Asian Transport

After today I will never again complain about public transport in the UK (with the exception of its price at times).

As I type this it is currently 6.40pm and we are still on the bus on the way to Sihanoukville after we set off from our hostel in Siem Reap at 6.40am on a journey that was supposed to take 10 hours. It just so happens that Asia uses different time keeping to the western world and 10 hours actually means “10 hours sounds better than 14 so we will just tell you that”.

Unfortunately for us there is no direct bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville meaning we have had to take a detour to the capital to chance buses. The first part of our journey was pretty funny as we didn’t really know what was going on at first. In the beginning we were picked up by a minibus and then taken to a small coach and packed onto that outside one of the other hotels. It turned out that this was actually just one of the pick-up buses and took us to the main bus station where we then made our way onto the bus we would take for the rest of the trip. Up until that point no one had even asked to see our tickets so there was a moment where we did wonder if we were even heading in the right direction until we had everything confirmed by the one guy in the bus station who seemed to have a clue. Onwards we packed onto the old bus with its asthmatic air conditioning and headed for Phnom Penn down the dual carriageway… that became a single carriageway… that became a dirt road… that became a dust road. At one point the dust was so bad that it managed to ever get inside the bus making it hard to breath which is never fun. Added to that the air conditioning was on its last legs and the sun was blazing so it wasn’t exactly a comfy ride but I am sure it possibly could be worse.

When we finally arrived in Phnom Penn we got our bags out of the luggage hold only to find that they were covered in thick orange dust. Apparently it really does get everywhere! When we went to the ticket desk to find out where we needed to go and much to our horror were told that the bus was full. After a little explaining that we had already bought the tickets it was confirmed we did have a place and just needed to wait another 45 mins in the little bus stop for it to arrive. Flies buzzed around, puppies fought under the tables and a man charged me $3 for an ice-cream that was half melted but at least we finally got on the new coach.

This one seems to be a little better and it certainly seems faster than the last. The air conditioning works a treat which is ironic given that the sun has set already making it quite chilly just sat here in a vest top.

On a positive note I only paid $12 for my ticket so I guess I cant cry too much, Just hope it isn’t another 3 hours before we reach our destination!

UPDATE: It is now 7.30pm and we are still on the bus but I have noticed a beautiful little bonus to this long mission that we are on. Looking out the window over the countryside and the clear night the stars are shinning. It isn’t quite as beautiful as in New Zealand as I think all the lights inside the bus drown it all out but it is still stunning none the less.