Just to let you know: happy to be here -at last- but some mandatory ranting first:
So this was looking very good, arrival in the center of Bangkok at 9.30 pm, room at 10.00 pm, train ticket to the border for the next morning booked at 10.05 pm, the train that was not overly crowded and only 20' late.. so far so good
Well, for those interested, just read Lonely Planet's section on Poipet (the Cambodian side on the border) ... for once it is all true :). The ranting is more on the fact that you really really (keep on telling this to myself) cannot avoid the tourist continuation transport ripoff...In the middle of nowhere the 'free' (well it is free until that point) shuttle takes you to the tourist bus terminal...so you have to take an onward ticket there... 9 dollar or 300 Baht to Siem Reap. So in total: 48B for a 6 hrs train + 30B for a shared 5' tuktuk from the train station to the border + 300B for a 3H bus to SR + 2 dollar (yeey, managed to pinch 0.5$ off) to get to center of SR = 700+ Baht, compare this to the full package tour that goes all the way from Bangkok to SR: 300B all in, arriving at the same time in SR but leaving 3 hours later
Mind you, this rip-off is in full collaboration with the 'police'
Obviously the tourist bus stops in the middle (because a 3 hours bus ride is so incredibly long) to refill your sugar needs at the associated mob-shop. Well, my last meal was in the plane, now about 35 hours ago - I think..thinking is not the word of the day- but hell no, they cannot get an extra dollar.
Anyway, still happy I am finally here :). Well, it is much bigger than expected, it has the night life and neon lights of Bangkok, it has the zillions of motor bikes (like everywhere in SE Asia I guess ), zillions of massage salons as in Bali or Lao, but in the restaurant next to my hostel they sell nasi goreng for $1.5 as in Indonesia :) So you know what is up next!
Btw, ATM's do not give you the local currency, only Dollars. So far everything is priced in Dollars, change is then given in Riel... it is going to be fun to get rid of these r100 notes... (1$ = r4000). Euros? Not really.
So this was looking very good, arrival in the center of Bangkok at 9.30 pm, room at 10.00 pm, train ticket to the border for the next morning booked at 10.05 pm, the train that was not overly crowded and only 20' late.. so far so good
Well, for those interested, just read Lonely Planet's section on Poipet (the Cambodian side on the border) ... for once it is all true :). The ranting is more on the fact that you really really (keep on telling this to myself) cannot avoid the tourist continuation transport ripoff...In the middle of nowhere the 'free' (well it is free until that point) shuttle takes you to the tourist bus terminal...so you have to take an onward ticket there... 9 dollar or 300 Baht to Siem Reap. So in total: 48B for a 6 hrs train + 30B for a shared 5' tuktuk from the train station to the border + 300B for a 3H bus to SR + 2 dollar (yeey, managed to pinch 0.5$ off) to get to center of SR = 700+ Baht, compare this to the full package tour that goes all the way from Bangkok to SR: 300B all in, arriving at the same time in SR but leaving 3 hours later
Mind you, this rip-off is in full collaboration with the 'police'
Obviously the tourist bus stops in the middle (because a 3 hours bus ride is so incredibly long) to refill your sugar needs at the associated mob-shop. Well, my last meal was in the plane, now about 35 hours ago - I think..thinking is not the word of the day- but hell no, they cannot get an extra dollar.
Anyway, still happy I am finally here :). Well, it is much bigger than expected, it has the night life and neon lights of Bangkok, it has the zillions of motor bikes (like everywhere in SE Asia I guess ), zillions of massage salons as in Bali or Lao, but in the restaurant next to my hostel they sell nasi goreng for $1.5 as in Indonesia :) So you know what is up next!
Btw, ATM's do not give you the local currency, only Dollars. So far everything is priced in Dollars, change is then given in Riel... it is going to be fun to get rid of these r100 notes... (1$ = r4000). Euros? Not really.
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