A lift to Aranyaprathet and then a short ride to Poipet: Over the border

December 27, 2016

I met Kenny at the morning market for a lift to Aranyaprathet. I had bought something at the market to eat, but had only taken a few bites when Kenny showed up and was set to go. Those couple of bites of "not spicy" burned my mouth a bit, so I discarded it. We loaded my bike into the car, a black newish SUV, and took off promptly at 6:30.

It was a pleasant drive, not hilly and not very different from the roads I've been cycling, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything. Kenny offered to take me to the border, but gave me a brief tour of the town. Trying to find the border, he turned into the border market. It was already a madhouse, and he had a hard time finding the border. We got close, and he found a spot to pull over and get my bike out. He had been friendly and generous, and asked nothing in return.

After I had my bike loaded up again, I followed my Garmin directions to the border. They took me just a few hundred meters put of the market to Thai immigration. Leaving Thailand went smoothly. I was a little suspicious of the guy who pointed me in the right direction and asked for a photo. I thought he wanted the photo I needed for the Cambodia visa, and was one of the "agents" I had heard about. But he turned out to be a real Thai immigration official, and I needed to just stand in the correct place to have my photo taken. I think they compare it to the entry photo.

Then I rode a short distance to Cambodia immigration. I stopped at a building to get my "visa on entry". I filled out the form and handed it over along with a passport photo I had brought with me. Exactly as reported in the online forums, the immigration agent pointed at a hand written sign that said US$30 plus 100 baht, or 1200 baht. I pointed to the official sign that said just US$30 for a tourist visa, and handed over $30. He accepted it. I got my passport back within 5 minutes, and he showed me the visa page with the dates in it.

I wasn't quite finished yet, as I had to get the visa stamped to show it was in use. Another 200 meters there was another office. When I reached it, there was another guy in a bike, with a large backpack strapped across the rear rack. He said he was taking the bus to Siem Reap, and that I should, too. He pointed me into the office to get the stamp, and watched my bike while I filled out yet another form and got the stamp. I asked him where he came from, and he said Cambodia. He said he was Cambodian, and no, he had not been in Thailand. And that I should buy a bus ticket. I said no, that I was riding. Then he said that I should buy a SIM card. I declined that, too, and rode off. I still haven't decided if he was posing as a bike tourist to try to sell bus tickets, or whether he had a real reason to be on a bike. Very confusing.

I had picked out the City Poi Pet Hotel for an overnight. I had a lot of trouble finding it. It wasn't on maps.me or my Garmin, and I guess I hadn't done a good job in trying to mark the location on my map. It was only a few hundred meters away, but I put nearly 5km on my bike riding back and forth. I stopped and asked a few times, but didn't get any good advice. I finally stopped at a cafe to use the Wi-Fi and check the location.

The cafe is just a convenience store, but does have good Wi-Fi.

The Bonjour Cafe did have Wi-Fi, but was just a convenience store attached to a gas station. When I asked about coffee, they pointed to the little cans of coffee on the shelf. I found one in the fridge, drank it, and used the Wi-Fi to find the hotel.

The reviews of Poi Pet hotels online are pretty uniformly bad, but this is supposed to be sort of the best of the worst. I think its pretty good. For US$15 I have a large room with AC and a fridge, hot water at the sink as well as the shower, a variety of English tv channels including CNN, and Wi-Fi. Its clean, but not spotless. How can I complain? I can always complain. First, they told me I could bring my bike into the lobby, but then they wouldn't let me. It's in the parking lot locked to a fence. There is a 24 hour guard. Then there is the internet. It works well in the lobby, but is advertised as working in the rooms. The router is outside my door, and theyb tell me it is being repaired.

The Wi-Fi router doesn't seem to be working.

With my early arrival, I had a lot of time on my hands. I walked around town a bit, saw the market and some shops. There are a lot of cell phone shops! With my problem finding the hotel, I decided I should get a SIM card for internet access when I didn't have Wi-Fi. The first place I asked about it said $1 for The SIM card and $5 for data. That was more than I expected. I went to another shop and got a SIM card for $1 and data for $1. I don't really understand how much data I have. The $1 exchanges to $30 for calls or data, and that's what I don't understand. The signs around town seem to indicate that it's 1.5Gb, so I'm working with that assumption. But it's only valid for a week, and then I need another top up.

My first impressions of Cambodia are chaos and filth. I hope as I get away from the border the chaos calms down, but I'm not optimistic about the filth.

Garbage by the side of the road, just down from my hotel.

I need to figure out where to eat tonight. For a border town, there isn't much English around, and few people who seem willing to help a foreigner.

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 2,112 km (1,312 miles)

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