Tag Archives: Cambodia

Cambodia: Sexy Time!

Posted on January 7, 2009 by jeffonthego

So, if you tell people in the US that you’re going to Thailand, they’ll often start wiggling their eyebrows, jab you in the ribs with an elbow, and mutter something about ladyboys.

This morning, I was at the Ekkamai bus station in Bangkok, waiting for my bus to Cambodia. A Thai guy, apparently a worker for one of the bus lines, started up conversation, “Hello, where you go?”

That, by the way, is basically what they say to each other all the time as a greeting. However, that’s also what all the annoying touts and taxi drivers say, which I typically ignore or answer with a confusing, “everywhere.” I haven’t yet had the nerve to respond, “your mom’s house.”

Anyway, I respond, “Cambodia. Cambusha.” A typical conversation ensues. America, San Francisco, wow, yeah, America is big, and so on.

Up waddles captain sweaty, who appears to know this man. “He’s going to Cambodia!” says my new friend. “Aha, Cambodia,” says Sweaty with a knowing wiggle of the ol’ caterpillars. He then puts one hand on the back of the other and starts pumping them.

Now, one hand on top of the other, thumbs out, happens to indicate “sea turtles” when diving, so I was a bit confused. Nooo, I’m not going to Cambodia for sea turtles…?

He saw the look of bewilderment and switched his hands around a bit. Palm to palm with some suggestive thrusting and grunting.

Oh! Oh. No! No, I’m not going to Cambodia for sex! Man, I just can’t get a break…

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Welcome to Cambodia

Posted on January 7, 2009 by jeffonthego

So, here’s my brief summary of how I got to Angkor Wat from Bangkok, Thailand, by land:

  1. Take a government bus from the Eastern or Northern Bangkok bus stations. Leave by 7:30am. You can probably buy your ticket the same day, just show up at 6:00am. (190 baht) You should be going to Aranyaprathet, which is on the Thailand side of the border from Poipet.
  2. I don’t think it matters much whether you get your visa in advance in Bangkok. They didn’t hassle us. Perhaps if you’re in a flood of tourists off a tour bus, you might have trouble. If they try to get more than 1,100 Thai baht, demand a receipt, get their name, and report them to the Cambodian tourism board.
  3. Immediately upon leaving the Cambodian immigration, you are required to get onto a free bus to the bus station. If the police (who are lounging off to the right, in the shade) see you getting on the back of a motorcycle taxi or into a car, they will probably stop the car and fine one or both of you. To my knowledge, nothing is stopping you from walking out of the area.
  4. The bus station is basically empty. I think you just catch a taxi there.
  5. Our taxi cost $50 for three of us to Siem Reap. We had no US dollars on us, so we paid in Thai baht, 600 each. I was later told that a taxi should cost $25 for the entire car.
  6. The taxi will drop you outside Siem Reap and hand you off to motorcycle taxies and tuk-tuks. I think these guys basically try to take you to places where they get a commision. I insisted on Two Dragons, and my driver reluctantly took me there. I then paid him $6 to haul me to Angkor Wat to see the sunset, then bring me back. I was later told that this should cost $2 or $3. Still, he was a nice guy…

Random things about Cambodia that I didn’t know:

  • The Riel (local currency) is about 4000 to one US dollar. So they pretty much just use dollars. When they give change, they’ll give partial dollars in Riel notes. I haven’t seen a US coin yet.
  • The local language is Khmer. Maybe I’m just ingorant, but it wasn’t obvious to me and I didn’t want to offend anyone by asking how to say things in “Cambodian” if that’s an external name.
  • Numbers one through ten seem unique to Khmer, but from 11 on, it sounds almost identical to Thai! I have no idea the linguistic history which causes this.
  • There is a no-man’s land between Thailand and Cambodia. There are hotels and casinos here. It’s kind of weird. Big, glitzy casinos and in front of them roll some bare-footed Cambodians pushing a home-made cart loaded with a half-ton of ice. Yep, weird.
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Where the Hell is the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok?

Posted on January 6, 2009 by jeffonthego

I blew nearly two days just trying to get my Cambodian visa in order to visit Angkor Wat. All this to save, what, a few minutes at the border?

So, it turns out that the Cambodian embassy is not in Lhumpin Park anymore. As of around October, 2007, it has moved to the Northeast of Bangkok, near Huai Khwang. To get there, take the “M” line to Huai Khwang or the Thailand Cultural stop on MRT. Then, ask a taxi or motorcycle to take you to the Cambodian Embassy. I’ll post the Thai for that later.

The exact coordinates are N0313.76809,E100.59631. It’s on Pratcha Uthit at Saha Kan Pramun.

Incidentally, Saha Kan Pramun is where the Harley Davidson dealership is. I don’t recommend going there, however, since Harleys are crap and their simple tee shirts are 1,200 baht!

Cambodian visa details: 1,100 baht as of January 6, 2009. Requires a passport photo and a photocopy of your current passport (10 baht if you don’t bring it, don’t know how much if you forget the passport photo). Takes about 15 minutes from the time you file your paper work. The embassy closes for lunch from, if I recall correctly, noon until 2:00pm.

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