23 Nov
One ferry/bus trip later, we finally arrive back in Bangkok. It felt like the journey lasted about 2 weeks, it was dire……..note to self :-Avoid Overnight Buses. It was Shite, never been so uncomfortable in my life.
24th Nov
After much deliberation, we selected the The Khaosan Art hotel, and it is lovely. Not only does it fit all my requirements, ie aircon, good reviews, cheap (£8 a night!) etc etc, but it has a lovely vibe, lots of art on the walls, lovely café/bar, free shampoo/shower gel, endless free towels, great location. I only had a single room, which was tiny but otherwise perfect. Aircon cools it down in about 10 mins!
We went out for a wander, there is a market that starts in the alley just next door, and a 7/11 on the corner. And a money exchange place on the other corner so we loaded up with dollars for Cambodia, I'm not sure if we need the local currency, rial, but we'll see when we get there.
The bus co, Giant Ibis normally provides free transfers to the pick up point – they are the best bus co. in Asia by far, there’s always A/C, loads of leg room, food at various intervals, sometimes the wifi even works! (usually not though 😊). But as it was only a 7 minutes away, the ‘kids’ decided we could easily walk it. Thank you, children grr. I mean, it would’ve been easy if I’d bought a flipping wheeled suitcase, but with The Bear Backpack weighing in like small car and me being such a weakling, I was a bit worried……
But I made it, and, as a reward, I bought a cup full of chopped watermelon off the enterprising street food guy at the bus top. I love watermelon and mango, and there’s nearly always someone nearby who has done all the prep, and will flog it to you for less than a quid.
We have heard awful stories about the Cambodian border crossing. Poipet is notoriously bad for scammers and con men, who want to take your passport off you for the visa process and then charge you an arm and a leg to get it back – or the bus goes off without you! Thankfully, Giant Ibis are really good at this too. And I am now second in the Sheep Shirt Furthest-From-Point-of-Manaufacture! ( #weareamongstewe )
And they were great! Took all our passports into the embassy for the visa stamp, and then we just had to show that as we walked across the border. Only took about 3 hours, jeez, they are so unorganised! We lost Will at one point, they decided to let some of us go through a side checkpoint, and he got left behind. We got through pretty quick after that but we didn't see him again for at least an hour.
They gave us dinner on the bus, rice and veg, very nice, and then I fell asleep when we set off again. The countryside is very flat, with lots of half built shacks, some nice houses, piles of rubble and endless rice fields.
Woke up to the city, what an amazing contrast, shacks and tuk tuks, cars, vans, piles of rubbish, lorries and shanty town buildings, and here and there in between the rubble, enormous extremely flash hotels, which are mainly for the Chinese tourists.
We are staying in the Bokre Angkor Hostel, which is a smallish hotel, but it’s beautiful, with a great café, a swimming pool, and an entrance surrounded by palms and banana trees. Cambodia is a little more expensive, than Thailand, because they use dollars but it’s still cheap - about £58 for 3 nights, twin room, A/C breakfast. And a fridge! Which didn’t work in my first room, so I managed to get relocated next door to Ellie and Will. Perfect!!
We booked a tuk tuk for the exploration day tomorrow, Angkor park is huge and he will drive is from temple to temple. I also booked a cookery class for Mon morning, just me, they are going to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat, too early for me. And I am keen to sample Cambodian cooking!
One ferry/bus trip later, we finally arrive back in Bangkok. It felt like the journey lasted about 2 weeks, it was dire……..note to self :-Avoid Overnight Buses. It was Shite, never been so uncomfortable in my life.
 |
| Moonlight ferry transfer from Koh Phangan to Surat Thani |
After much deliberation, we selected the The Khaosan Art hotel, and it is lovely. Not only does it fit all my requirements, ie aircon, good reviews, cheap (£8 a night!) etc etc, but it has a lovely vibe, lots of art on the walls, lovely café/bar, free shampoo/shower gel, endless free towels, great location. I only had a single room, which was tiny but otherwise perfect. Aircon cools it down in about 10 mins!
We went out for a wander, there is a market that starts in the alley just next door, and a 7/11 on the corner. And a money exchange place on the other corner so we loaded up with dollars for Cambodia, I'm not sure if we need the local currency, rial, but we'll see when we get there.
 |
| Lovely Thai ice tea |
 |
| My teeny weeny bedroom - even had a window! |
 | |
| Alley way outside the hostel bar. |
The bus co, Giant Ibis normally provides free transfers to the pick up point – they are the best bus co. in Asia by far, there’s always A/C, loads of leg room, food at various intervals, sometimes the wifi even works! (usually not though 😊). But as it was only a 7 minutes away, the ‘kids’ decided we could easily walk it. Thank you, children grr. I mean, it would’ve been easy if I’d bought a flipping wheeled suitcase, but with The Bear Backpack weighing in like small car and me being such a weakling, I was a bit worried……
But I made it, and, as a reward, I bought a cup full of chopped watermelon off the enterprising street food guy at the bus top. I love watermelon and mango, and there’s nearly always someone nearby who has done all the prep, and will flog it to you for less than a quid.
We have heard awful stories about the Cambodian border crossing. Poipet is notoriously bad for scammers and con men, who want to take your passport off you for the visa process and then charge you an arm and a leg to get it back – or the bus goes off without you! Thankfully, Giant Ibis are really good at this too. And I am now second in the Sheep Shirt Furthest-From-Point-of-Manaufacture! ( #weareamongstewe )
And they were great! Took all our passports into the embassy for the visa stamp, and then we just had to show that as we walked across the border. Only took about 3 hours, jeez, they are so unorganised! We lost Will at one point, they decided to let some of us go through a side checkpoint, and he got left behind. We got through pretty quick after that but we didn't see him again for at least an hour.
They gave us dinner on the bus, rice and veg, very nice, and then I fell asleep when we set off again. The countryside is very flat, with lots of half built shacks, some nice houses, piles of rubble and endless rice fields.
Woke up to the city, what an amazing contrast, shacks and tuk tuks, cars, vans, piles of rubbish, lorries and shanty town buildings, and here and there in between the rubble, enormous extremely flash hotels, which are mainly for the Chinese tourists.
We are staying in the Bokre Angkor Hostel, which is a smallish hotel, but it’s beautiful, with a great café, a swimming pool, and an entrance surrounded by palms and banana trees. Cambodia is a little more expensive, than Thailand, because they use dollars but it’s still cheap - about £58 for 3 nights, twin room, A/C breakfast. And a fridge! Which didn’t work in my first room, so I managed to get relocated next door to Ellie and Will. Perfect!!
 | |
| The Bokre Angkor hotel |
We booked a tuk tuk for the exploration day tomorrow, Angkor park is huge and he will drive is from temple to temple. I also booked a cookery class for Mon morning, just me, they are going to see the sun rise over Angkor Wat, too early for me. And I am keen to sample Cambodian cooking!
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