Walking Street in Mae Nam (29 March 2012)

Mae Nam, as well as being a beach area is also an old village, nestled between the island ring road and the sea. Looking at it, and the high Chinese origin population, I think it was originally a sort of supply place for seafarer's. Unlike a lot of other Samui seaside places, there's no evidence of a fishing community, rather a collection of really old, and very interesting Chinese Thai shophouses ranging from food and pharmacy to ship's chandler's. The shops look like they have been there for years, dark, dusty and full of stuff I have never seen before. Chinese incense jostles for space with drugs (i.e. legal antibiotics!), alcohol, tiger balm, dried fish and fruit. But of course, there are a few 7 Eleven's on the main road in case of need...... A few restaurants and tourist bungalows for rent in between, but mostly this feels like a real village. Even the beach, although it's lined with bungalow type hotels, has none of the wandering, pushy salespeople hawking their manicures, massage, food and clothes.



The restaurants are a mix of local, an Italian, a French, but the hotel restaurant is also nice, right on the sand. Loads of Thai stuff and fresh seafood cooked on the barbie. It feels rather Enid Blytonish of an evening, sitting with my toes in the sand, a why why (of course....) as grown up's eat and the kids play at the water's edge.


The short walk from my hotel to the village area is through a small residential area where a few small stilt houses, smaller than the villa I had at my last hotel, sit proudly on their individual plots of land. Every morning the women sit out on the little bamboo pavilions in the garden gossiping and peeling and finely chopping mountains of vegetables. Local dogs bark as I wander by and a huge bull water buffalo chomps away on the patch of ground opposite where long grasses, coconut palms and papaya trees abound. I speed walk here..... The Chinese influence is really evident in the huge ornate pagoda at the village centre. Oh, and the proliferation of good Chinese laundries!


So I settle into the rhythm of village life. Having given up on the hotel uber processed breakfast, I settle in the About Cafe for my latte and wholemeal toast. Life goes on in the village as usual. The ice man delivers to all the places along the road, the fruit seller's van calls out his prices on the tannoy, some days pineapples at just over a pound for five kilos, today, lovingly wrapped apples at ten for 60p. The old lady, daily at 10am being pushed in her wheelchair by her daughter from the laundry to the old shop to while away the day. She may be frail in body but does her daily work as the cashier, sitting clutching two plastic bowls, one with coins, one with notes as she takes the cash and counts out the change. The ancient "dog walker" rides past on his pushbike with his small lapdog charges sitting in the basket on the front as he takes them to the beach. I catch up with Thai national life by reading the day old Bangkok Post newspaper. How different from Europe, they seem to have a labour, rather than job, shortage here. I have noticed it everywhere with job adverts outside all the hotels looking for staff and now the papers report that the car industry is suffering from this labour shortage. One way the Government is looking to change this is to raise the retirement age from the 60 that it is currently. So the same plans as the West, but for different reasons. But one thing not on the cards it seems is to solve the issue by raising wages. In order to help employers with costs, there is a plan to include all service charge tips given to hotel workers in to their salary. There will be a minimum wage here, starting in April, for all including hotel workers in a few of the provinces, mainly the tourist areas of 300 baht a day (£6), so by including tips in this, the employer can reduce the 300 baht he needs to pay by the same amount. This means that regardless of service charges levied, the employee still just gets the 300 baht..... Apparently it's planned that this will only apply to service charges that go through the hotel accounts system, so the lesson for anyone coming here, is give any tips in cash. I knew people in hotels didn't earn much, but I am still surprised at how little it actually is. I was chatting to Toi, the girl who does the rooms and she was telling me that her sister married a Brit seven years ago and now lives in London. When I asked had she ever visited she looked at me as if I was mad! Now I know London is an expensive city, but given she has a sister to stay with and all she needed to find was the airfare, to me it seemed possible. But when I read she was earning such a small amount, I suddenly realised why. But even with labour shortages, the job ad's are still picky and would never get through the PC censor at home. One ad was looking for a marketing executive. Specifics, apart from the usual qualifications were that the applicant needed to be female, under 35 and pleasant looking.....



