The border crossing at Aran and the subsequent land journey to Siem Reap is often described as "epic." That doesn't begin to describe it. (My particular version seems to have been a worst case scenario, but still.) The word that comes to mind for me is harrowing.
I knew it was a bad idea to accept the "free" shuttle to the bus station from the "official" (who actually is official, I understand, in the sense that his role is sanctioned by the government), but not having a plan b (or a plan a for that matter), I figured there was strength in numbers. There wasn't, really.
Or maybe there was. It could have been worse.
Suffice it to say that after the use of many pressure tactics and much coercion, we found ourselves on a bus that was leaving in ten minutes. Two plus hot and dusty hours later, we left. In the slowest bus of all time. Which stopped at a filthy "rest stop" about 45 minutes from SR so the starving travelers could eat overpriced food. Bear in mind that a) this is a captive audience and b) they have been on the road, many of them without much to eat, since as early as 6 (me and my fellow train passengers) or as late as 10 (still a long time, considering that it's probably after 8pm by this point).
When we finally pull into SR, well, it wasn't SR, but some dark and filthy dirt road back alley about 5-10km outside of town. Now, we had been told that the bus ticket included a tuk-tuk ride to our hotels on the SR end. Right. A "free" ride that would cost another 200 baht. I tried to foment a rebellion at one point, but let me tell you, that's some hard work. As the irate passengers started to disperse, I started to get a little nervous. One guy threatened to charge me US$100. So a French girl and I banded together and got ourselves a ride from quite possibly the only "honest" tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia. I use the word honest (in quotes) because he was still going to take us for a ride, but he was also trying to explain how the system worked. (It seems complicated.) So in the end, we sort of pulled a fast one, however accidentally, on him.)
After we paid him over his protestation (because we weren't staying at the hotel he took us to, which is part of the scam), I think I heard him call after us that he was going to call the police. Which probably would have been bad.
So we wandered the streets looking for a place, but there was no room at the inn, as they say. But we finally found a place for her (terrible, no window, 3rd floor, not the kind of thing I can do in my fire-awakened state) and I walked up the road a bit, almost staying in an awful room at the expensive place I'm now at, but eventually finding the place I was actually looking for. It wasn't great, in part because it was hosting some "It's important that children respect their elders" celebration (?!?), with loud music from 6am-11pm, but it was their last room too, and I wasn't sure how good my odds of finding something better would be. Plus they assured me I could switch to a better room the next day.
But the next day, not only could I not get a better room, I couldn't even keep my room. They did offer me a room nearby, through somebody's kitchen and up three narrow flights of stairs, but by then I was ready to require comfort.
So that's what I got. A good room at the fancy place. And I haven't even begun to describe how difficult it's been for me to figure out my getaway.
(The pic is from the "rest stop.")
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