8 April 2013
I've begun to accept the fact that you can't trust travel agents in South East Asia. "Yes VIP bus' they say "Yes SLEEPER bus' they say. You pay that little bit more then the basic fare because you want to be semi comfortable on the horribly long journey to your next destination. The worst is when you travel internationally by bus as the travel agent knows you are leaving the country and most likely will not come back. So they will feed you anything you want to hear. So from now we just book the cheapest fare and deal with, at least we save that large chunk of money when we'd be riding in the same bus anyway.
We booked our first international trip by bus through a travel agent in Siem Reap bound for the island of Don Det, Si Phan Don (or otherwise known as the 4000 islands). We paid the only fare that was being offered of $27 which was to include two buses and a boat. We would change buses when we pass through the border to a Laos company then boat it to the small island. I had read about this journey from some online travel blogs and heard it was a nightmare. So I was sure to ask our travel agent all the right questions. Is it a big bus (the mini vans are terrifying and super squishy)? "yes" He replies. How much is the Laos visa at the border? "$36" He replies. Do we need a passport photo? "No" He replies. Will we make it to the border before it closes "Yes, the whole journey will take a total 10hrs" He replies.
I should have known better. We left at 6am, so 10hrs means we should be in Don Det by 4pm. We did in fact get on a big bus to start with, but by 11am the big bus kicked us all off in the middle of nowhere and we were told to wait for another bus as he was continuing to Vietnam. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally a minivan rocked up.That's right. A fucking mini van. So the 15 of us all squished in with all our baggage with zero leg space what soever and proceeded to shit ourselves as our non English speaking driver took off at lightening speeds over potholes and broken road. Sam and I were sitting in the first row in the middle with no seat belts so of course we would be dead instantly if something were to go wrong and we crashed. By this stage we figure we should only be in the van for an hr or two until we reach the border. Boy were we wrong again. We drove all afternoon, with zero toilet or food breaks and gripping on for dear life. About 2.30pm we hit a massive storm with lightening striking the road in front and rain so thick you could barely see half a meter in front. The driver did not slow down. After driving in Darwin's wet season storms many times I know how dangerous it can be which only terrified me even more. All it takes is one animal, person or vehicle pulling out in front or a large pothole and we'd be up shit creek. Also I shouldn't forget to mention that our driver was talking on his phone for most of the trip, steering the wheel with his elbows as he handled food and drink in the other hand. Somehow we survived. Except it was getting very late and there was no sign of the border. We tried to communicate with our driver to find out what was going on or even to get him to stop for a toilet but he did not understand us at all.
About 5pm ( the border closes at 4.30) he mutters something in Khmer to me and passes his phone over to which I'm then speaking to a guy who speaks a little English. "Where do you want to go?" he asks. "Umm Laos" I reply. "You cannot cross the border today." Then he hangs up. What the fuck. What happens now? I relay this info to the group and everyone starts wandering what is going to happen. We doubt our travel companies will sort out accommodation for the night or even continue our trip tomorrow for us. Our driver stops in a random town. it's still raining and very dark from being overcast. We are all standing outside the van wandering what's going on. We have no idea where we are and it does not look like a tourist friendly place.
Then out of nowhere this guy who speaks English appears and starts informing us of the situation. I assume he was the one on the phone. If we want to cross the border tonight we have to pay more as a bribe to the officials as they have already closed the office by law. We will be crossing illegally he tells us. We all have to pay $45. That's fine everyone says - desperate to get there. Sam and I freak out as we look at how much US$ we have, we are $2.50 short. Luckily they except Khmer riel as we still had a little of that. But now we are entirely broke and there apparently is no ATM on the island. Still we have our Laos stamps!
We cross the border about 7pm then change to a Laos bus as the darkness of the night sets in. It's only suppose to be 20mins to the jetty where we board our boat but in 5mins the bus's gearbox makes a horrible screeching sound and we come to a stop in the middle of the road. Just great. By this point Sam and I have made friends with two Australian girls and a couple from Germany and England. It's Bea's (Germany girl) birthday the next day and she wants to celebrate with us when we eventually get there.
Another mini van comes to the rescue about 20mins later. After failing at helping re start our bus it ends up towing us the rest of the way to the jetty. Luckily there is an ATM just before the boat ramp so Sam and I were able to cash up. The boat ride was interesting in the black of the night as we could see the stars above us and feel how close to the water we were sitting. They were typical Asian long tail boats that make you feel like you're sinking even though you're not.