Quiet as Mae Nam is, every Thursday evening it comes alive with Walking Street. These Walking Streets happen on different days at all the main beach areas and Thursday is the turn of Mae Nam. It's a sort of tropical version of the Button Street car boot sale but with more food. The village roads are closed off and stalls set up in the early evening. Everything is sold from second hand clothes to trinkets and souvenirs. The food stalls have stuff from all corners of the world, but of course, lots of Thai. But also several "wurst" stalls, for some reason, the Russians haven't got here yet, most people are from Austria.... Fish on sticks, fruit on sticks, sticky rice, Indian samosas, full on Thai curries, you name it. The one I wasn't sure of was the fish on a stick stall that had a small Tupperware bowl with tiny turtles swimming around. I didn't see any on the barbie... and then I spotted the small reassuring sign, "For company, not eat".



But my personal favourite are the mobile cocktail bars, all with Tom Cruise types shaking up a variety of oddly named concoctions and blaring out loud music. Every barman appears to be a national or international winner of "Bartender of the Year". More Thai fakes perhaps? But it is fun to wander around the stalls sipping an excellent Mojito... And to stop and sit on the steps of the Chinese temple and listen to the live music.
The good news also is that the wifi here is generally ok, as long as the power is on of course.... which is a necessity, not the power, the Slingbox! The Apprentice has started at home, so Thursday mornings sees me loading up Slingbox to catch the latest episode before Twitter gives away who got fired!



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Les Pauvres Francais, Mae Nam (15 - 16 March 2012)

Each of the many beaches here in Samui seem to have a "character" and Mae Nam, where I moved today is still known as the backpacker's beach. Quite close to the ferry to Koh Phangan, it may have grown up as a before and after place around the huge Full Moon party there. It's yet another long curve of sand on the north of the island with a spectacular view of the other islands. Development is low key and like of all Koh Samui, low rise. A hotch potch of small local hotels, all on the beach and not a five star amongst them. There are a lot of beach bungalows, and a few places that have been developed just a bit more. I am at the Florist Hotel, and the old SE Asian language continues to dominate. Logging on to the wifi network you click on "Frorist". Family owned by people who unsurprisingly used to own a florist business, it's a nice little place, rustic, but the rooms have all mod cons and are clean with a nice stylish bathroom. The website pictures though are a masterclass in Photoshop.... The location is great. A few minutes up the road behind the hotel is the main island ring road where the local songtheows are plentiful, but it's far enough away that you don't hear it. There are also lots of little shops and restaurants and the very useful 7Eleven. On the beach there are also a few nice looking beach restaurants within walking distance and close together so no problem in the dark. And all for £35 a night, in my "deluxe room" at the edge of the pool with free wifi and included breakfast.
But it is said breakfast that made me sorry for the group of French people who are here - not an emotion I am used to! The two things the French pride themselves on to start the day is decent, fresh bread from the baker and a good coffee. Well the bread may have been fresh at one time before it was processed, sliced, wrapped in plastic and frozen, ready to be put, still with the ice crystals into the ancient turquoise toaster. And the coffee, well, dipping a glass cup in to a bucket of hot water, then adding some congealed crystals of Makro own label instant with a bit of long life milk hardly qualifies as a Parisian cafe au lait..... Bless 'em, they all sat there sipping away at a glass of black tea looking horrified! But it might be a backpacker breakfast, but certainly not a backpacker view, how lucky am I to be sipping my albeit instant coffee on the warm sands with a view like this....


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Lolling about on Lipa Noi (2- 15 March 2012)

Time for a bit of medium flashpacking I thought as I return to Koh Samui from my Cambodian visa run. I also decide to have a change of pace. Normally, I find somewhere that is by a beach and not too built up, but with shops and places I can easily walk to. This time I decide to go to Lipa Noi, a west coast area of Samui. About 15 minutes off the ring road so away from any public transport; it was a lot more isolated that usual for me. But my reward is that I find something that I had thought had disappeared from here many years ago.



