Bangkok to Cambodia-How much to cross a border?

We arrived in South East Asia on the 21st of May and were thrown into the chaos and pollution of Bangkok. Bit of a shock after the slow pace of the Outback and wasn't quite the same as we had remembered it when we were here seven years ago, ie we liked it then! We stayed two nights ( one in a nicer hotel to ease us into the next stage of our travels) and prepared ourselves for the Thailand-Cambodian border. Up very early next morning we managed to find a taxi driver who didn't want to take us to the airport or keep the meter running from the last person and headed to the train station. The train journey which lasted almost six hours cost us £1 and was cleaner than British Rail. Before the train left I searched for a toilet ( these are the necessities when travelling!) and on not finding one, we drank little for the whole journey. On leaving the train I spotted a toliet...spotless too...damn! The train journey was an interesting affair with people boarding the train and selling drinks to dried fish. Taking a deep breath we felt ready to face the onslaught.



Grabbed a tuk-tuk which first picked up a random man trying to sell us a ticket to Siem Reap, getting rid of him, the driver then stopped at a 'visa' point six Km from the border-don't think so! We told him to keep going. He finally dropped us off at another 'visa' point where lots of men tried to convince us to buy their visa! We ended up walking the last little bit and very slowly all the foreigners attracted each other and we stuck together in a group. Finally getting to the right immigration office, we were told that we would have to pay $20 plus 1000 baht. Interestingly enough there is a big sign which states that foreign visas cost $20. He told us this sign was "out of date" . On refusing to pay him extra money we were told the visa could take three days so I stupidly told him I would sleep here. Bizarrly he left us alone and we got our visas in fifteen minutes. We had actually survived the corrupt border officials! Sadly for Cambodia this is what many travellers first experience unless you are flying. This leads to the next part of the story. We then had to try and get a taxi that was going to take us to the right place and not extort too much money from us( again! ) We ended up sharing with a thai lady and her chinese partner who was not allowed across the border and was having to head back to Siem Reap to fly to Bangkok. The road to Siem Reap is approximately 150Km from the border but it took four hours! This was due to the excessive dust, potholes, cows, big trucks...and water. Rainy season starts in May and the Mekong River expands filling into the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in SE Asia. This then floods across this part of Cambodia which look like a floodland. This is great for Cambodians as it means more freshwater fish but not for the roads. Exhausted yet? We were and finally we arrived in Siem Reap. There are no photos for your enjoyment...are you surprised?