Siem Reap to Bangkok by Taxi

Taxi for Terrevista!

In Cambodia, what costs £100 and lasts 45 minutes?  A flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok.  Bangkok Airways seem to have this route sown up so,  if you wanna fly, you gotta pay. On top of this there’s the $20 (£13.30)’departure tax’ (make sure you have crisp, clean dollars or else they’ll be refused) and the cost of getting from Bangkok airport to downtown – say 250  baht (£5) in a tax.  O/T DON’T take an airport limo from BKK airport because it will cost you at least 2,000 – that’s £38.50!  I’ve not done it but I know 2 people who have been talked into doing this.

I’m rambling – back to the costs.  Flying Siem Reap – Bangkok is going to cost you at least £118 and maybe even more if you don’t get a special deal fare.  You could go all the way back to Phnom Pehn and fly with Air Asia for about half that price but it’s a  5 hour coach trip back tp PP.  And then you’ll have to get a tuk tuk or taxi to the airport.  And then you have to fly with Air Asia.  Who will charge you at least $5 per kilo for every kilo you are over their anorexic 15kg luggage allowance.

So what’s the alternative?  Easy!  Take a taxi!  Yep, a taxi from your hotel in Siem Reap will cost you less than flying.  You’ll be transported door to door, it’s comfortable, you won’t have to pay a departure tax, can stop when you want, and, depending on your driver and the other traffic, maybe experience the thrill of white knuckle taxi passenger adventure travel.  It’s not all roses though, there are some drawbacks.  It’s slower than flying, allow for about 6 -7 hours on the road.  You might die in a spectacular pile up.  And, er, that’s about it.  Oh, and if being green bothers you, all the meter taxis in Thailand run on LPG not petrol.  It’s a win/win situation.

Myself and Yvonne, my travelling companion for this trip, were picked up at the Guest House Supemarket just after mid-day on Sunday 3rd January.  Our taxi was in fact a large car with tinted windows, curtains and aircon.  It had cost $25 and had been arranged by the ever helpful Den at The Peace of Angkor just around the corner from the New Apsara Guesthouse.  Most folk heading for the border set off early morning and this results in big queues and long waits in Poipet.  Leave later, get there early afternoon and there’s no waiting.

The road to Poipet and the border used to be know as one of the worst in SE Asia – but not anymore.  It’s all newly surfaced, smooth and very, very impressive.  The countryside isn’t that exciting, mainly flat and open.  The main interest is in passing the pickup trucks carrying at least 30 passengers – including kids sitting on the cab roof, legs dangling down the windscreen, the driver peering through the gaps.

That's me - 3rd from the left

Poipet can only be described as a dirty, dusty, crap heap – obviously a very poor place.  It’s taken us about 90 minutes to get here on the empty road with a good driver.  As soon as we pull up the taxi attracts a small crowd of people trying to carry our bags, organise transport or just lead us to the admin offices – only 2o meters away.  We manage to make the short walk to the departure office without any help.  After a quick glance at our passports the impressively uniformed Cambodian official stamps our visas with the exit stamp and we walk into Thailand.  The border buildings are very large and impressive – really out of place.  Even more so when you realise that they actually house casinos and that’s why so many Thai’s come to this place – it’s the Vegas of Cambodia!  Actually it’s more like the Reno, Nevada of Cambodia.

There are large queues of tourists waiting to get into Cambodia and they look unhappy standing there in the very hot sun.  I make a mental note never to get here early afternoon if I ever travel from Thailand to Cambodia.  On the Thai side of the border entry into the country means filling in a form (if there aren’t any around the room you can get one from the desk of  the  last immigration officer on the right), standing in line for a few minutes and then getting your passport stamped.  And that’s it – you’re in Rongklua, Thailand.

Once you clear immigration you’ll be approached by touts but if you want a taxi, ignore them and walk up to the right past a big sign that says something like ‘Tourists This Way’ and 100m later you’re in a busy market place and there’s a taxi company with a big sign saying ‘Bangkok 1,800 baht, Pattaya 2,000 baht’.  Have a chat to the man at the desk and your taxi will be organised for you.  You tell him where you want to go in Bangkok, pay him the money and that’s it.  There’s a cafe right next door so you can take a few minutes out to grab a drink or food and maybe have a bit of a look round.

Where Poipet was dusty and poor, Rongklua is busy with well dressed shoppers and there are lots of late model cars and 4×4′s everywhere.  Thai people tend to be small and slim but compared to the Cambodians only a few hundred meters away the Thais here look taller and much better fed.  The contrast really is quite striking.

