Our guidebook explains how to get between Phnom Penh and the Laos-Cambodia border by bus and boat but there wasn’t a lot of information available about connecting Si Phan Don with Siem Reap. It would’ve been nice to travel in a straight line from Cambodia’s border town, Stung Treng, but there seemed to be no direct roads connecting from there to Siem Reap. I posted some queries on a few Internet travel forums but had very little Internet access on the islands so I wasn’t able to check for any posted responses.

Much to our surprise, once we arrived on the islands of Don Khong, Don Khon and Don Det in Si Phan Don it turned out that every guesthouse advertised minivan transportation to Siem Reap for about $30, the exact price varying between guesthouses. Other offerings included minivan transport to destinations along the way such as Stung Treng ($14), just across the border, Kratie ($21), Kampong Cham($24) and Phnom Penh($26). These seemed to be a bargain considering the alternative we had planned on which would have cost over $100 per person to take the boat to Ban Nakasang ($3-4), bus back to Pakse, overnight stay in a hotel before boarding the early morning flight to Siem Reap ($95). The minivan route was scheduled to leave at around 8:30am from the guesthouse, cross the border and continue into Cambodia for an overnight at either Kratie or Kampong Cham (different guesthouses claim either city as the overnight point) and then arrive at Siem Reap by noon the following day. Sales for this trip were offered everywhere and we were excited about what seemed to be a new route open for tourists at a very reasonable price. However, very little of this journey ended up being as advertised or as expected. Although we may have been affected by a bit of bad luck, I offer this review as a warning to other travelers who may be considering the same trip.

The Road to the Border Will Soon Be Smooth

The most reliable part of the trip was the prompt departure from our guesthouse in our host family’s boat which allowed us a last early-morning cruise past the islands en route to the unimpressive port town of Ban Nakasang. Two minivans were ready for the gathering tourists who numbered about two dozen in total. We left Ban Nakasang at about 9:30 and headed for the border. The short stretch of road just before the boarder was very bumpy and unpaved and it took a good 20 minutes to get through it. However, road construction was already underway at the border crossing so this will likely be paved in a matter of months.

Laos-Cambodia Border Crossing

While exiting Laos we noticed a sign in English stating that official working days exclude Saturday and Sunday (we were there on a Saturday) and that “overtime pay” was in effect. For this the Lao officials collect $1 from each tourist. After a short walk to the Cambodian immigration office we filled out forms, submitted a photo and paid the $21 to receive a 1 month tourist visa on the spot. At an adjacent post two officials performed a passport stamping ceremony in which passports were collected from tourists, piled up on the desk and were then were processed (in no particular order), each making at least 2 or 3 rounds of back and forth handling between the two men in uniform. An additional $2 was collected here but nobody was really sure what that was for apart from the entertainment value of the passport stamping ritual.

The passengers of the two minivans were consolidated into a single full-size bus which headed for the nearby town of Stung Treng. As we approached the brand new looking Chinese –Cambodian Friendship Bridge leading into the town, our bus was stopped for a good 20 minutes. Other motorized vehicles proceeded to cross the bridge while we all stepped out of the bus to stretch our legs. No official approached the bus or requested anything of us until we were eventually given the go ahead to cross.

We arrived in Stung Treng at about noon for a lunch stop at a corner restaurant. Our first exploration in Cambodia was to the restroom in the back of the restaurant and what a memorable discovery that was! It was one of the filthiest experiences I’ve had in a long time, complete with a collection of both live and dead cockroaches and about 100 flies clinging to every bathroom tile on the floor and walls in addition to the requisite dirt and odors. At that moment I was grateful to be a man with only urination on the agenda otherwise I would’ve opted for an alleyway somewhere. That pretty much turned us off to eating lunch anywhere within a one block radius of said bathroom so we walked a good distance to buy a sealed package of cookies and bottles of water for the bus ride.

We did change some US cash into Cambodian Riels at the restaurant. The rate seems to have been decent (about 3,900R/1USD) and it was convenient for us since the nearby bank being closed on Saturday. It turns out that dollars are also welcome in Cambodia anyway.

The guide accompanying us (although trained in tourism, he served as more of an English-speaking representative of the bus company on this trip) requested that we all move to another bus which had pulled up behind the original. While in the new bus he asked for a show of hands of passengers heading to Phnom Penh vs. those going to Siem Reap. This same survey was repeated about 4 more times over the next 20 minutes. He told us that there would be no buses leaving the following morning for Siem Reap (at least none from this bus company) from either Kratie or Kampong Cham so we would need to stick with everyone else all the way to Phnom Penh and take the 7am bus to Siem Reap from there. There were only four of us going to Siem Reap so apparently that wasn’t enough for the company to stick to the advertised route and run a minivan in the most direct path from Kampong Cham.

The First of Many Bus Breakdowns

From this point on the fun really picked up. We were introduced to the Cambodian countryside which includes the usual fields, farmers, kids, cows, buffalo, trees, shacks and the occasional pagoda-like structure. It was somewhat scenic, certainly interesting, but I never really had the urge to whip out my camera. About 2 hours into the ride the bus had to stop due to a mechanical problem. That was sort of nice since it allowed us to stretch, use the restroom in the field and take photos (at least of the broken bus). The driver opened the back panel of the bus, did his magic, started the engine and we were on the road again. But this breakdown, bathroom stretch, back-panel magic happened about 4 more times over the course of the next 3 hours. At one point cows were being herded by a girl in the road ahead of us, blocking our path. The bus slowed down so much that the magic wore off and we were again stuck on the roadside while the cows left us behind in their dust.

