From Siem Reap to Bangkok by Land

I had read on the internet about other people’s tales of trying to make the challenging journey from Siem Reap to Poipet to Bangkok and felt that I was up to the challenge. I wanted to see the countryside and not take the anesthetized route of airport to airport to travel this almost 400km distance. It was only when I reached the half way to Poipet mark that I realized I might have bitten off more than I could chew.

The sign in my Siem Reap hotel lobby declared “Do Not Take the Bus to Poipet.” And I certainly had read horror stories on the internet of those souls who had decided to take that path and declared it to be the worst traveling experience of their lives, so I guess that all of the hints were in place to stick with the original plan and take a taxi from Siem Reap to Poipet, cross the border into Thailand and then take either the train or the bus to Bangkok.

I asked the very helpful people at my hotel desk to arrange a car for me. Another sign that they had posted declared that the taxi ride would be $35+ and then $8 for the bus. I stood there at the desk while they made the call to their favorite car service. After talking for a few moments, the young woman turned to me and very nicely apologized but the fare had now increased to $45. I took this to be the usual Cambodian signal that negotiations on price could now begin. I said that I would pay $40. She rolled her eyes ever so slightly that I sensed that I had overstepped my bounds and put her in a difficult position of negotiating for me. After getting back on the phone she was very relieved and pleased to state that the driver had accepted my offer and would be at the hotel at 7:30 AM the next morning to take me to Poipet.

So the next morning the journey did begin at 7:30 AM. I had anticipated that the travel would take somewhere between 9 and 12 hours depending upon the challenges that we would meet. My hope was that I would arrive in Bangkok while there was still daylight so that I could comfortably make it to my hotel which was less than 2 km from the train station. The driver took my suitcase and placed it into the trunk of the car and my backpack into the back seat.

The car was a dull olive color with no distinguishing marks that told me what kind of car it was, but I happily climbed into the back seat behind the driver who was sitting on the right side of the car. I was prepared for the hustle and bustle of morning traffic in Siem Reap and was not disappointed as the driver headed West on the main road out of town honking his horn as he passed each cyclist, moto bike, or car. This is the standard method of travel in Cambodia where traffic lights and driving on only one side of the road do not exist. It is the only safety measure taken by Cambodians to reduce the number of traffic accidents.

For the first 30 minutes all was well and I was able to keep the window down most of the time since we were still on paved road. There were of course many major holes in the road which is a standard style of road in ! When we reached the end of paved roads there was good news and bad news. The good news was that since paved road is much less expensive to build the road got much wider; the bad news was that we were now going to travel in a cloud of umber colored dust for more than 100km. Because the road was now wider, we were able to move more quickly around all of the slower vehicles and so there was a sense of making good time. There were of course still some major holes which needed to be seen much in advance so as to dodge the hole. This had the effect of an amusement park ride as we caromed our way West.

We crossed many bridges made mostly of steel plates laid across some support structure and it was very important to slowly traverse these crossings so as not to slide off. The countryside was very beautiful with the large bright green fields of rice. Egrets could be seen in many of the wetland areas and young boys were tossing their nets into the brown waters to catch whatever they could. Truckloads of workers (usually 25 or so per pick up truck) packed tightly for efficiency were passed every few minutes. All of those passengers had their faces wrapped with cloths protecting them somewhat from the swirling dust on the road. Every now and then we would also pass the construction of a large building indicating the influx of development money into the area now that Angkor Wat had become a significant tourist attraction.

Half way to Poipet the car came to a slow halt for no reason that I could determine. But it quickly became clear to me that we had an engine problem when the driver was unable to restart the car. I didn’t panic, but my anxiety level was definitely increased as I envisioned us stranded more than 50km from any sized town. When the driver turned the key in the ignition, the slow grinding of the starter suggested to me that the battery did not have much of a life. He got out of the car, lifted the hood and seemed to wipe the battery terminals. That seemed to me like a smart plan of action since I am certain that the engine was just as full of dust as the truck passengers were. As he returned to his seat, I asked the compassionate Buddha to assist us on our way. I had made many offerings to Buddha in the past few days in Angkor Wat and so had hopes that he would look kindly upon us today. As the driver turned the key in the ignition there were still slow grinding noises, but miraculously the engine sputtered to a start and we were able to be back on our way after only 10 minutes or so of being on the side of the road. Blessings on the Great Buddha!

It was only 10 more minutes though before we reached our next hurdle on the way to Poipet. I had seen pictures on the internet of roads washed out with big mud holes and trucks stuck in the mud, but this was not the rainy season and there had only been heat and bright sunshine for the five days that I had been in Cambodia. But just so that I would have the full experience of traveling by land from Siem Reap to Bangkok, there in front of us lay a 1km stretch of road with high water on both sides of the road and large road repair machines working to recreate the washed out road. Large dump trucks were adding more dirt to the road, levelers were spreading it and heavy rollers were pressing it into a more compact surface. Even with all of this activity there was barely a 2 meter wide path for us to follow. We waited 15 minutes while vehicles came from the other direction before we were able to slowing make our way across this narrow path to more solid land. Luckily our engine did not stall out again on this narrow causeway. Fortunate for all concerned.