Yvonne and I were soon heading down the road in a taxi that was a Thai taxi and not the limo we’d enjoyed earlier in the day.  It soon became clear that there was a LOT of traffic and the penny dropped.  I’d forgotten that the Thais celebrate New Year just as hard as the Scots and this had been a holiday weekend – now everyone was returning home to the big city.  The next few hours can only be described as an interesting experience.  Interesting in the way that everyone was tailgating everyone else at 70mph, or overtaking on the hard shoulder, or the central reservation or just driving 4 abreast down a 2 lane road.  Interesting in the way the road was suddenly coned off to one lane and everyone crept past the heavily armed Thai troops who were sitting around waiting for God knows what to happen

I put my seatbelt on, determined to increase my chances of survival in what I felt would be an inevitable crash.  Yvonne, who lives in Hong Kong and doesn’t drive, asked quite pointedly why I’d done that.  She either had nerves of steel or simply no appreciation of the potential danger all around.  I told her it was a European custom designed to bring good luck to travellers and keep them out of hospital.  I don’t think she bought it.  Unbelievably, we didn’t crash nor did we see any pile ups.  By the time we reached Bangkok I was absolutely wrecked – sustaining such a high level of nervous tension for so long really takes it out of you.  All I wanted was a big drink.

The trip from the border to Bangkok took 6 hours but the traffic was bad and we did stop a couple of times for comfort and drink breaks.  And for our diver to chain smoke at least 6 fags – I guess being a driver round takes a big toll on your health.

Overall I guess the taxi experience was than flying and I’d certainly do it again.  I’ve had friends do the trip the other way and they say it’s ok but there are numerous scams to watch out for on the Thai side of things.  Woz told me that when he did it he was approached by an official looking man with a clipboard near the border who said ‘Welcome to Cambodia. $25 entrance fee please.’  No shrinking violet and experienced traveller Woz replied that as far as he was concerned they hadn’t actually reached the border, let alone crossed it, and as he’d never been charged and entry fee before he wasn’t going to pay one now.  But he would have said it much more bluntly and used a lot (and I do mean a lot) of swearwords in making his point. Apparently the man ran off.

There’s a good write up of all the travel options for Bangkok to Siem Reap here.

Airport Security Rant

I flew from Edinburgh airport twice in the past week.  One flight was a day trip to Birmingham. No, I wasn’t going on homage to the site of Crossroads or spend a day on the canals (more canal in Brum than there is in Venice) but it was a trip to the NEC to a trade show.

The second trip was to Heathrow for a weekend break to London.  So, two domestic flights, only hand baggage and two early morning starts.  Early morning but the airport was busy both times.  Busy but not overly busy but it still took 45 minutes to clear security. Standing in the queues I had plenty of time to consider ‘security’.

And the more I thought about it the more I wondered WTF is airport security actually supposed to achieve? Safety for passengers or employment of security staff?  On average every 4th passenger managed to trip the alarm passing through the actually security gate.  Which meant lengthy delays while the one male searcher and one female searcher gave the potential terrorist a thorough pat down.

One in four being stopped is a joke.  The old man in front of me had to use sticks to walk.  he was allowed through with them but then stopped and had to lean against the Xray machine while they sent his sticks through seperately.  They then decided to make him go through again without his sticks which he just about managed without falling over.  But he tripped the alarm again.  He then had to take his shoes off while balancing against the machine (luckily his daughter was there to help).  He was then given a thorough pat down while his shoes were X-rayed.  Eventually the staff decided he didn’t pose a threat and was allowed to carry on through to departures.

Where the very expensive shops sell more than enough sharp, flamable and potentially explosive stuff to make a whole range of aircraft destroying devices.

We’re told security screening is for our safety but it starts to lose its credibility when 25% of a queue are regarded as posing a potential terrorist threat.  And when security screening is so inconsistent.  Why do only some people have to take shoes and/or belts off?  Why don’t metal earing and rings seem to set the alarms off?  Why can’t you take disposbale razors through but can buy as many as you like airside?

I used to enjoy flying but now it’s becoming a pain in the arse.  Mickey mouse ‘security’ procedures that will never catch a determined organised terrorist followed by airlines imposing their own wacky rules on the amount of hand baggage you can take onboard (only 1 piece but it can weigh as much as you like) as well as charging a mind boggling 65p a minute to enquire about your flight have taken all the pleasure out of flying – especially short haul.

But I guess I’m stuck with it until someone perfects the teleport machine and can guarantee keeping fly’s out when I  get in.

The Best Mosquito Repellents

OFF! and Autan

Despite what the folks back home think, travelling in the tropics isn’t all palm trees, white sandy beaches, fantastic food, incredible sights and cheap alcohol.  You also have to factor in the heat, humidity, strange money, “stomach problems”, ex-pats who can only be described as scum, exotic diseases and of course, mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes in this instance also refers to the zillions of bitey insects who are just waiting for YOU to come to their country and provide them with some exotic food.  In the interests of balance I have to point out that here in Scotland, especially on the West Coast mainland and Islands,  we have a particularly vicious summer insect called the midgie.  It doesn’t spread anything as terrible as malaria or dengue fever but its bites are incredibly itchy.  So far the only proven, scientific, way to avoid these little buggers is not to go to the West of Scotland in the summer months.  Seriously.

