I wake up early, probably the nerves anyway, because today I leave for the border crossing with Cambodia. At 8 am I am ready to leave but the rain is pouring down from the sky. Fortunately, a shower doesn't last long here, so fifteen minutes later I drive out of the coastal town.
I have no idea what to expect from Cambodia because I did not research this country in preparation for my trip. Laos and Cambodia are not in my 'from A to B route' but are detours that I have added to my list of countries to visit as extras.
The experiences of travelers who enter Cambodia by private transport are quite different, which is why I applied for an eVisa during my stay in Bangkok to make the process at the border as smooth as possible. The only problem is that the border crossing I want to use is not in the list of border crossings and airports to choose from, so I hope they accept that.
At 10 am I am already at the border of Thailand where I can then join a long queue of people at immigration who want to get stamped out of the country. After that it takes me a while to find the right location for exporting my motorcycle at customs, but the customs officer knows exactly what to do with my Carnet de Passage (export and import papers for my motorcycle).
However, when I arrived at the gate from Thailand, they send me back to a counter I just came from and I try to explain to them that I really have all the stamps I need. The head of the gatekeepers also intervenes and takes me to the lady who had already stamped my Carnet. He explains what a Carnet de Passage is in such a touching and efficient way that even I can follow it in Thai. Fortunately, all three of us can laugh about it and he signals to the gatekeepers that I can leave the country.
But then the Cambodia side of the border. First to immigration, where they indeed do not accept my visa. I don't feel like driving the 125km to the other border crossing and buy a new visa for $35.
A bit further is the customs building, where I drive against the traffic. Couldn't anyone have mentioned that people drive on the right here? In Cambodia they don't do anything with a Carnet and they have their own procedure for importing a vehicle, but they are happy to arrange that for me. I have to be able to receive email and SMS for that, so I first have to look for a SIM card. That is easily found across the street and for $3 I have internet for a week. With the right papers in my pocket I finally drive into Cambodia at 1.15 pm. Yes, done!
I've already drunk almost 2 liters of water and haven't peed so it's time to have lunch first and replenish fluids. However, the very spicy lunch costs me half a liter of fluid again, the sweat drips into my food.
When I arrive at my hotel it is 39c and I crave air conditioning. Turns out my room only has a fan! Fortunately, I can still upgrade to a room with air conditioning, although I pay double the € 7 per night, and I enjoy a cool breeze a little later.
