The Travelling Feet

One of the easiest ways to travel to Thailand and Cambodia to visit the famous tourist destination of Siem Reap, the Angkor Wat temples, is by going on an overland border crossing at the Aranyaprathet Border in Thailand to reach the Poipet Border in Cambodia.

There are several ways to consider when you want to know how to travel from Bangkok to Aranyaprathet especially if you want to go to Siem Reap. I have listed 6 ways to travel from Bangkok to the Aranyaprathet Border if you are going to Cambodia from Bangkok by land trip.

When you travel by bus or train to get to the border in Aranyaprathet, you will normally be dropped off a few meters outside the entrance to the Immigration Office. Do not hesitate to ask where to go if this happens.

How to find the Aranyaprathet Immigration Office?

If you are coming from the train station, you will be dropped off a few meters outside of the entrance to the border. Please beware of scammers since most tuktuk drivers and motodup drivers will drop you off at a building a few meters from the border gate. That building is located a few meters on the right side of the photo below. To avoid getting scammed, please make sure you have your visas for entry to Cambodia. If you have not processed them yet, be sure to know how much the rate is to prevent getting over charged. For members of the ASEAN nations, like the Philippines, remember that you  do not need to pay any fees since you don’t need one. Your passport would suffice.

Aranyaprathet, Thailand Border

If you will be dropped off across the 7 Eleven store at the Rongklua Market, just cross the road and you will see a covered walkway leading towards the entrance to the immigration office.

I bet once you see the covered walk way, you won’t get lost anymore. Simply follow the signage.

On the photo above, at the end of that walk way, is where 7 Eleven is located. Before entering Cambodia, be sure you have a full stomach since you might have a hard time buying food on the other side. The food in Thailand is much cheaper than the same items you will find in Cambodia.

the walkway leading to the Immigration Office in Aranyaprathet

What to do inside the Aranyaprathet Immigration Office when crossing borders to Poipet

Once you reach the end of the walk way, you need to get inside the immigration office and line up to get your passports checked. On this area, the immigration officers will remove the immigration departure card that you filled in when you arrived in Bangkok. They will stamp your passports as you exit Thailand. Make sure you check that all information on that departure card are filled in so that you won’t have any problems with the officers. Otherwise, you will be asked to go back in line and complete the forms first.

a stolen shot inside the immigration office; taking photos is not allowed though
click at your own risk, ok?

There are a lot of immigration counters inside the office. On busy days, which is almost everyday, the place gets packed. So be sure to find the less crowded line and complete your departure cards while waiting for your turn to save time.

Overland border crossing: Aranyaprathet to Poipet

keep walking till you reach the Cambodia border

Once you are done, exit the building and walk forward. Do not confuse yourself if others would walk in the opposite direction. All you need to do is walk straight till you find the exit and see the iconic arc of the Kingdom of Cambodia in Poipet. That’s really not hard to miss.

By the time you exit the building of Thailand’s immigration office, brace yourselves for long sleeved men might approach you. Some of them are Khmer touts. They will try to talk to you and befriend you. Do as you please. Entertaining them won’t harm you unless you are rude to them. Just beware and be mindful of your things and the information you give to them (ex. where you are going) Some of them are taxi drivers who would offer their services to bring you to Siem Reap or any destination in Cambodia. Some of them are simply touts who would try to ask a tip from you after giving you unsolicited advice on where to go before you leave the Poipet immigration office.

(When you hire a taxi while in the border, be sure you agree on the price before you go with them. The official taxi fare from Poipet to Siem Reap is $48 (4 heads) once they bring you to the Government Bus Terminal. You can talk to some drivers and haggle for $30-$40 if you are brave enough. Will discuss more of this on another post).

take time to capture that epic jumpshot at the Poipet border

How to get to the Poipet Immigration Office?

Once you are done taking customary photos at the Poipet border, simply walk forward again. You’ll notice that there are buildings on both sides of the road. Those are hotels with casinos. You see, I recently learned that people from Bangkok travel all the way to the casinos in Poipet to gamble.

Anyway, you’d see a covered walkway again. Just follow the road as shown on the photo below.

photo credit: Ed

At the end of the road where the hotels are lined up, you will see a clearer picture of Cambodia. Beyond those buildings lie a small one-storey structure where you’ll see the word “Arrival” below some Khmer writings. Yes, that’s the Immigration Office of Cambodia in Poipet.

The Poipet Immigration Office will give you an idea of how different Thailand is from Cambodia.

What to do inside the Poipet Immigration Office when crossing borders from Aranyaprathet?

