I think I heard roosters cock-a-doodle-doooing when i left for mochit bus station at 5 a.m. to catch the bus to Aranyaprathet. Apparently mochit had moved to a new location, unbeknownst to me. The cab driver knew where he was going though. As we approached the bus station, he asked if i wanted to be dropped off at the overpass and cross over, otherwise he'd have to make a u-turn into pretty heavy traffic. there was no way in hell i was lugging my backpack across the bridge. basically i'm the worst backpacker ever. my cab fare was 140 baht or something like that.
i walked up to the ticket window and asked for a ticket to aranyaprathet and it ended up costing me 238 baht for a 2nd class air conditioned bus, departing at 6 am. i had time to buy snacks and cigs at the 7-11 and before i knew it, the bus and i were on our merry way. thai buses always stop for locals along the way so our voyage took way longer than it should've. we got to aranyaprathet bus terminal and had to take a tuktuk to the border itself. our female tuktuk driver took us to a building which was supposedly the cambodian embassy?
it seemed shady so i asked the irish couple i shared the tuktuk with what they thought. we ended up waiting in line at the border for our visas. after that ordeal, we had to find the free shuttle which transported us to yet another bus terminal. non air con bus fare from poipet to siem reap was $10 and took several hours, i think it was 2ish-3. nothing but rice paddies, field. anorexic cows and red dirt roads the whole way there. as we approached siem reap, there were several high end hotels and resorts, and our bus parked in an alley where motorbikes and tuktuks were waiting to take us to our next destination. my irish bus buddies and i parted ways.
my motobike for hire asked where i wanted to go and o said that i had no clue, somewhere clean and cheap. Angkor Western Lodge deep in a poorly lit street was where i ended up. $6 per night for a stuffy room with a fan, no hot water, stained sheets that made me itch all night, and a toilet that leaked. i noticed that the hotel workers slept in the common area, on mats on the floor. i woke up with 6 spider bites. i hope they were spider bites. there was noise from drunk people all night long as well as multiple dogs barking non-stop. the next day i went in search of a room closer to the center of town and found Ponloue Anglor Villa for $12 per night. the room was clean, had a mini fridge, hot water, and a/c, plus towels! what a luxury! towels and clean bed linens! the hotel clerk was very friendly and seemed very interested in everything i had to say. i didn't think anything of if.
i went to Angkor Western Lodge to grab my backpack and bring it to the new guesthouse. i had to hire a tuktuk for $1 and he drove me to the new guesthouse and carried my bag up for me. by the way, atm machines in siem reap spit out crispy U.S. dollars. most vendors and stores accept dollars as well as cambodian riel. where was i? oh, so the hotel clerk at the new guesthouse walked me back up to my room even though i knew where my room was and checked the a/c (which didn't really work btw) and plugged in my mini fridge for me. i thought that was a nice touch. he lingered for a moment and then asked if he could stay in touch with me, he thought i was very sexy and saw my necklace that says "fuck".
i'd had this necklace made a long time ago. it has white gold letters that spell fuck along with wings on either side, thus, a flying fuck. the hotel clerk must've gotten the wrong idea. i asked him if he acted this way with all hotel guests? i said he was making me uncomfortable and he replied,"just kidding" and walked off.. later that evening, i my couchsurfing host came to pick me up in his tuktuk. we drove quite awhile out of the city, to West Baray Lake, and had spicy raw green bean salad as we watched the sun set over the lake. On the way back, we stopped and visited the orphanage where my friend Ratha donates his time and English skills. what an upstanding individual, right?
i was supposed to couchsurf with him but changed my mind, since accomodations were inexpensive amyway in siem reap. after visiting the kids at the orphanage, ratha and i went to a cambodian restaurant and had some cambodian beer, served by a beer girl, dressed in a short red and white outfit, looking much like a flight attendant or something. i let ratha do the ordering. stir fried beef and chives accompanied by sliced and toasted baguettes and morning glory stalks with fatty ground pork. we had a good time. ratha dropped me back off at the hotel and we made plans to hang out again the following day.
i think i slept in late and awoke to. persistent banging on my door. i opened the door and it was the perv hotel clerk. he said he was sorry to disturb me and just wanted to know if i wanted to stay another night. i nodded and shut the door. not feeling 100%, i. went and walked around pub street, had an espresso and hot apple pie, and wandered the night market. i got back to the guesthouse at around 10ish. 15 minutes after i had gotten back to my room, i heard light knocking. it kept going for about an hour or so. i called ratha twice amd he was out drinking but came to retrieve me.
i ended up checking out of the guesthouse at close to midnight, and when i told the hotel owners about the knocking, the looked at me like i was crazy and wouldn't give me a refund. ratha took me to chenla guesthouse, which was quite a ways from the center of town. for $15, i got a sparkling clean room with plush towels, a mini fridge, crisp cold a/c, hot water, toilet that didn't leak and flushed, and even 2 complimentary bottles of water. i sent my friend on a mission. i wanted to smoke opium. so we did. he started acting weird so i excused myself and went to my room. i got some pretty strange texts a short while later. i'll let you read them yourself.
my intention was to hang out in siem reap for a few days, head to phnom penh, and then sihanoukhville. well after all the lechery, not to mention lots of prank calls, i was over cambodia. i basically booked a busride out of siemreap at 7:00am the following day. the bus showed up at 7:48am. a/c bus ride ended up costing $14. we got to the thai-cambodia border and immigration took 2 freaking hours. by the time we got to khao san road on bangkok it was nearly 7 pm and i needed a beer (or 12) like no one's business. i had recruited a british guy, chris, and we ended up at the iron faeries (a bar in Thonglor) then back to khao san road for beer from a cart. i had a 365 baht "room" at the green house in on soi rambuttri but it wasn't really a room. it was reminiscent of a jail cell...didn't matter though, i was on enough valium and booze to kill a small elephant and don't even remember when i crashed out. it must've been instantaneous.