I am rewarded with the mind's eye picture of a deserted Thai beach, warm clear bue sea, just a few low rise hotel tucked away amidst the palm trees and a few fishing boats plying in and out of the small fishing settlement at the southern end. The bay must be about two miles long and apart from a few sunbeds outside one of the hotels, you just didn't see anyone else. I check into the Sea Valley hotel and Spa, a complex of about 24 "villas" each with a small private pool. Heaven!


It seemed to be owned by a Greek Russian family, so the "understated Thai design" was made a little overstated by some of their own design touches. Greco Roman columns holding up the balcony roof covering and an ornamental pool of Vegas like design including spouting statues in reception..... But it was perfectly located, a few steps away from the white sand powder beach....



So days were spent wandering up and down the beach, peering into one of the spectacular villas and dreaming of having one when I win the Euromillions.... One major downside was the shocking wifi, many frustrating hours spent trying to sort out a dropping line and useless Facetime and iMessage. My kit worked perfectly up the road in another hotel, but sporadically here. Complaints to the Thai's on reception got only as far as a charming smile and apologies....but eventually even they got sick of my complaining and sent a technician from the telephone company to see me. Yes, they discover the problem, the hotel needs to get another phone line in. At that point, I gave up, and enjoyed the excuse of having to buy a beachside cocktail at the hotel up the beach so I could use theirs. Every cloud has a silver lining.....


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Back to Samui (2 March 2012)

Time to cross the land border again this time in reverse and so much less hassle, but perhaps less fun!



The Thai's are all a lot more organised and it's a breeze to fill in the form, get your passie stamped and on you go, no money to pay anyone and no hordes of tuk tuks and motodops vying for your attention. This time the minibus runs to a timetable every 45 minutes and I had just missed one so had about forty minutes in the steamy heat to watch the comings and goings of a border post. Very few Westerner's which surprised me, it's more of a workaday place with cars and lorries and hordes of foot passengers going across with trollies full of bundles and badly wrapped boxes. But soon enough it was time to move on and a real coincidence, it was the same mini bus and driver who drove me here for the drive back to Trat. Think he recognised the large suitcase before he recognised me... This time as well as locals there were two French people getting on. They tried to bargain the driver down from the 120 baht fee, all of £2.40 for an hour and a half ride and the same flat rate being charged to locals and foreigners alike. Good on him, he wouldn't budge. Now I'm all for getting value for money, but trying to reduce your fare by 40p when it's obvious to all that you are a lot weathier than them seems a little crass. But on arrival at Trat bus station I realised that they really had no clue about money at all. There are no buses from Trat bus station to the airport, the only option is a tuk tuk taxi for the 45 km ride. So I asked if the Frenchies were going on to Trat airport, if so, we could share the cost three ways. Yes they said, although they thought the price at a tenner for all three of us was too high. They did seem a bit vague though, so just before we set off I decided to check again that Trat airport was in fact their destination, yes they said, they were flying home direct from there. Now even I know that Trat to Paris is not one of Bangkok Airways regular routes... It turned out they actually wanted to go to Bangkok airport, over 300kms away. Paris taxi's must be awfully cheap if you think a tenner for three people to go all that distance is expensive.... I sent them off to the bus station ticket office to find a bus..... So I made my way to Trat alone, another bouncy ride in the back of this little blue truck - it really reminded me, although it was slightly bigger - of the little Mazda we all had in Mandalay...






Looked about the same age and had the same big rusty holes in it!
Quite an airport day for me, Trat airport is lovely, my second favourite anywhere.