When you enter the building, be sure to look for the Kingdom of Cambodia Immigration Arrival and Departure Card. Usually, a police officer will hand out these forms. If you can’t find one, don’t hesitate to ask where the other travellers got theirs or look for that officer outside by passing through the door at the side of the building.

complete the questions asked from the Cambodia Immigration Arrival and Departure Card

There are only 3-4 counters inside the immigration office in Poipet so immediately line up when there’s a long queue. Once you are done with the immigration checkpoint, you can head to the waiting area outside and wait for the government bus to bring you to the bus terminal. The ride is free.

government bus, waiting area, and Poipet immigration office

Things to know when crossing borders going to Poipet, Cambodia

Remember the tout I mentioned before? Most likely, that tout will continue to follow you and chat with you. As I said, the more you get friendly with them and the more they provide you information on getting to your next destination, a tip is expected of you. So you can simply ignore these Khmers and turn a deaf ear, refuse them politely or you can give in to their demands if their pestering will become unbearable. As for the tip, I think 20 baht or $1 will do if you really find them super helpful but it’s really up to you. No pressure. But if you were to ask me, I won’t give any since I’m travelling on a budget and every penny in my pocket counts.

When I first attempted to go on an overland border crossing from Bangkok to Poipet, I was really scared with all the negative feedback that I read online. I’ve read countless horror stories of how people got scammed when crossing borders from Thailand to Cambodia via the Aranyaprathet to Poipet Border. Reading those stories prepared me for the worse as I knew already what to do should my friends and I ever get in the same situation like the ones I read online. We had some trouble on our first border crossing but managed to get out of it. On my second overland border crossing, everything was hassle-free as I got used to it.

Crossing the border from Bangkok to Poipet is not something that anyone should be scared of. So long as you are prepared (meaning you’ve done your homework on what to expect, where to go, what to do) then you’d be fine. It might get stressful though, especially if you are new to this, so be sure you don’t cross borders with an empty stomach, ok?

You might also find these articles useful:

• 6 Ways to Travel from Bangkok to the Aranyaprathet Border
• 4 Ways to Travel from Poipet to Siem Reap

With my depleting funds, I decided to do this crazy backpacking extra challenge where I need to survive the next 4 days in Siem Reap eating healthy meals on a budget of $6. And that amount should cover my backpacking food expenses for the next 4 days.

My travel buddy had to exit Siem Reap. Since we will be travelling north in a couple of days to meet up with his gf, he decided he’ll just wait for me in Bangkok. I decided to stay behind due to financial reasons. Spending a night in Bangkok would cost me a minimum of 150 THB (~5USD) whereas staying in our guesthouse in Siem Reap will only cost me 4 dollars. Staying in Bangkok would also tempt me to splurge on Thai food. I am running low on funds and I may not resist the call of my teasing tummy and echuserang eyes once I see those yummy foods that ruined my budget last month. hehehe

My balance sheet tells me that I only have 124.50 USD left. $10 will cover for my extended stay and $8.50 will cover my fare from Siem Reap to Bangkok. As much as possible, I don’t want to spend my 100-dollar bill since the exchange rate of big bills in Bangkok are higher compared to small bills. So with only $6 left in my wallet, I had to do this extra challenge.

The great thing is our guesthouse has a shared kitchen and fridge. Still limping from a bike accident, I went to the Siem Reap Old Market to buy food that will last me for 4 days.

Oatmeal – $2.20, pineapple – 3000R, 1/2 kilo pork – 75000R, baguette – 700R, egg – 500R, garlic – 300R*

*1 USD = 4000 Cambodian Riel (R)

Cooking on a budget, I decided to buy oatmeal and pineapple for snacks, a half kilo pork and garlic that should take care of the next three days; and egg & baguette, which will cover Day 1 of the challenge. We still have a half kilo of rice and other spices so cooking won’t be a problem.

I went home happy knowing I still got change from the $6 and I am confident that I could survive eating budget meals in the next coming days. I hope.

Extra Challenge: Day 1

When I arrived in Siem Reap [a month ago], I bought this bacon for $7.50. It had 44 bacon strips and it was my tummy-saver food when I felt lazy going out to eat. I never thought I would see the day that I’d consume all of those bacon! I cooked the last strips of bacon yesterday and paired it with a sunny-side-up egg and baguette.

I also divided the pork into 3 meals. I plan to cook adobo (pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar and garlic) as this will not require many ingredients. I also marinated a portion of the pork for frying. The third dish I intend to cook would be an experiment with potato and tomato, 2 vegies I need to get rid of before I leave Siem Reap.

note: always pay attention to what you’re toasting. hehehe

I survived Day 1 by eating this meal for lunch and dinner. I tore the bread in 2 pieces and divided the bacon and eggs. I had dinner before 6 and by 9, my tummy grumbled. I was so tempted to go out and buy biko (rice cake) or noodles but I was glad I resisted the urge. Instead, I prepared oatmeal.

Some may react negatively to this challenge. Who wouldn’t? To survive with less than $1.50 worth of food per day on this backpacking trip and spread that out for 3 meals for the next four days is not something one would dream of. Then I remember a friend who told me that I’d need to budget $5 per day for food. I said I can do $2. Now I’m stretching it to $1.50 and I know I’m going to eat almost healthy meals on a budget

I realized that anything is possible, especially to one with an almost empty wallet. It’s really a wonder how your mind works to come up with budget meals when placed in a tight situation. hehe

For those who are planning to go on a backpacking trip with a very tight budget, consider getting a guesthouse which offers a kitchen, shared or not. Also, better start learning how to cook your own backpacking meals if you don’t know how. Be familiar with the basics of cooking on a budget. That’s all you need. Preparing your own food will be one great budget-saver for your journey.