Now we were back on solid dirt road and we picked up speed again heading for the intermediate town of Sisophon. As we drove slowly through this small town with the ubiquitous street stalls selling fruits, drinks and various hand craft items, it appeared to me that the driver was looking for a place to get gas. In Cambodia, there are not many gas stations and most fuel is sold from small street stands where the fuel is measured into recycled one liter Johnny Walker Red bottles. We were passing many of the stands and I knew that my driver had as much command of English as I did of Khmer so there was no point in asking him a question. He pulled to the side of the road, asked a question of some men who were standing there, and then drove on to the place that they had indicated. It was then that I discovered we were in a car fueled by natural gas. The metal rattle that I had been hearing from the trunk was the not so secured natural gas tank that was cozily occupying the trunk with my cloth sided suitcase. What was also occupying the trunk was a significant layer of the umber dust from the road adding a new color to my forest green suitcase.

Amazingly the car started up just fine as we made our way back onto the road with only 48km left to Poipet. From here we were back to sort of paved road for most of the way and no more Cambodian traumas. The driver took me right up to the border crossing where I could see a small cement building with a “Departures” sign visible. I was very happy to give my driver the $40 we had agreed upon and be on my way to the next task of getting across the border. I think that he was also relieved to no longer have the responsibility of getting a middle aged white man across the bumpy and difficult road from Siem Reap.

Exiting Cambodia was a very simple matter of handing my passport and departure card to the immigration officer and receiving the official stamps that would allow me to leave Cambodia. Only 5 minutes! I could see that a couple of blocks to the West there appeared to be the official entry point into Thailand and so I headed along with numerous Cambodians to the Land of Smiles. Between these two points many people were purchasing pomellos, pomegranates and other comestibles. Strange, since most countries don’t allow entry of fruits and vegetables, but here it seemed commonplace.

Coming into Thailand was a very simple matter. Fill out a card that included arrival and departure information and get into the line for non-Thai entry. Although there was a significant line for Cambodians entering Thailand, there was only one person ahead of me in the foreign passport line. Once again 5 minutes! Remarkable! Now the challenge was to find either the bus station or the train station and there was no English to be seen. Eventually I had to ask someone official looking who directed me to a large marketing complex to the right. I never did find out how to get on one of the large buses, but I did find a small travel agency called two golden bridges which would provide me with a seat on a minibus for 200 baht ($5.50) that would take me to Bangkok. It wasn’t going to leave for 90 minutes so I had plenty of time to get some more Thai baht from the ATM and spend some on a nice plate of fried rice with a fried egg (50 baht) and a marvelous lime smoothie (30 baht). Life in Thailand would be cheap!

Even though Thailand was still under martial law as I entered the country there were no signs of soldiers with machine guns or armored vehicles as I entered the country. It was not until we were on our way to Bangkok that there were any martial indicators.

The ride on the minibus was mostly uneventful. There were only four of us who would occupy the 11 available seats with the luggage going into the rear. Or so I thought. No sooner did we start out, than we made a detour into the shopping complex where we stopped in the middle of a narrow street and picked up what must have been like standby passengers. After 15 minutes of negotiations and money passing hands we were now completely full.

Well, I thought that we were on our way, but within 5 minutes our minibus made another stop at the Cambodian consulate. Our driver got out and went into the building, returning 6 or 7 minutes later with 15 to 20 passports. Perhaps he was acting as a courier from Aranyaprathet to Bankok? I didn’t ask as he took the passports and stuffed them into a bag which he then placed under his seat.

Now we were going to experience the roads of Thailand. Unlike Cambodia, Thailand has a wonderful highway infrastructure and we were cruising along at 80 km in no time…and without bumps!!! We did however have to make one stop about 30 minutes from the border when we went through a military checkpoint. The soldier asked to see all of our passports and it was at this point that I believe the driver was very grateful to have a middle aged white male from the US and an athletic 30 year old white male from Germany. We were not a very likely bunch of troublemakers on our way to Bangkok and so we were sent on our way with only 5 minutes of delay.

Our driver did make yet another stop at a rest area about half way to Bangkok and here there were not only the usual vendors, but an actual 7-11 store! I came to learn that 7-11s are all over Thailand and make a great place to be able to get liquids of all sorts as well as ice! At the rest area there were vendors selling fruits and many types of cooked Thai food and we were there long enough to have a short meal.

Once we were boarded again, we seemed to be in Bangkok in no time. The entire trip from the Thai border to the center of Bangkok where we were let off took only three and a half hours. The time from Siem Reap to Poipet was also about three and a half hours. So, with the two hours spent at the border, my total travel time was a remarkable 9 hours. I was very glad to be in Bangkok where a New Yorker could blend in a bit. I was also glad that I had taken the time to make the journey by land, but I don’t think that I would do it again.