Home » Cambodia » 3 countries, 1 day, a knocking shop and more madness

We get to Pakse to try and organise a flight but Laos Airlines doesn't do online booking and the shop closes at the weekend so we've the opton to wait in Pakse for 5 days or do overland into Cambodia through Thailand. There's nout to do in Pakse at the best of times so we decide to do overland into Eastern Thailand and South into Cambodia. We leave Blair in Pakse cos he's too lazy or still drunk to get out of bed. Time goes well and we reckon we can make Siem Reap in the same day.

3 countries, 1 day, a knocking shop and more madness

Gareth Penpraze
2007-04-20 22:46:39

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We get to Pakse to try and organise a flight but Laos Airlines doesn't do online booking and the shop closes at the weekend so we've the opton to wait in Pakse for 5 days or do overland into Cambodia through Thailand. There's nout to do in Pakse at the best of times so we decide to do overland into Eastern Thailand and South into Cambodia. We leave Blair in Pakse cos he's too lazy or still drunk to get out of bed. Time goes well and we reckon we can make Siem Reap in the same day. We get to the border town of O'Smach in Camdodia about 6 and no-one is willing to take us to Siem Reap for anything less than 2500 baht. Not worth it considering we can do it for 200 baht the next day!! So we go to he only half decent guest house which turns out to be a whore house for the Thai high rollers coming over the border to gamble. Even before the Thai border I'm being offered a Vietnamese woman for 300 baht - cheaper than our room!! Standing at the immagration window and another guy is offering me weed!!

The next morning the 200 baht option has dissappeared (doesn't surprise us) so we're loaded into a taxi and joined by a scouser - Simon - for the 7 hour journey to Siem Reap. 5km down the road and a bridge is out so our taxi man doesn't want to take us any further. Another guy is willing to take a risk for 2000 baht, so 20-30 Kmer guys carry our taxi through a river about 20 metres and then us on a makshift raft and they're overjoyed with 100 baht for their efforts. Amzing times.

See the taxi carried through the river here

We thought the challenges were over but another 10 km down the road a huge tree has blocked the road. The taxi man decides to go round the tree and gets stuck in the field - what he doesn't realise is that the more he tries to get out the more he's digging himself in. With mine and Phils experience of digging Loas people out of the mud, we lift the front of the ...