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At 7.20am on Saturday 3rd Feb, I jumped on a minibus to get back to the mainland of Thailand and head for Cambodia. On it were 3 girls (life's a b****) 2 of which were Parisian, thus allowing for more language practise. They complimented me on how well I spoke French, which in my experience, generally doesn't happen very often. I also got talking to a girl from New Zealand called Claire who seemed quite chatty and keen to make new friends.
At the border, we stopped at a cafe to sort out visas and a guy introduced himself to us as our driver to Siem Reap. We made conversation and he recommended that we get dollars for Cambodia and then change them in to Cambodian Riel once we got there. He was a little too keen to take us to the cashpoint for my liking, so I kept my distance. Once we got over the border, he asked me if I'd like to come to an exchange bureau with him, and by now I was feeling harrassed, so I replied by telling him I was capable of sorting it out for myself. He was quite adamant that I'd get a better exchange rate at the border with him (yeah right!) so I just told him I was willing to take my chances. He walked off in a huff and moved to his next victim. As it turns out, like so many people in this country, he was just keen to make a bit on the side by taking us to an exchange bureau of his choice. After waiting for about half an hour for our bus, we got on it for about 5 minutes, only to be dropped at another bus stop by our so called 'driver'. We never saw him again.
The journey from Poipet to Siem Reap was a very long, bumpy, uncomfortable minibus ride, with people screaming at several bumps. Rumour has it that one of the major airlines pays the government to refrain from revamping this road so that visitors choose to fly instead. Welcome to the world of corruption! After a 13 hour ride, we finally arrived at a guesthouse just outside Siem Reap at 9pm. Everyone seemed quite content to fall in to yet another scam where the drivers drop you at a guesthouse of their choice so that they make a bit of profit. Claire (the Kiwi) and I decided we weren't having any of it and made our way in to the centre of town, where we found a lovely guesthouse charging 9 US dollars a night, complete with hot shower, cable TV and a very tidy room. Sorted! We went out for a much needed drink and had a boogie in the busy 'Temple Bar'.
The following day we met up and explored the city centre to get our bearings, checking out the attractions on offer and finally arranging a tuk tuk tour to the nearby ancient temples of Angkor for the following day.
In the evening, Claire went back for an early one whilst I stayed out and watched Tottenham get hammered at home by Utd. After the first half, I decided to get chatting to a couple of girls instead (Janine from England and Emily from California). After a few drinks and a dance, we mustered up the courage to put our names down for a game of pool. I played against a prostitute who took it all very seriously, since that's her way of meeting and impressing clients. Needless to say, she wasn't very impressed with me cockily dancing with the girls in between shots before finally clearing the table. She wouldn't even shake my hand - classic!
At around 1.30am, with all limbs still intact, I decided to call it a night in order to get up in time for an early morning visit to the Temples of Angkor...
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