When we left Siem Reap, we crossed over the board from Cambodia by food to Aranyaprathet, Thailand. The road to Poipet Cambodia from our hotel in Siem Reap was fascinating. We saw all kinds of things along the way. The Cambodia people are amazingly creative with how they can use a honda dream. We saw small motorcycles carring 2-3 pigs, hundreds of chickens as well as many other huge and precariously balanced loads.

In addition to lots of countryside and run-down vehicles and buildings, we also were surprised by some of the wealth and large hotels we found. I guess we shouldn't have been due to the worldwide recognition of Angkor Wat. The other thing that surprised me was the quality of the road MOST of the way to Poipet (some of it was pretty rough in a few stretches though).

Here are some of the sites we saw along the way:























Let me just say that this border crossing is a madhouse. It has kids everywhere begging for money. We tried to give a kid some money and it turned into almost a brawl as kid clawed and scraped to get the money. The bill was torn and we told the kids in Thai (which some of them spoke) that we weren't going to give them anything if they fought like that. But, it didn't help. So, we told them forget it and they eventually wanderred away to try their luck with other foreigners.







There was a long line of people waiting for passport stamps to enter Thailand.



We were approached by someone asking us if for $5 we wanted him to take our passport inside and get it stamped by the Thai officials. First of all, I hate to pay for scams. Secondly, I don't trust some guy to take our passports. So, I said, "No thank you." But, after waiting a while and being told that the Thai guards were taking there lunch for about the next hour and a half. And watching lots of other people give him $5 and get stamped, we decided to try it. We gave him the passports and $5 and he told us to wait on the other side of the shack and he disappeared with our passports. Man, was I nervous!!! But, about 20 minutes later he showed up and told us to wait about another 15 minutes and he'd have us through. About 25 minutes later, he showed up and we were all stamped. So we proceeded to cross into Thailand and Aranyaprathet.

Once inside, we found a meter tax that had to travel back to Ayutthaya after bring a fare here. So we made a great deal on the fare and he took us back to Ayutthaya. Along the way, we saw some neat countryside and stopped at a roadside rest-stop for some good food.









Overall this was a neat way to get back into Thailand. Although we were pretty tired once we arrived in Ayutthaya, I felt like I was better off for having traveled this way and experienced this overland route.

I usually buy a lot of food to give to the kids
yes they fight over it,
But with money they have to give to there gang master or parents,
I have used the $5 to get my passport stamped
it is a lot quicker
And it beats the Q of backpackers.

There is a mongering scene in poipet
I dont know why mongers dont try it
I have put the information on the board for poipet mongering
Pleased you enjoyed your trip