You relax in the outdoor Bangkok Airways lounge, free wifi, coffee and cake and little topiary elephants everywhere. And you are taken to the plane on the gaily coloured road trains. And I was flying to Koh Samui, my first favourite airport ever! But I was a little more nervous than usual. I have got used to flying on little propellor planes over the years and even in Burma, managed a few of them. But this was the first AT72 I had got on since David told me about the Air KBZ that had recently crash landed (luckily with no injuries) at Thandwe Airport in Burma. (See pic of the fated plane below). It was the same route that we had taken a few short weeks before when we flew from Heho to Ngapali Beach. But not only that, it was the same plane, it had the same tail number... In fact we had flown on this plane twice, both into and out of Thandwe. I was hoping that the Thai pilots were a bit more experienced than the Burmese ones, and that Bangkok Airways planes are better maintained but have to admit I breathed a sigh of relief as the undercarriage held up on landing at Samui!





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Markets and Mangroves in Koh Kong (28 - 29 February 2012)

I really love the market here, it's a fascinating place, untouched by the twentieth, let alone the twenty first century. It's dark, the only light coming in from holes in the roof, the entrances and the charcoal braziers cooking vaious unidentifiable foods. And how is it that however hard I try to avoid it, I always end up in the flyblown meat department with assorted and even more unidentifable bits of animal and pigs heads hanging on meat hooks, ready to be weighed out on old, filthy, rusty balance scales. Everytime I see this I vow to turn veggie, and of course every night a good menu changes my mind....
The whole place is unbelievably hot, the only ventilation coming from the same holes in the roof that let in the limited light, and the stall holders sit langourously in their pyjama's on the filthy floor. As you would imgine for a coastal town, fish is big here, both dried and "fresh", I use that word advisedly! It pays to take care walking through this area as you slip and slide in the fishy water. Well I hope it is just fishy water, so often you see kids sqatting in the pathways going to the loo, then "flushing" it away with a small cup of water... Amazing selections of shiny, colourful fruit and veg are piled up in artistic displays guarded by tiny old women whose deeply lined faces have never seen even a drop of Olay. They look as if they have had such a hard life, and given this country's history, they probably have, but they can still raise a smile for the great big "farang" inspecting their wares. The hairdressers are here too, but as usual they spend most of their time searching each other's heads for nits.. And no economy packs here, shampoo is still sold in the little strips of sachets hanging like ribbons from the stalls and soap powder in small, one wash packs. A sign of a population with very little cash flow. But the gold area is comparitively huge. Never really did understand that, most people here look as if they really have to scrape a living and I would have thought buying gold would be difficult. And it's not for the tourist market, most people don't really stop here, they just pass through. The displays certainly aren't directed at tourists, they are dark, dingy, badly lit, but behind each stall where the women and kids do the selling, the men are working the gold into the bangles, rings and necklaces on display. My eye was caught by a small stall run by a young family, a couple of small kids and Mum at he front, with dad working away behind. I spot some nice bangles which they say are gold. If they are, then I have discovered a get rich quick scheme - buy gold here at a very low price, then mark it up and sell it on! But I like them and by buying, I feel in my own small way it's a better way to help the economy rather than donate to the often wasteful NGO's with their huge gas gazzling four wheel drive vehicles that seem to run the rest of this country. And my wrist hasn't turned green - yet...



The Koh Kong area, so often just a dusty crossing point to Thailand is trying to re invent itself as an eco tourism desination. According to a Wanderlust article, it may go one of two ways. One, a Delboy vision of huge hotels and casino's, the second is an eco tourist destination, becoming the second Costa Rica, the one I prefer! One option on the eco side was trekking in the Cardamom Mountains, but unfortunately I had sent my walking shoes back to the UK with Ant and it's not something you can do in flip flops, that's my excuse anyway. A second option is to visit the unspoilt, uninhabited islands off the coast. But at two and a half hours each way in open sea on a small longtail river boat, I decided against that one too... One of the other things to see was the mangrove forest, managed by the local community, which I decide to visit. These are about 7k out of town so I take the ride in a motorbike tuk tuk. Bumpy on the tarmac roads, unbeliveably bumpy on the dirt tracks....



A nice drive through small settlements with dilapidated wooden stilt houses, extremely thin cows and kids cycling back from school along the dusty tracks in their blue and white uniforms. Now I know this is not tourist city and I expected it to be quiet, but I wasn't expecting to be the only person for miles - the absolute silence makes every noise from the mangrove forest seem terrifying.