Beautiful Sunset over the Mekong in Kratie

When we finally arrived in Kratie at 5pm the passengers began to organize and we collectively insisted that the company provide us with a new bus. After about an hour of watching the pretty sunset over the river a new bus arrived. We moved everyone’s luggage to the new bus and we left Kratie for Phnom Penh in hope of arriving before midnight while hotels were still open with available rooms.

After a bit we encountered another bumpy unpaved road but this on went on for a much longer time. The folks in the back of the bus were flying around with each bump but it was one woman’s birthday back there and they all seemed to really enjoy the good time. I’m not sure if the driver was trying to make up for lost time by taking a shortcut but we were definitely on very narrow back roads and I wondered if this was really the way connecting Kratie with the nation’s capital. Apparently it wasn’t because after about 30 minutes from the end of the bumpy road, the driver did a seven-point turn with the bus and, sure enough, we were heading back the way we came. Fortunately, the driver wasn’t stubborn or too proud to stop and ask directions from locals in the street at least twice before navigating back onto the intended route.

The air outside was cool and the stars were twinkling above. It was the perfect setting for this, the replacement bus, to now breakdown in the middle of the road. This time both the driver’s magic and our search for the bathroom were performed by flashlight but after a bit we were again moving down the road towards the big city. The second time this same bus broke down people started to get a bit antsy. Nobody needed another bathroom break and we’d already marveled at the starry sky just 10 minutes earlier. We were hungry and suspected that our Phnom Penh arrival would be after midnight. We were no longer surrounded by fields but instead found ourselves in a market which was completely closed at 11pm.

The guide told us that a new bus would come to pick us up in an hour. Some people exited the bus for a smoke while others just stayed seated to wait it out. I dozed off inside and only woke up periodically to catch a glimpse of the digital clock mounted at the front of the bus. I saw 12am, 1am, 2am, 2:30am but still no replacement bus. Sleeping in the bus was very difficult because the cramped seating combined with the collective body heat and lack of ventilation contributed to the feeling of claustrophobia. One tourist even took to sleeping on bus floor, the only way for her to lay flat with outstretched legs, while passengers continued to precariously step over her in the darkness on their way in and out of the bus. Mosquitoes roamed freely from passenger to passenger and the scent of mosquito repellent spray was added to the stifling mix in the air. I had to get out.

Just outside the bus a beautiful night awaited me. The market stalls were deserted and even the street lights went black by 3am. The only light came from an occasional truck making its way to Phnom Penh, filled several meters high with sacks or crates of goods. The air was refreshingly cool and the stars were still available for viewing. I spoke to our guide who stayed awake the entire night to “take care of the bus and his customers”, as he put it. He told me how proud he is to introduce people to his country and to teach them to say one or two words in Khmer and also apologized to me on behalf of his company for the predicament we were in. it was that same bizarre twist of events that dealt him more personal interaction with his customers that night, everything ranging from a tourist or two cursing at him and his company to my sympathetic ear.

At 5:30 a restless passenger announced the opening of the market’s first roadside restaurant and the availability of coffee. The coffee was a dark and strong and mixed with sweet condensed milk, much the same as the Vietnamese café sua da. It was glorious. By 7am a replacement bus arrived to take everyone to Phnom Penh but the guide told the four of us heading to Siem Reap to simply wait by the roadside for another bus, the same one we would’ve taken that morning had we slept in the capital. Being only a half hour outside of Phnom Penh, that bus was supposed to arrive around 7:30 but we weren’t that surprised when it eventually came at 9am. To make a long story short J that ended up being our lucky bus. The only stops it made over the following 4 hours were scheduled meal and rest stops along the way to Siem Reap. The air conditioning was strong; the dubbed (Khmer) Hollywood slapstick comedy on the TV played loud and clear and, most importantly, the bus worked. After a total of 30 hours on the road, literally, we finally arrived in Siem Reap.

Even if a strong element of bad luck was at play on our particular journey, it’s difficult to deny the dubious condition of this bus company’s fleet of vehicles. Travelers wishing to make the same trip should be aware that things may not go smoothly or even as advertised. My guess is that most of the good folks selling the trip at guesthouses in Si Phan Don may not even have much of an idea of what actually happens to their customers once they cross the border into Cambodia since they never hear from them again. If money isn’t an issue and a bit of backtracking isn’t prohibited in your travel policy then it’s probably easier to pay the extra hundred bucks to bus and overnight your way back to the airport in Pakse. But if crossing borders and introducing yourself to new countries via the countryside is your thing then this route will likely get better, shorter, faster and smoother…even if these ailing buses need to first die to be replaced by shiny new ones.

Vietnamese Side of the Cambodian-Vietnamese Border Near Chau Doc, Vietnam

After a quick breakfast we went directly to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum where we received an emotion-filled education on the brutality used by the Khmer Rouge at this prison camp, located in the middle of Phnom Penh. It was a more powerful experience than our visit to the Killing Fields the day before and we’ve become inspired to learn more about this terrible period in Cambodia’s history.

At noon we boarded a high speed boat from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc, Vietnam. It was a beautiful ride down the Mekong River, passing fishing villages and other craft of varying sizes. After passing through both the Cambodian check point and the Vietnamese border control, we were officially in Vietnam once again!

Our evening in Chau Doc was relaxing and we took a cyclo to a floating restaurant on the other side of town. The mosquitoes are fierce in this town and after a long day of journeying we retreated into the air-conditioned hotel room for the night.

View of the Palace Rooftops from the Okay Guesthouse

After a dreamy breakfast at the BoddhiTree, we left for our new guesthouse with the promising name of “Okay Guesthouse”. Turns out it’s more than ok,we got a room on the 4th floor which was well worth the climb with our backpacks since we have a great view of Phnom Penh skyline.

We then started our tour of the city and saw the national museum, art galleries on 178 street, central market (Psar Thmei), royal palace and silver pagoda. Phnom Penh is really great and everyone is very friendly.