We docked Don Det about 8.30pm and immediately found ourselves some accommodation before eating as none of us had eaten all day. As chaotic as our journey was, we made it! And we also made some awesome new friends. I would not have chosen the easier and less stressful way if I could. Part of traveling is the journey to each destination, the crazy situations you get into and the awesome people you meet along the way :)
I've begun to accept the fact that you can't trust travel agents in South East Asia. "Yes VIP bus' they say "Yes SLEEPER bus' they say. You pay that little bit more then the basic fare because you want to be semi comfortable on the horribly long journey to your next destination. The worst is when you travel internationally by bus as the travel agent knows you are leaving the country and most likely will not come back. So they will feed you anything you want to hear. So from now we just book the cheapest fare and deal with, at least we save that large chunk of money when we'd be riding in the same bus anyway.
We booked our first international trip by bus through a travel agent in Siem Reap bound for the island of Don Det, Si Phan Don (or otherwise known as the 4000 islands). We paid the only fare that was being offered of $27 which was to include two buses and a boat. We would change buses when we pass through the border to a Laos company then boat it to the small island. I had read about this journey from some online travel blogs and heard it was a nightmare. So I was sure to ask our travel agent all the right questions. Is it a big bus (the mini vans are terrifying and super squishy)? "yes" He replies. How much is the Laos visa at the border? "$36" He replies. Do we need a passport photo? "No" He replies. Will we make it to the border before it closes "Yes, the whole journey will take a total 10hrs" He replies.
I should have known better. We left at 6am, so 10hrs means we should be in Don Det by 4pm. We did in fact get on a big bus to start with, but by 11am the big bus kicked us all off in the middle of nowhere and we were told to wait for another bus as he was continuing to Vietnam. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally a minivan rocked up.That's right. A fucking mini van. So the 15 of us all squished in with all our baggage with zero leg space what soever and proceeded to shit ourselves as our non English speaking driver took off at lightening speeds over potholes and broken road. Sam and I were sitting in the first row in the middle with no seat belts so of course we would be dead instantly if something were to go wrong and we crashed. By this stage we figure we should only be in the van for an hr or two until we reach the border. Boy were we wrong again. We drove all afternoon, with zero toilet or food breaks and gripping on for dear life. About 2.30pm we hit a massive storm with lightening striking the road in front and rain so thick you could barely see half a meter in front. The driver did not slow down. After driving in Darwin's wet season storms many times I know how dangerous it can be which only terrified me even more. All it takes is one animal, person or vehicle pulling out in front or a large pothole and we'd be up shit creek. Also I shouldn't forget to mention that our driver was talking on his phone for most of the trip, steering the wheel with his elbows as he handled food and drink in the other hand. Somehow we survived. Except it was getting very late and there was no sign of the border. We tried to communicate with our driver to find out what was going on or even to get him to stop for a toilet but he did not understand us at all.
 |
| Our insane driver steering with one elbow in the rain |
Then out of nowhere this guy who speaks English appears and starts informing us of the situation. I assume he was the one on the phone. If we want to cross the border tonight we have to pay more as a bribe to the officials as they have already closed the office by law. We will be crossing illegally he tells us. We all have to pay $45. That's fine everyone says - desperate to get there. Sam and I freak out as we look at how much US$ we have, we are $2.50 short. Luckily they except Khmer riel as we still had a little of that. But now we are entirely broke and there apparently is no ATM on the island. Still we have our Laos stamps!
 |
| Crossing the border into Laos |
Another mini van comes to the rescue about 20mins later. After failing at helping re start our bus it ends up towing us the rest of the way to the jetty. Luckily there is an ATM just before the boat ramp so Sam and I were able to cash up. The boat ride was interesting in the black of the night as we could see the stars above us and feel how close to the water we were sitting. They were typical Asian long tail boats that make you feel like you're sinking even though you're not.
We docked Don Det about 8.30pm and immediately found ourselves some accommodation before eating as none of us had eaten all day. As chaotic as our journey was, we made it! And we also made some awesome new friends. I would not have chosen the easier and less stressful way if I could. Part of traveling is the journey to each destination, the crazy situations you get into and the awesome people you meet along the way :)
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