There is a raised concrete walkway through, but it was a bit scary and I nearly turned back. But I decided to be brave and scan the water for crocs and the trees for monkeys and snakes.... In addition, there is the world's only public mangrove toilet at the end of one of the little wooden walkways - luckily I didn't need that! The mangroves offer a safe harbour for saltwater crocodiles and Irrawaddy dolphins, not sure if I am pleased or not to have not seen them, well glad I didn't see a croc. It was a lovely walk, admiring the tangled roots of the mangroves, the crabs scuttling in and out of the mud and the dappled sunshine through the leaves. Yes, the eco option for development has to be the way to go....






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Walking and Weddings in Koh Kong (26 February 2012)

Koh Kong is a frontier town and my impressions of last time were exactly that but with cows and chickens rather than horses. So today, as soon as the dry season rain stops, I set out to explore what has changed. From what I can see, unlike most places I have revisited, very little. So far the only thing I can see that is different is the addition of the hotel I am staying in. The waterfront, ripe for development is still rubbish strewn and dusty, there is still very little traffic about. The market is still the same, dark and smelly but interesting, with the extra dark central bit where the gold is worked and sold and where I bought nice gold bangle last time, also appears unchanged. Money changers sit along the side of the market with their piles of riels, bahts and dollars behind flimsy glass cases, no Securicor needed here... And the girls all sporting their daytime pyjama's which I had also forgotten. Nice toasty flanelette ones with cute teddy and cartoon designs appear to be the SS12 fashion choice here in Cambodia, Victoria Beckham, eat your heart out. Still can't work out why, in this heat, nice warm pyjama's are a fashion choice.... But I hear Angelina Jolie is here a lot so perhaps they take their fashion lead from her....



Out in the evening for a walk along the riverside you realise it changes as night falls. Lots of small food stalls spring up, another big, actually huge, pig is set out to roast. Weird dried fish hang on to the grimy, greasy fingerprinted glass cases of the stalls which are held upright by their attached motorbikes and are unflatteringly lit by the small strip light running from the bike's battery. Lots of barefoot kids run around. The smells are surprisingly very appetising, but no, you know me, I am not tempted! But it's so dark it's hard to see what's what. No streetlights anywhere, and I hesitate to walk down the cross streets up to the main drag as they are so dark. I'm not afraid of the people, more the feral dogs and other nasties. I need to take a torch next time. At least there is no issue here about falling down holes in the pavement that you have in other SE Asian cities, there are no pavements to have holes in! Just the compacted dirt, it must be a complete mudbath in the rainy season. And the absence of the all pervading drain smell you get on many Thai streets - but that probably is because there are no drains...


There was a huge Cambodian wedding celebration happening along the street. Big frocks, video camera's and lots of glitter. I stopped to take a look and a young guy with good English started telling me about it and identifying various members of the wedding party. He was bemoaning the fact that weddings here are so expensive, and it is the poor groom over here who has to pay 80% of the cost. He said if he wanted to get married, he would have to save for at least three years. They are always so big, he said, with 200 - 300 guests. He had just graduated after doing his Bachelor's degree in Cambodia, but went to Korea to do his Master's. He now worked for an NGO helping young Cambodian's who have no money to get their degrees. He walked along the road with me for a while and it's awful really, all the time you are waiting for the request for money. It didn't come by the time I said I was walking back to the hotel, but it makes me sad that we are always so on our guard it's hard to take the hand of friendship for what it is.


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Comfy in Koh Kong (25 February 2012)

I last came here in March 2009, it's interesting to look at the blog post from then.
http://gill35.blogspot.com/search?q=Koh+kong
And I am happy to report that the scams alive and well on the border crossing seem to be limited to there. The people in town seem to be as honest and welcoming as normal. But it will be fun to to discover what has changed. This time I give the old Dugout motel a miss and book into the Koh Kong Bay Hotel on the riverfront, for just a few dollars more. Good decision!



