Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chris_J2]

My experiience in 2003, was that when entering Poipet, everyone was hustling to try to get you into a taxi or bus. The street urchin beggar kids were unbelievable. I think they may have been moved on since then? Anyway, I ended up taking a bus with a group of other foreigners. Halfway to Siem Reap, the side window fell off, & everyone was covered in red dust. Lucky it didn't rain, or we'd all have looked like New Guinea mudmen / mudwomen.

I found a much better bus, catering for Korean package tourists, at the GLOBAL GUEST HOUSE in Siem Reap. It had airconditioning, shock absorbers, & adequate seating room, unlike the incoming bus. The outbound trip back to Thailand & Aranyaphrathet, was comfortable. It was $6 per person one way in a Daewoo minibus.

[definitely maybe]

you can find excellent rooms along the river in phnom penh for $10-15. that's a splurge, too! by excellent i mean very clean, comfortable beds, air-conditioning, satelite tv, a big porch facing the river, and a great shower in the bathroom. we stayed at the cozyna hotel on sisowath quay, maybe a 5-6 minute walk up the street from the fccc and all the happy pizza joints. it was only a year ago, so i can't imagine that prices have gone up that drastically. rooms with decent views ran from $15-20. if you're a proper backpacker looking for more of a "bohemian" spot, head to the lake. tons of people to hang out with and always a party, but shitty rooms.

in siem reap it really doesn't hurt to link up with a moto-driver at the the bus station. just don't agree to any prices until you get your feet. arrange to meet him in the morning, but nothing beyond that. it is more than likely that someone at your guesthouse will try to rope you into using one of their drivers. say no, as i've heard they rush you through stuff. but pay attention to their prices, which will undercut the driver from bus station. you can use their price to knockdown his. don't be too cheap though. these guys are pretty poor and generally pretty cool.

as for crossing the border up at poipet, it pays to get friendly with a few other folks headed in the same direction. it shouldn't be hard. running solo in a border town like that is an invitation for inconvenience. use your head and you'll have no problem. have fun!

[DrunkenMaster]

http:www.khmer440.com is a good resource for travelling to Cambodia