Partying and travelling: entering Cambodia

Bas Geertsema

Still a little bit sick from my journey to Sihanoukville, Cambodja I’ll tell you where I have been the last week.

Ofcourse .. the full-moon party. Or actually, it was more the day-after-full- moon-party. Because on full-moon (5th december, sinterklaasavond) it was the birthday of the King. And because of respect for the king the bars on the beach were closed, and no liquor was sold… Not a good ground for a big party and quite the opposite of queens-day in the Netherlands! As I said before: they really love the king.

So, 6th of december, on the beach of Koh Pah-Ngan island there are thousands of people. About 15.000 people partying and dancing on the white beaches. At the city-side of the beach there are dozens of little improvised stalls that sell buckets. A bucket is exactly what is says: a small bucket filled with liquor and soft drinks. For me personally that was Sang-som whiskey bottle with coke and redbull. That will keep you going! And a bargain for about 6 euro’s!! :) So a very good party and fortunately nothing bad happened (you hear a lot of bad stories about getting robbed, caught by the police, drugs, etc).

After a day rest at the beach it was time to say goodbye to Tim and Berry, the guys I have been with the last 2 months and travelled with the last week. Our paths split up from here. I am going to Cambodja!

So with a high-speed katamaran, 6 hour drive in the bus and 4 movies later I arrived in Bangkok at 8 o’clock in the evening. Hoping to get the nightbus just in time to go to the border in Trat. But my luck ran out as the busses were full and only 2 days later I could take a daybus. So Yet Another Day In Bangkok. What to do. I reminded myself that the last times that I have been in Bangkok I only have been partying at Koh San Road. So maybe it was time to do some sight-seeing. I kind of rented a Tuk-Tuk for 90 baht (nearly 2 euro) for a few hours that drove me to many sightseeing places. Most of them temples ofcourse. Why is the taxi that cheap? Well, as it turns out to be the driver takes you along the way to a couple of export shops. When you as a tourist go in the shop, the tuk-tuk driver gets a coupon for which he can buy gasoline. Although this may sound like a scam, you don’t have to buy anything (he gets the coupon anyway). So I think it is a good deal to get around Bangkok. Ofcourse I couldn’t resist myself in one of the shops so I bought a tailor-made suit, but that is not the point here, you see! ;)

Next day I took the bus to Trat. A thai town near the border. Unfortunately, thanks to some Thai confusion or travel agency mixup, I ended up in some kind of tourist bus that went to Ko Chang island. And I was the _only on_e going to Trat. Thankfully they dropped me off at a place where I could take a taxi to Trat, so all ended well. Although I still can’t figure out in which bus I was supposed to be.

Today (monday) the day started at 5 a.m., where a minibus brought me and other travelers to the Cambodian border. After getting a visa ok the boat at 8 a.m. to Sihanoukville. I imagined a comfortable boat trip. That’s why I didn’t opt for the busride to Sihanoukville since the roads in Cambodja are not that good. But it turned out totally different. The boat was a low riverboat. And definitely not build to ride on the big seas. So with the big waves coming in from the side the riverboat was wildy turning and turning. I felt really sick for the 4 hours on the boat .. and looked as pale as can be when it was over. Now I knew why they handed out the plastic bags at the start of the journey..

Although I have not seen much of Cambodja yet, it looks very promising! A quiet but clean country, with friendly and nice people. The guesthouse I am staying at is quite luxurous with even a tv with english channels, and near to the beach. I don’t know yet how long I will stay here. I think a few days and then go up north to Phnom-Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Thanks everybody for the mails and replies I received!

au revoir!! (I don’t know Khmer yet, so since Cambodja was french colony I end like this)

comments powered by Disqus