At just a few months old it is really nice. As I drew up in my tuk tuk, I realised I knew exactly where I was. I remember being really excited last time on finding a French cafe that served decent lattes, and now the Koh Kong Bay Hotel is next to that. The reception area is a bit bare and grim and I had an awful feeling that the website pictures were a figment of their imagination, it looked very backpackery, but no, the room is amazing with a wonderful view of the river, the cargo boats going up and down and the Friendship Bridge towards the Thai border. And all for $45US a night and included wifi. There is one downside though, the hotel advertises itself as eco. Now I'm all for saving the environment except when it means the water is solar heated so the shower is tepid to say the least! Memories of Mexico.... I kept complaining to reception, they kept looking surprised and said they would send someone to fix it. Then they "is fixed", then I go for a shower and I still have cold water. I gave up! But there is a lovely small pool, a wonderful deck over the river and lots of squishy sofas and hanging chairs outside. And a decent glass of why why, at least we can thank the French for this legacy! I am sitting writing this on a squishy sofa after a good breakfast of fresh fruit, decent bread and good coffee (those French again...) overlooking the river traffic and watching huge cargo boats cleverly negotiating the narrow spans of the Friendship Bridge, really peaceful. And the free wifimeans I can also take a Facetime from Deryn in Delhi Airport as she stops over on her way home from Bangkok. I was thinking of going to Sihanoukville but this place is so nice I think I will just chill out here. A five hour bus ride each way for a place I have been to twice seems a bus ride too far! And it would mean a two day journey back to Trat to catch the afternoon flight. Also I was finding it hard to get a decent place to stay, again the perils of free wheeling and booking late in the busier season.



Walking out last night to find a mini mart for water I felt transported back in time again. Dark, dusty streets, the only lights coming from the small shops and roadside food stalls, one sporting a full on whole pig spit roasting! The noise of the motorbikes puttering along with their dim headlights (for those that actually had them....) showing in the mist of the exhaust fumes, it felt and smelled closer to Burma than Thailand.
More menu typos here too. I decided on "fish and ships" for dinner. The fish was seabass, and the ships tasted like potato.... I asked the usual stupid question about the ice as they appeared to be hacking it off a larger piece, normally a sign to be wary of. "Proper" ice is usually recognised by the shape rather than being hacked off a great lump. But the barman reassured me. "We have the water, we have machine to get rid of dirty then we have ice". Magic!




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Border Business, Scrums and Scams at The Hat Lek Crossing (25 February 2012)

When I checked in to the Trat Center Hotel, I was proudly informed that hot tea and bread (aka raw toast) were served for breakfast, all included in my ten quid. But even as an economical backpacker I decided to give this a miss and head to the Nineone coffee place I had seen the night before. Good coffee and wifi, but that was it. My dreams of croissants were dashed, it was Asian or nothing - I chose nothing... And then the overland trip to Koh Kong in Cambodia. As I checked out, the hotel automatically ordered me a tuk tuk to get to the bus station. Once there I paid my 120 Baht (£2.50) fare for the one and a half hour minibus ride to the border.


The buses don't go to a timetable, they just leave when they are full. Luckily, I didn't have long to wait as I clambered into a seat at the back, feeling huge as the rest of the passengers were much smaller locals. The bus didn't inspire too much confidence though, with a big bash at the back and a broken window taped up.... But off we went and I think the driver was on an economy drive as the aircon didn't appear to go on. Now I love to be really warm, but even for me it was rather hot, but the locals seemed to think it was normal... I just thought of it as a free sauna. We stopped at a few places along the way to drop people off, one was the town just near the border crossing which is a place no one would ever want to live, the all pervading smell of drying (and that's just a polite way of saying rotting) fish was most unpleasant. And we went through the narrowest part of Thailand as it meets the Cambodian border.



