I'll say that seeing one of the 7 Wonders of the World is just something none of us will ever forget. It was not my first visit here but I did enjoy it so much better because the boys were here with me to experience it.

 

I twisted my ankle in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the day was spent limping around. I still made the day but it was a bit painful. As soon as we got back, my foot went up but it was too late. The damage was done!

 

We left a bit later than the other groups as the boys wanted to leave after 9. When we got to the main temple the guide suggested that we start at the other temples and end at Angkor. We agreed and off we went.

 

One of my favorite temples was the one where Angelina Jolie filmed part of Tomb Raider. The trees covering the temple grounds are fabulous.

 

I also loved the kids from the area all playing in the trees surrounding the temple.

 

We did have tons of kids come up to us today to ask us to give them money or to buy something. After 10 thousand no, no, no, I had one kid ask me to buy a postcard and I told him to count to 100. He did. In English. I gave him some money as I thought he earned it. He was maybe 6 years old.

 

I was told that 80 percent of the children in Cambodia now learn English in school. That came from the guide and I don't know how accurate but so far everyone we met including waiters and gas station attendants spoke very good English.

 

After we finished our tour, and rested, I went for a long swim. The hotel has a salt water pool and it felt great after a long day hiking and trekking.

 

The boys and I ate at the hotel and called it an early night.

 

Sorry there are so many images. It was just one of those days that we all wanted to take a ton of photos. We ended up with over 2,000 images! LOL I won't put them all on there but here are a few samples.

[TotallyOz]

A Few More

[TotallyOz]

A Few More

[TotallyOz]

A few more

[TotallyOz]

some more

[TotallyOz]

last ones

[vinapu]

Smiles, I am not sure why they were free. I was told that all Thai nationals were free on this route. I know no other Thais were charged along the route. I was told this was something to do with a recover program but I don't know the extent. But, my guys were not treated any different than other Thais. All were free. And, their ID's were checked two times on the train.

 

t0oL1: glad you know what I meant as I didn't mean it the way it sounds. But, it might have been fun that way.

Subject of access to the bathroom when one travels is may be not tasty but definitely very serious one.

 

So abandon all this sophistry   and advise  plainly- were bathroom on the train VERY basic but usable or any traveler should forget about using them, this is after all 6 hours trip .

 

After reading  2nd day  adventures I'm even much , much greener with envy then yesterday

 

Great idea with asking  kid to count to 100 ! Yes , he earned his tip.

 

Can one climb to the  top level  of Angkor Wat those days ?  . I heard that access is no longer permitted .

Certainly you did not have weather for such a exercise as steps are very steep, not for rainy day. 

[firecat69]

Great photos , bring back memories of my trip there with someone special.   Yes that is always better and you are a Lucky Man!!!

[NIrishGuy]

Great report and reminds me nicely of my trips there - although I laughed as I'm sure at least half of your pics are duplicated almost exactly in my own photo library here, which sort of puts paid to the romantic notion I tend up conjure up in my head when in such places of my being some intrepid world traveller exploring the deep and dusky sites of SE Asia, lone and just a mere emerald find or two away from being Indiana Jones on his last crusade, when in effect I (we) are of course just the next day's eager hoard of western tourists pouring over the same sights that have been photographed by many before us whilst all thinking each particular shot we take is SO thought out and meaningful and unique and special to us lol ( although I guess in some way it IS actually still ).

 

But the beauty of Angkor Wat is of course is that no matter just how tourist trail treadmill our shots may appear to be to the locals they DO still look unique and special to us when looked at back at home as it's just such a magical place. - well in my case for the first few hours then that was enough "culture" for one day and it was time to return to the many "delights?" of Seim Reap of course. 

[TotallyOz]

Can one climb to the  top level  of Angkor Wat those days ?  . I heard that access is no longer permitted .

Certainly you did not have weather for such a exercise as steps are very steep, not for rainy day.

We did the climb. At most of the temples yesterday, there were sections closed off for renovations. But, our guide was great and he found ways to get around everything so we could see it.

 

Yes, the steps were steep and I felt like I was going to fall many times. Even not slippery, I would have been uncomfortable on some of them. The rain just exaggerated the fear for me.

 

 

 

Great report and reminds me nicely of my trips there - although I laughed as I'm sure at least half of your pics are duplicated almost exactly in my own photo library here, which sort of puts paid to the romantic notion I tend up conjure up in my head when in such places of my being some intrepid world traveller exploring the deep and dusky sites of SE Asia, lone and just a mere emerald find or two away from being Indiana Jones on his last crusade, when in effect I (we) are of course just the next day's eager hoard of western tourists pouring over the same sights that have been photographed by many before us whilst all thinking each particular shot we take is SO thought out and meaningful and unique and special to us lol ( although I guess in some way it IS actually still

Thanks. Yes, I figured that many of the photos were similar to others. I mean, how many photos of a tree can look so different. LOL But, I guess I came here about 10 years ago and I love seeing other people's photos and I said the same thing. They all looked like mine. LOL

 

You are right, the beauty is just incredible!

