12 - 13 January 2015
We checked out of the Mekong Dolphin Hotel and awaited our transportation to the bus station. Our experience in Cambodia has been that when you purchase your transportation ticket at the hotel it includes transit from the hotel to the destination. When we went outside the guy we purchased the ticket from was there to wait with us for the van. Why was he out there? Because, yesterday when we booked the van the guy warned us that they put 4 people across in the minivan. Having been on these vans before, we knew that three across was a tight fit and we couldn't imagine having four across. He said that if we wanted to we could purchase 3 seats and that he would guarantee that they would bot put someone in the third seat, so for another $7 US we did just that for the 3.5 hour ride to Stung Treng. So, he was there to ensure that the van company knew that we had purchased an extra seat and that they cannot put someone in it.
When we left the bus station there was 13 people (including the driver) in the van, leaving 5 seats empty. We wondered if we wasted our money purchasing the extra seat since there were many empty seats...and then...we stopped and picked people up...and then we picked more up....and then even more. Eventually there were 25 people in the van that should hold only 18. How did the extra 7 people sit? The good news is that they didn't seat anyone in our third seat, but they 2 in the front passenger seat sitting on a lap and...you won't believe this...the driver was sitting on someone's lap! Then, they had a bench behind the driver's seat facing the first row where they put 5 people and then 5 people in the front row that should really only have 4.
Anyway...we felt a little bad, but not bad enough to give up our seat. We finally made it to Stung Treng around noon and had some lunch before checking into our hotel where we watched TV and surfed the internet until dinner when we went back to the same place we had lunch and then back to the room for more TV and internet. You see...Stung Treng is only about 1 block with a few hotels and restaurants basically set up as a transportation center for those crossing the Cambodia / Laos border.
The next day we got onto our van around 3:00 PM and headed to the Laos border that was less than 1 hour away. They dropped us off on the Cambodia side and told us that we needed to get stamped out of Cambodia then walk over the border and get our Laos visa and there would be another van waiting for us to leave in about 30 minutes. So we checked out of Cambodia that cost us a $2 USD "service fee" and then walked to the Laos border:
When we left the bus station there was 13 people (including the driver) in the van, leaving 5 seats empty. We wondered if we wasted our money purchasing the extra seat since there were many empty seats...and then...we stopped and picked people up...and then we picked more up....and then even more. Eventually there were 25 people in the van that should hold only 18. How did the extra 7 people sit? The good news is that they didn't seat anyone in our third seat, but they 2 in the front passenger seat sitting on a lap and...you won't believe this...the driver was sitting on someone's lap! Then, they had a bench behind the driver's seat facing the first row where they put 5 people and then 5 people in the front row that should really only have 4.
Anyway...we felt a little bad, but not bad enough to give up our seat. We finally made it to Stung Treng around noon and had some lunch before checking into our hotel where we watched TV and surfed the internet until dinner when we went back to the same place we had lunch and then back to the room for more TV and internet. You see...Stung Treng is only about 1 block with a few hotels and restaurants basically set up as a transportation center for those crossing the Cambodia / Laos border.
The next day we got onto our van around 3:00 PM and headed to the Laos border that was less than 1 hour away. They dropped us off on the Cambodia side and told us that we needed to get stamped out of Cambodia then walk over the border and get our Laos visa and there would be another van waiting for us to leave in about 30 minutes. So we checked out of Cambodia that cost us a $2 USD "service fee" and then walked to the Laos border:
Headed towards the Laos Border.
When we got to the Laos visa window is where the problems began. First, there was a big group of people since our van and another van showed up at around the same time. They were quick at taking our paperwork and our passports, but processing the passports took a bit of time. Finally they started calling people's names and asked each for a $2 USD "processing fee". From all the research I did before hitting the border I knew that this was going to be the case, so I had no issue with this "processing fee". However, other people didn't think it was right to be required to pay a "bribe" or whatever they thought it was, so they refused to pay. I went up to the window and showed the guy our $4 and said I was willing to pay and others started chastising me. I told them that it was getting late and that it was going to be dark by the time we all got to the ferry and our hotel and they just need to pay the money, but they still refused. Tim and I got our visa as did 2 other guys, but the other 9 people kept refusing.
Bunch of idiots at the border refusing to pay $2!
Finally, the bus company called the driver to ask why we haven't arrived at 4,000 islands and the driver handed the phone to the idiots at the window. They were finally able to convince these people that the van had to leave because the ferry will stop running. So...finally....at around 6:30 PM...2.5 hours after arriving at the border...we were on our way...in the dark...to 4,000 islands.
After a dangerous ferry ride in the dark to the popular island of Don Det we told the ferry driver that we were staying at the other island of Don Khon, but he said that it was too dark and too dangerous to go to Don Khon. At this point I thanked the idiots for their inconsiderateness and that because they refused to pay $2 Tim and I could not get to our hotel...they didn't care. Luckily, there was a footbridge connecting Don Det to Don Khon and it was only a 2.5 mile walk, which Tim and I did at 8:00 PM and arrived at our hotel around 9:00 PM hungry, tired, and pissed off.
Welcome to Laos!
After a dangerous ferry ride in the dark to the popular island of Don Det we told the ferry driver that we were staying at the other island of Don Khon, but he said that it was too dark and too dangerous to go to Don Khon. At this point I thanked the idiots for their inconsiderateness and that because they refused to pay $2 Tim and I could not get to our hotel...they didn't care. Luckily, there was a footbridge connecting Don Det to Don Khon and it was only a 2.5 mile walk, which Tim and I did at 8:00 PM and arrived at our hotel around 9:00 PM hungry, tired, and pissed off.
Welcome to Laos!
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