I have done this border crossing before, but the other way around, going from Cambodia back into Thailand, but I had forgotten just how mad it can be, especially on the Cambodian side. I also remembered that it was a long hot walk with a big bag across no man's land from the Thai to the Cambodian bit, so I paid a guy who confirmed my memories as he also insisted it was a very long hot walk, to trundle my case in a rusty old iron trolley. It was only just after I agreed to pay said man that I looked up and realised that I had got my crossings mixed up in my memory, the long one was Vietnam into Cambodia, this one was so short I could easily have managed my case myself. So, scam No 1!



Then moved towards the "health check" for which you hand over 20 baht (50p) where a digital themometer is waved towards your face and you are pronounced fit or not. The good news is that I am pronounced fit enought to get into the country... The bad news is that the health check is not mandatory, I later realise you can refuse, but everyone was going through it - so was scam No 2!
Passport and photo in hand we get to the immigration bit. My passie was whisked out of my hand by a guy who passed for "official" in this part of the world and I was told to sit down and wait as the guy took it away and began filling in the form. Then he called me over to the window and asked for my 1200 Baht (39 US$). I had read about this one and knew it was only 20 US, but this official looking guy said "no, no US$, Thai Baht only here". Well you don't cross a Cambodian border official so I paid up. All those fears of being banged up abroad.... Fingerprints taken, it was only then I realised that the guy filling in the form etc was not an official at all, just a self appointed "agent". And he had the cheek to ask for a tip for his services... But it's not just me, reading the forums on this since, it looks like everyone has to pay this inflated baht price here. So Scam No 3!
There was the usual selection of taxi, tuk tuk and hotel touts around offering bus tickets to Sihanoukville and tuk tuks to town. Was quoted 300 Baht for a tuk tuk to the hotel, which seemed on the high side and when I tried to negotiate he wouldn't move and said it was a long way and he had a bridge to cross and tolls to pay. Again, a hostage to fortune and not willing to get on the alternative, a motorbike taxi, called a motodop here, with my case, I gave in. It was a reasonable distance, but definitley overpriced for the fun but bumpy ride on a trailer attached to a motorbike..... And we picked up another fare on the way. He even had the cheek to turn round expectantly when we stopped at the toll for the Friendship Bridge expecting me to fork out more, I was learning fast, he didn't get it. So Scam No 4.


The last one, and I have vowed no more, was the change from the taxi fare. I didn't have the right bahts for the taxi and needed 200 baht change. Most transactions here are in US$, with small amounts given back in Cambodian Riels and I remember the shops and markets are always honest and you always get the right official exchange rate. So when he said he owed me $5, I took him at his word. It was only later I realised he had done me for $1.50. So Scam No 5! He even had the nerve to ask for a tip, and he hung around reception hoping for commission for bringing me, I hope he didn't get it as I had already booked myself. The business card he gave me to call for taxi and bus tickets has now gone straight in the bin. Will they ever learn that tricking people, albeit for small amounts never works in the long run, or perhaps it does. I think I am a seasoned traveller but it is really easy to get caught. I know it wasn't for much and actually it was all a bit of a laugh, and God knows they don't have much, so all in all it was worth it for the entertainment value! I have less sympathy though for the real officials if they are in on any of it, which according to a lot of forums they are. Not so at the airports where it is all streamlined and easy, but in the madness of a land crossing... It's also my own fault, if I had thought in time, I could have done an e-visa online, paid my 20US$, but this way was a lot more fun!
Coming out of the immigration area, once you get past the huge Koh Kong Hotel and Casino, a flash place for the Thai's who come here for gambling as it's illegal there, I realised I had forgotten just how different Cambodia is from Thailand. Suddenly a lot less traffic, no mini buses but bikes, motorbike tuk tuks, big smoky noisy trucks and very few cars, and all on the other side of the road, a leftover from the French I assume. Little "Cambodian People's Party" shacks dotted everywhere, there seem to be more of these than houses in some places. A few typical Cambodian wonky wooden stilt houses and wonderful views of the Cardamon mountains. You can feel the pace of life, laid back in Thailand compared to the UK, slow down even more. And the people, suddenly half the size both in height and width from the Thai's. Just shows again what a Western diet does to a population...


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