[TotallyOz]

Day 3

 

I know from experience that shit happens. On my last trip here, I lost my photos and the same thing happened on one trip to Brazil. I have a few hundred thousand photos from years gone by and I have been organizing them the last few months. Knowing that I had lost photos in the past when things happen, I have started to use Dropbox to save all my camera images. This comes in very handy for me as I just connect the camera or the flash drive and dropbox has a setting that allows it to always upload to your dropbox account. I do this now for all images and it loads to my account and even if my computer is stolen, I have not lost anything of value to me like photos. I also have family in the USA with access to my account and they can see all the photos each day as well without me having to send via email. IMHO, Dropbox is a savior in many instances!

 

Here are a few photos of the breakfast in the hotel. Again, this is a good place to eat and the food is very good but it is mainly Asian cuisine as that is their customer base. Today, when I was at breakfast around 6:30 AM, they will full with only Asians. I was the only white guy in the room.

 

It has not stopped raining since we got here. We had planned to go about 50 k outside the city for a few other ruins and some mountain trekking but with the rain, we were told that it was not possible. We had also tried to do the balloons over the ruins and they were closed. Lastly, we saw an ad for ATV and a few hours of 4 wheels though the area and again, they were closed due to the rain. So, we didn't get to see all the things we wanted to see but at least we got to the major temples yesterday.

 

We have been in and out of town quite a bit. We have eaten on Pub road for several meals and also in the hotel. The average cost of all of our meals here have been about 10USD per person.

 

I will say that if I do this again, I'll stay near the center of town. Our hotel is great but it is a Tuk Tuk ride into the city all the time.

[vinapu]

I'm sorry to hear that rain spoiled your adventure but look at bright side -  now you have new reason to go back to this one of most unique places in the whole wide world.

 

How much they are charging for balloon flight over ruins ? 200$ I paid for similar experience over Pagan in Burma few years ago I was worth every single penny.

[Rogie]

 

How much they are charging for balloon flight over ruins ? 200$ I paid for similar experience over Pagan in Burma few years ago I was worth every single penny.

 

Good thread here that backs up Vinapu's comments about balloon flights.

 

http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8781-balloons-over-bagan/?do=findComment&comment=66998

 

Knowing that I had lost photos in the past when things happen, I have started to use Dropbox to save all my camera images. This comes in very handy for me as I just connect the camera or the flash drive and dropbox has a setting that allows it to always upload to your dropbox account. I do this now for all images and it loads to my account and even if my computer is stolen, I have not lost anything of value to me like photos. I also have family in the USA with access to my account and they can see all the photos each day as well without me having to send via email. IMHO, Dropbox is a savior in many instances!

 

 

 

Thanks for useful tip. I use dropbox but hadn't thought to use it for photos.

[vinapu]

Rogie,

thank you for the Pagan link above , link in 2nd post there leads to  absolutely fabulous pictures and a story

[Guest anonone]

Michael.

 

How are the boys enjoying the trip?  Were they interested in the ruins before you went and/or what are they saying about it now?

 

I am playing with the idea of a Siem Reap trip in a couple of months, but BF doesn't seem interested at all.  He gently chides me about it, asking why I want to go see a bunch of old stuff. 

 

Thanks again for sharing your trip.

[PattayaMale]

{Thanks for useful tip. I use dropbox but hadn't thought to use it for photos.}

 

The tip about Dropbox... The other nice thing about DropBox photo is that you can make folders and subfolder. So as an example when my Thai friend and I went to Europe last year, I made a folder titled "Europe 2012" then made sub folders for the countries visited. Since all the pictures were uploaded automatically as Michael said to Camera uploads, it took just a few minutes to drag the pictures from that folder to the correct sub folder

 

Dropbox also allows you to make albums of your favorite pictures to share with anyone even if they do not have Dropbox.

 

The other thing I like is that when you delete a picture from Dropbox, you can recover it at a later time. The pictures are always available where ever you have a wi fi connection. You can also download to any device, such as your smart phone or tablet

[TotallyOz]

Michael.

 

How are the boys enjoying the trip?  Were they interested in the ruins before you went and/or what are they saying about it now?

 

I am playing with the idea of a Siem Reap trip in a couple of months, but BF doesn't seem interested at all.  He gently chides me about it, asking why I want to go see a bunch of old stuff. 

 

Thanks again for sharing your trip.

They are having a great time. They loved the temples and the history of the ruins.

 

I do admit that I didn't ask them to go on this trip. I knew they loved Angelina Jolie and I had them watch the Tomb Raiders movie with me a while back. There is part of it filmed at the ruins and I told them this and they said, "Oh, I want to see." I said OK.

 

They knew about the place for a while and were both excited to go. I never take them somewhere without giving them a choice. I asked them both if they wanted to go and they both said yes. I asked the BF if he wanted to go back to India with me for 6 weeks this year and he said NO. So, he won't be going with me on the trip and I never get upset when they say no. They both truly wanted to go.

 

They were both excited to see the ruins. We did read about them before the trip and they have been sending photos to their friends.

 

They were disappointed we didn't do the balloon ride. But, there is nothing you can do when inclement weather strikes.