Travel Diary: South East Asia 2013-14 (Part 1)

Bangkok

Not so surprisingly, we started the trip from Bangkok the capital of Thailand and a major travel hub. We flew there with Malaysia Airlines from Helsinki via Paris and Kuala Lumpur. It actually was our first time in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and the place was as confusing as the stories tell. We were actually not so surprised when we found out that our backpacks were lost in CdG, on their way to another terminal, and they never reached our plane to KL. It took couple of days before both packs were delivered to our Hostel in Bangkok.

Meanwhile we did some sightseeing in Bangkok visiting, or at least walking by some great sights like Wat Arun and Wat Pho temples and the Grand Palace. Also, we paid a visit to Thailand´s oldest zoo called Dusit Zoo or Khao Din. Normally we would have had nothing against staying in Bangkok for few days, but this time our plan was to move on the soonest. So as soon as we finally received our backpacks, we moved on towards Cambodian border.

Crossing border to Cambodia in Poipet

We took an early morning train (5:55 am, there are just two daily trains so this is the recommended option to be able to continue the journey in Cambodia during the same day) from Bangkok main rail station, known as Hua Lamphong, to border town Aranyaprathet. It took around six hours to slowly grovel through rural landscapes to the town, but if a bit inconvenient, it was cheap, just 96 Baht in 3rd class for two of us (around 3 $). In Aranyaprathet we decided to take a tuk-tuk ride to the Poipet border, which is roughly 6 kilometers away. This cost us 80 Baht after some negotiation, but it could be notably less than that, if you bargain harder than we did.

Poipet border crossing is popular but a bit infamous, since huge amount of hoax attempts take place in there. If you are going to cross this border from either side, we highly recommend you to prepare beforehand by gathering some information how the crossing should happen and what to avoid. Shortly: don’t listen to anyone giving you this-and-that advice. Our tuk-tuk driver unloaded us in front of a white building, that had a border visa sign on the wall. Despite his eager advice to go there to get stamped, we just calmly walked away towards the actual border, and easily found the official border control office. So he was trying to dupe us, probably to buy fake visas. Don’t listen to anyone claiming that you need to buy the Cambodian visa before exiting Thailand, it’s not true!

After getting properly stamped out of Thailand, we moved forward cross the no-man’s land to the visa on arrival office. We paid 20 bucks plus 100 Baht for each visa, and after that all that was needed was the entry stamp when entering to Cambodia side. Nowadays visa fee has raised up to 30 $, and we have learned that the 100 Baht fee that the officers are asking is not compulsory, so despite the angry looks, you should be able to simply refuse paying it.

Siem Reap and Angkor Temples

On Cambodia side, we took a bus to our next stop, Siem Reap. After around 3 hours ride we landed in confusingly busy Siem Reap. Due to the fact, that the famous Angkor Archaeological Park is situated just 6 kilometers out of town, it’s no wonder that Siem Reap is often full of tourists. Still, the first feeling was that the town has pretty laid-back atmosphere.

Prices in Siem Reap tend to be a bit higher than elsewhere in Cambodia, but we managed to get decent hostel room with 11 $ per night. There are plenty of restaurants aimed for tourists, but for the best and cheapest food we recommend to head to smaller side streets where you can find local street food stalls.

On the next day, we woke up early, rented mountain bikes and headed to Angkor park. Tuk-tuk ride (with licensed driver only) seemed to be the most popular way of exploring the area, but renting bikes and cycling was the perfect option for us. The temples are just jaw-dropping, strong recommendation to spend at least one whole day exploring these world wonders. Tickets to the park need to be purchased from ticket counter before entering the park area, and new price in 2017 is 37 $ per day, three day’s ticket (to be used during 10 days) being 62 $.

Hurrying through Phnom Penh

After Siem Reap we continued our journey again by bus to the capital Phnom Penh (ticket ~7 $). Phnom Penh is situated only 315 kilometers south-east from Siem Reap, but bus rides are known to take as long as 8 hours. Roads really weren’t in good shape, but there were huge construction projects ongoing, so maybe it is quicker ride by now.

Due to the delay with our backpacks back in Bangkok, we now only had time for a short overnight visit in Phnom Penh. So we unfortunately neither had chance to get to know the city properly, nor visit the tragic Killing Fields, a sight that usually is on travelers must-see-list when in Cambodia.

Beautiful Koh Thmei island

After a night in the capital, we hit the road again, and headed to the south coast of Cambodia. We had booked in advance three days stay in German owned Koh Thmei Resort on Koh Thmei island. Resort can be reached from Phnom Penh by jumping of the Sihanoukville bound bus in Ou Chamnar (request the driver to drop you there unless you have GPS in use). Then there is a 7 km moto ride to a little fishing village called Koh Chang (there were youngsters with mopeds waiting in the crossroads when the bus arrived), and from there short boat trip to the island (boat trip was arranged with the resort when making the reservation).

Koh Thmei resort was a perfect, sunny, quiet getaway with cozy bungalow accommodation. We enjoyed excellent meals in the resort restaurant, sunbathed, walked in the forests, snorkeled, rented a kayak and watched awesome sunsets.

From Cambodia to Chau Doc, Vietnam

Relaxed and tanned, we were then ready to hit the road again, and our next destination country was Vietnam. Resort owner helped us to arrange bus tickets from Ou Chamnar towards east to Kampot, and from there we took another, international bus over the boarder to Ha Tien in Vietnam. It was fast and easy border crossing, and we got 15 days stay in Vietnam without visas with EU passports.

In Ha Tien, we decided to continue to relatively small and not-so-touristic town of Chau Doc near Cambodian border. We stayed there over Christmas, and did some hiking and jogging, and checked the biggest attraction in the area, Sam Mountain with beautiful views and numerous pagodas and temples. After 2 nights in Chau Doc it was again time to move on; by bus through Mekong delta to largest city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon and HCMC (tickets around 20 $).

In the huge Ho Chi Minh City

When arriving in HCMC, the amount of people (there is over 10 million residents in the metropolitan area), traffic, exhaust fumes and noise was a bit overwhelming at first. On the other hand, it was nice to have endless number of restaurants among which to choose, and “real” shops with price tags.

During our short stay, we walked a lot through different neighborhoods and visited part of the most famous sights such as Reunification Palace and War Remnants Museum with its disturbingly brutal collections and photos of the Vietnam (American) War.

…the story continues in Part 2