"Cambodia 10th April 2005"

We are currently traveling with John and Lynda. The border crossing between Thailand at Aranyaprathet into Poipet in Cambodia would have to be the most chaotic we have encountered to date. Markets line the entrance to customs on the Thailand side adding to the mayhem. Paddy wagons filled with Cambodians being transported back across the border after illegally fleeing into Thailand continually drive past us while we wait in a long queue to get our passports stamped.

We saw several people doing the run, hugging in close to the wheels of the huge trucks and then frantically fleeing once they were on the Thailand border side. A real mixture of ages including mothers and babies.

We paid US$20 each for our visas but not before they had tried to extract allot more from us!. With all forms completes and carnets we were instructed to make our way to the Cambodian Customs building. Upon arriving at the customs building we stuck a man with “small man, small feet syndrome”. He told us we could not take our vehicles into Cambodia, an order which we disobediently ignored. We did the bolt – did a Thai style maneuver around a near by roundabout, and blended ourselves in with the local traffic and we coolly drove down the main road Poipet, smiling smugly at the mere thought of outsmarting him. The smile soon disappeared off our faces once we saw what lay ahead of us further up the main road heading towards Siem Reap.

	The road were clogged with deep potholes, one part seal the other part rutted dirt tracks. Lawrie & I drove ahead of John with our hazard lights flashing so that gave John the freedom to weave over which ever side of the road he required for an easier ride. We crossed many one way bridges with some approaches so steep John had to have 2 or 3 goes at getting onto them. Bailey bridges barely holding together seemed to be the norm, and in parts the pot holes were as big as cars – I kid you not!John said, had he realized the roads were going to be this bad he would never of attempted to bring the motor home across the border. Still, we soldered on for a further 50 kilometers which took us well over 2 hours. Not only did we have abysmal road conditions to contend with we were now driving on the right hand side of the road which bought more hazards and challenges with it. Motorbikes, bicycles, horse and cattle driven carts, buses, and overloaded vehicles all fighting for road space, it certainly got the adrenalin pumping. In Thailand it was common to see 15 people crammed onto a ute and 4 people on a motorbike, we were now witnessing 30 people crammed onto a ute and 6 people onto one motorcycle it was quite unreal.

Life is much harder and really simple for the people of Cambodia, especially after years of war which was very evident. Their homes were made from simplistic materials, had no power, and horse drawn carts and bicycles were their common transport mode. After driving 460 kms we had finally struck a serious road, so serious it even had a white line down the centre of it. As we neared Siem Reap, flash hotels lined the entry into the town. Hard to believe that a mere 15 years ago there were only 25 cars here. Siem Reap is the gate way to Angkor Temples. We had the amazing experience of watching the sun set over Angkor Wat (The largest religious building in the world) and it really did leave you spell bound.

We spent the next day ambling through the 9th to 13th century majestic monuments of the Angkor Temples. Our favorite would have to of been the Ta Prohm with all the twisted tree roots mixed with the bricks and mortar. The evening saw us hiring a Tuk Tuk for a look around town. An amusing moment came when our driver had to stop along side the road and filled the tank with gas out of a Johnny Walker bottle.

Heading south to Phnom Penh we past locals washing from wells at their gates. Where ever we stopped for lunch etc all the village would turn out, and it only took a couple of stops before our lolly supply was down to zero. Phnom Pehn the capitol of Cambodia and is a modern city. We hired another tuk tuk and toured around all the local sights. One local stop which we thoroughly enjoyed was hammock restaurant, talk about relaxing.

We still had to drive part of the potholed highway again from Sisophon to Poipet, which we found out the locals affectionately called it “The Dancing Highway” and without a hint of exaggeration – they weren’t wrong!

Overall Cambodia is pretty much undeveloped and was very hot and very dry. If you are a white person in Cambodia you are perceived as a wealthy tourist. Cambodia was more expensive than Malaysia or Thailand as tourists are charged in US$.

Although we enjoyed the experience, we wouldn’t wish to go back to Cambodia.

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