Land Transport To Siam Reap From Pattaya

[Jingthing]

I've yet to travel to Siam Reap and noticed an advert at a travel agent for land transport there, something like 1500 baht if I recall correctly.

Anyway, they weren't open, but I wonder what that transport is like? A minibus I presume? So how many hours, how cramped, how rough are the roads? I don't like the idea of going east to BKK to make such a short flight to Cambodia so the land transport and also seeing some of the countryside appeals.

[manarak]

I would guess it will be the Poipet route: a minibus to the border, there you can get an instant visa from a cambodian consular officer to whom you have to pay a bribe fee.

Then you cross the border on foot, get first stamped out from Thailand, then you walk between the casino buildings and queue up at cambodian immigration.

Then some buses to Siem Reap will be waiting.

Very old buses.

2 years ago, the bridges were under construction, but I'd guess they are ok now.

So count some hours (6 or 7?) of bus to Siem Reap.

[Mobi]

I did the journey in 2004 - there and back - exactly how is described by manarak. It was an absolute nightmare as the entire road from Pp to SR was a pitted dirt track and it took many, many hours of bone shaking travel. I vowed,never, ever again....

However, I just found this on the internet:

The road was completed on May 3, 2009. There are no longer any road conditions to speak of. It's 1.5 to 2 hours by taxi and perhaps 2.5 to 4 hours by bus depending on how many times and for how long they stop. That's it. Done. Finished. Enjoy the ride.

I suggest you do some more research and make sure the road is OK now and if so it would be a good way to go. Anchor Wat is incredible and well worth the trip. It will take at least 2 full days to see the main parts - assuming it hasn't already been ruined by the thousands of tourists in the past six years. When I went they were trampling over everything and it would be only a matter of time before much of it was destroyed.

Enjoy...

[Spaniel]

My wife and I were just in Siem Reap in November. For B 1500 I would guess they load you on a minbus to the Aran/Poipet border. That will probably be about 5 hours? After you cross the border they probably load you on another bus for the trip to Siem Reap. The road is fine and the travel horror stories of a few years back are a thing of the past. From the border to Siem Reap by taxi takes around 2 hours. Is the B1500 o/w or round trip? You should be able to see all the major ruins (Ankor, Bayon, Tha Prom, Banteay Srei etc)in 2 to 3 days so buy the 3 day pass for $40 as it's the same price as the 2 day pass, $40. If you think you can do it all in 1 day then the 1 day pass is $20. If you want a pretty reasonable and nice place to stay the check out Golden Temple Villa, www.goldentemplevilla.com. It's in town and a short walk to Pub Street and the markets.

[Jingthing]

Is there any reason to hang around the town much longer, say for two weeks? I am not big on quick in and outs.

Edited January 14, 2011 by Jingthing

[Beardog]

Not sure what interest you may have but I went in 2005 stayed 2 & a half days in Sispon(The dust bowl) To see the girlfriends other side of the family felt more like 2 & 1/2 lifetimes. Enough for me 4 ever! Anchor Wat a must see. real nice ruins & a walk up guaranteed to keep you in good shape. Siem Riep reminded me of any city in Asia. Penom Penn a little bigger & better food venue. Live action watching a purse thief get the bejesus kicked out of him while drinking a brew. His experience no so nice! Unfortunately we decided on taking a ferry Looked more like a huge pleasure craft With endless odors of funk & seasick people That & catching a nice dose of Hep A couldn't wait to get off the ferry. Siokinville is the last beach town & I hear it is very nice. Watch out for the money changing scam. The riel trades for 100-1 thai Baht (or at least it did back then) They like to use US currency more than Riel & Being from the states no problem. Every place we hit had a different trading rate for the currency. Always lowball. I brought tons of Thai baht & they gave me mainly US greenbacks to get screwed with. In retrospect I think I would have spent most of my time in siokinville. Unfortunately I just got to see it from the ship from hell. The border if you go back through Trat was small & enjoyable & the hustler buying back the U.S. greenbacks offered 30% less & claimed that US(which was 40-1 Thai baht at the time was only 18-1. Great entertainment. She wound up offering 24-1 & still no one traded.

Bring enough cash. There are no atm's unless they changed that. At the time there was only a Canadian mechanics bank so if you weren't with that bank no luck. Option 2 stay at a posh hotel & get gaffed & they will make a transaction for a cash withdrawal from your CREDIT CARD not a debit card from Thailand with a mastercard logo. No good in Cambo.

A credit card will work no debit. had I have known that I would have brought one of my U.S. cards along. That may have changed as it was 6 years ago. Hopefully someone will give info if they changed the atm thing !

The buses are truly older . We went through 2 blowouts & when we made it to Penom Penn another tire hissed air out. Great set of May pop tires!We took a luxury taxi with 7 people crammed in a Toyota & lost 2 tires as well on the way from Sispon- Siem Riep. When you think about the poor areas in Thailand it is like the Dusit comparing to the Barrio the drinking & bathing water is mud Yuk.

Hey life is an experience Enjoy the trip!

Edited January 14, 2011 by Beardog

[Spaniel]

Is there any reason to hang around the town much longer, say for two weeks? I am not big on quick in and outs.

I think I would be a bit bored there after 2 weeks but if you just want to kick back and relax then probably ok. Check out www.talesofasia.com for some ideas.

[SantiSuk]

If you have got a couple of weeks to spare, take ita bit slow and do the round trip - Pattaya to Trat to Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh to Siem Reap to Poipet to Pattaya. Obviously Angkor is the big international draw but Sihanoukville is a laid back seaside resort that many compare with Pattaya of 30 years ago and Phnom Penh has some good food that I think you would like, very cheap bars and a slightly French colonial riverside atmosphere. Getting first hand experience of Khmer Rouge history is haunting but a good life experience. Public inter-city coaches inside Cambodia are frequent, cheap and acceptable (Mekong Express) is the best.

www.canbypublications.com is a great website with details of transits form the borders, bus schedules, travel guides and town gazetteers