Back to the tropics though – it doesn’t matter what you rub on your skin or how much you cover up, you are still going to be bitten.  The best you can do is minimise risk by covering up vulnerable sites like ankles at night and using a really good mosquito repellent.  Slight diversion number 1 – the worst bites I’ve ever had were on my ankles and toes as a result of wearing flip flops in Khao San Road, Bangkok at night.  Slight diversion number 2 – mosquitoes bites DO spread disease (especially malaria in the rainy season) so make sure all your inoculations are up to date before you go.

In my years of travelling I’ve tried just about every type of mosquito repellent and I’ve learned 2 very important things:

-  ‘natural’ products are rubbish.  All they do is make you smell of lemon  -  a sure fire insect attractant in my experience

-  only something chock full of man made chemicals is going to protect you

The absolute best two products I’ve ever used (albeit not on a midgie) are OFF! and Autan, both made by S C Johnson (a family company apparently).

OFF! isn’t available in the UK but is big in the USA and can be bought in Thailand and Cambodia.  It contains DEET, not that nice a chemical but it is very effective.  It’s a white, odourless cream which you rub on to exposed skin.  If you want to read up about OFF! and see if it’s suitable for you, here’s the link to the web page.  I used it for the first time in Cambodia a couple of years ago and was very impressed with just how effective it is.  I couldn’t find it back in the UK though but I found Autan instead.

Autan doesn’t contain DEET,  but it does contain a new chemical called ICARIDIN which is the brand name  of the patented chemical KBR 3023 – apparently.  There’s a lot more info on the Autan web site

Autan No

here.  According to the site, ICARIDIN has only been in use for a few years but is seen as an efficient, less toxic (to humans but not mosquitoes) alternative to DEET.  I hope there are no long term side effects because I used Autan very liberally on my recent trip to Cambodia.  I took supplies with me just in case I couldn’t buy OFF! again  -  needn’t have worried, plenty of OFF! in Phnom Penh, especially in the upmarket chemist on the opposite corner to the Foreign Correspondents Club.

Autan proclaims that it has NO Fragrance, Colourings or Preservatives – which has to be good because perfume is a known mosquito attractant.

Personally, I hate being bitten and now go out of my way to avoid being a target.  Bites on fingers and toes can be very irritating so at night I tend to go out wearing long trousers and socks – but not with sandals obviously!  If there are lots of mossies I’ll wear a long sleeve shirt too.  But I do draw the line at wearing a hoodie.  And if I’m going to be eating/drinking outside, I take Autan/OFF with me and keep exposed skin topped up throughout the night.  All very sensible  -  and on the nights I do non of these things I get bitten to buggery.

Of course to avoid being bitten in your room you need to sleep in a silk sleeping bag liner (the mossies can’t get at you and they are naturally repelled by the silk) and you need a gecko too.  This handsome devil would regularly come in to my room in Khampot and help himself to a few bugs.  If your room doesn’t have one, just call room service and they’ll send one up straight away

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AirAisia – Still not as bad as Ryanair

Several people have pointed out to me that Ryanair ony let you have 15kg hold luggage too.  And now they’re talking about charging people £1 to use the toilet in flight. What next?  Coin slots to activate the drop down oxygen masks?

Needing Luggage?

If you’ve bought a Jag Bag silk sleeping bag liner from me,  thank you very much.  Now, if you’re looking for some serious travel luggage to put it in, let me point you to www.adventureavenue.co.uk.  They’re a friendly, Edinburgh based company who’ll be able to fix you up with just about any kind of travel bag imaginable.

Just let me say that I haven’t been paid to plug them!  I’ve used them a few times in the past year and the service has been brill and that’s why I’m happy to recomend them.

Air Asia’s Money Generating Scheme

Don’t get me wrong, Air Asia offer a great selection of flights at brilliant prices throughout er, well Asia basically, but they do have a particular Gotcha!  They only allow 15kg of hold luggage,  anything above that and you could be paying a lot in excess baggage.  At Phnom Penh airport my backpack weighed in at 19.75kg and I was charged $5 for each kilo  over the 15.  Just to avoid complicated maths the Air Asia staff  helpfully rounded it up to $20 – and then refused to accept my $20 bill in payment because they said it was too creased………

OK – it does say in the Air Asia small print, the very small print, on the website that the allowance is 15kg but who reads the small print?  To be fair to AA though, a couple of years ago in Kuala Lumpur I was 1kg over and the desk guy said he’d let it go this time.

You win some, you lose some.

Dirty Money in Cambodia

Not Acceptable

See anything wrong with this $20 bill?  Ok, it’s bit creased but I guess most folk would be happy to take it.  Most people – but not in Cambodia.  This note was refused in Phnom Penh airport by the Air Asia desk in payment for my excess baggage charge.  It was then refused by the people who relieve you of the $25 departure tax as well.  It’s the same all over Cambodia – unless your dollars are pristine, they’re likely to be refused.

Acceptable

Which is a bit odd because they’ve no problems with giving you the most revolting notes as change when you’re in Cambodia.  And I mean notes so bad they look as if they’ve been used to help perform bodily functions.