because it's Khmer New Year" as well as "6 hours to the boarder, leaves at 9 a.m." I thought, US $15 is a wise investment and it will get me to the boarder in a nice relaxing air conditioned environment in time to catch a bus from there to Thailand. Hehe, at 7:30 a.m. I was rudely awakened by the receptionist from Kampot Guest House trying to kick in the door and telling me, that the bus was leaving at 8:00 instead of 9:00 because the bus driver had found other people who wanted to travel with us and the bus was indeed full. So I hurriedly jumped under the shower threw my belongings into my suitcase and then hitched a ride on a moto, my bag between the driver's feet, my suitcase on my lap and my backpack on my back, not too comfortable. When we reached the mini bus I saw at first glance, that it was severely overcrowded, the bags were tightened with rope to the back of it because the backdoor wouldn't shut and it was by no means air-conditioned or in any way suitable for roads in Western Europe. As the last bag was secured they even tied two chicken, heads down to the back.I got a seat, having paid 6 times the amount anybody else on that bus had, but when
I counted
there were 30 people sitting inside the bus, an extra two were sitting in the windows, their torsos exposed to the fresh air and three found some space on the roof. My all Cambodian travel mates didn't speak any English, but they looked well after me, offering me all kinds of snacks, wanting to see all the pictures on my camera and trying not to squeeze me too hard.
Everybody was singing to some Khmer music which sounds a bit like Bollywood music, but has a cheesier touch too it and the voices sound like a dying donkey. As the hours passed, the poor donkey was tortured and got even closer to passing away, sadly, he never did, which is why I think I can never again enjoy Khmer music again.
The six hours passed quickly, we made our way from Kampot to the island of Koh Kong through the Cardamom Mountains and loads of jungle, an area that was once swarming with Khmer Rouge soldiers hiding from the Vietnamese and from the Republican Army before the civil war. Apart from the exceptionally beautiful countryside I experienced some serious delousing right next to me, as a couple started to comb through their daughters hair crushing all the lice eggs they found between their finger nails.
On our way we crossed some rivers by ferry, the first one looked like this:
just kidding, more like this:
The second and third one more like this:
And then we arrived at Koh Kong where a hord of mean looking moto drivers wouldn't even let me get out of the bus until I agreed to take one of them to the boarder, a 12 km drive from the bus station. It was so uncomfortable with all my stuff on the one motorbike and I must have looked hilarious because people were pointing and laughing all along the way.
The posts at the border were very nice, carrying my bags and escorting me the last 10 meters to the Thai passport control.
I countedthere were 30 people sitting inside the bus, an extra two were sitting in the windows, their torsos exposed to the fresh air and three found some space on the roof. My all Cambodian travel mates didn't speak any English, but they looked well after me, offering me all kinds of snacks, wanting to see all the pictures on my camera and trying not to squeeze me too hard.
Everybody was singing to some Khmer music which sounds a bit like Bollywood music, but has a cheesier touch too it and the voices sound like a dying donkey. As the hours passed, the poor donkey was tortured and got even closer to passing away, sadly, he never did, which is why I think I can never again enjoy Khmer music again.
The six hours passed quickly, we made our way from Kampot to the island of Koh Kong through the Cardamom Mountains and loads of jungle, an area that was once swarming with Khmer Rouge soldiers hiding from the Vietnamese and from the Republican Army before the civil war. Apart from the exceptionally beautiful countryside I experienced some serious delousing right next to me, as a couple started to comb through their daughters hair crushing all the lice eggs they found between their finger nails.
On our way we crossed some rivers by ferry, the first one looked like this:
just kidding, more like this:
The second and third one more like this:
And then we arrived at Koh Kong where a hord of mean looking moto drivers wouldn't even let me get out of the bus until I agreed to take one of them to the boarder, a 12 km drive from the bus station. It was so uncomfortable with all my stuff on the one motorbike and I must have looked hilarious because people were pointing and laughing all along the way.
The posts at the border were very nice, carrying my bags and escorting me the last 10 meters to the Thai passport control.
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