When I started with this backpacking trip almost 2 months ago, Flip of flipnomad.com insisted we get a guesthouse with a kitchen. I now fully understand the importance of his tip. Thanks for the great advice Flip!

Today is Day 2 of the challenge. I already had oatmeal for breakfast. I will now experiment on the pork, potato and tomato. Wish me luck!

I never got to practice my cooking skills back at home (not that I have one) because my mom was a food perfectionist and she pretty much takes care of preparing our meals so I never bothered cooking at all. I also find our kitchen “ugly” (not really that ugly though) which added to my lack of enthusiasm to cook.

Now that I am trying to live on my own, I wanted to experiment on my cooking skills. I am not good in cooking. I just know the basics. And just like turkey holidays, I miss Pinoy food for the past couple of weeks so I made sure I would utilize the shared kitchen feature that our guesthouse is offering.

So one day, I decided to cook my own food since my travel buddy went out with his friends. I figured I’d go to the Old Market to buy food for dinner. All I could think of was cooking chicken afritada so I searched for my ingredients and ended up buying the following stuff: seasoning sauce, cooking oil, 2 large chicken thighs wtih legs, large potato, 2 red bell peppers, garlic, onion, tomato, ground pepper. eggplant, carrrots, 1 kilo rice and pandan rice cake for snacks since I was famished

I never found any tomato sauce in the old market or in the convenience store near our guesthouse so I told myself the meal had to do without tomato sauce. With the 2 fat chicken thighs + drumsticks and the eggplant, I could stretch everything up to 3 meals. 2 meals for the chicken and 1 eggplant omelet. Of course I have to cook them on separate occasions since I can’t consume all of them.

Also, cooking our own rice was a real breather for our depleting funds. I spent 2,700 Cambodian riel for 1 kilo of rice. So far, I’ve cooked 4 meals with the rice I bought and we still have some left. If I buy 1 serving of rice at the eateries outside, it would cost me 1,000 riel. You do the math.

After cooking the rice and the lets-call-it sauteed chicken with potato and carrots, it was a matter of time before I get to eat dinner. I realized the rice I cooked was too much for 1 single person. The chicken thighs were so big too that I had to divide both it into halves.

And here’s the final dish. Sauteed peppered chicken with potato and carrots. Peppered since I added too much pepper in there. hahaha. The dish was too many for a small person like me but I can always eat it the next day. hehe

Here’s my home cooked food here in Siem Reap. Carried this tray to my room and started nomnoming 2 small chicken parts and drank my Vita Milk Energy Drink! Yum!

Never got the chance to consume everything though. I just stole a styrofoam food container in the kitchen and placed my leftover food inside the fridge for the next day’s meal

The next day’s lunch was the left over food my travel buddy and I shared. We just added fresh fruits for that needed balanced meal. Yum yum!

Deciding to cook my own meals as I live for a month here in Siem Reap was a good decision. Not only did I get to save money on food but I also get to enjoy eating the food that I missed eating back home

Continuation from The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011

Travel Companions: Ed and Den, Debbie (colleagues at work and close friends) and Mel (Debbie’s close friend)

After the purchase of our plane fares for our trip to Bangkok last January 2011, I immediately started looking for cheap places to stay both in Bangkok and Siem Reap. I never got worried about the budget since I know that travelling to these places won’t cost us much. Although I would have preferred showing up both in Bangkok and Siem Reap without any hotel/guesthouse reservations, I also found it important to look for one and book for our accommodations since I have no clue if January is a peak season for travelers in these places.

scavenged for useful information from my previous trip on this shoebox

When I began searching for accommodations online, it dawned on me that it was no easy thing to do. I got drained from all those searching especially on the accommodations in Bangkok. There are a lot of things to consider in both places. In Siem Reap, the things I had to consider were the guesthouse’ proximity to the Old Market, the safety of our belongings, the cleanliness of the place and so on. For Bangkok, my choice of a guesthouse would be somewhere near Khao San Road – the backpacker’s mecca in Bangkok. So I had to consider safety, cleanliness, level of noise from Khao San and the security of our belongings.

I can no longer recall how many times I visited the Khao San Road website, where majority of all the guesthouses within Khao San are listed. In Siem Reap, I kept googling for cheap guest houses and also found the guesthouse where we last stayed. This was one of my choices. But after reading a bad review that involved security, I know I had to look for a different one. Then I stumbled upon Ron and Monette’s FlipTravels blog and immediately booked at the guesthouse where they stayed in Siem Reap since it was just a walking distance to the market.

As for the accommodations in Bangkok, since there are a lot of cheap hostels listed online without any contact information, I decided that it would be best to just look for one when we arrive in the city. I told my friends of this plan and they all agreed to the idea. Also because they had no clue what to expect in Bangkok, they allowed me to take care of the accommodations.

When my friend Debbie asked me how much would be our budget for our trip, an hour after, I sent them an email containing the estimated costs we will incur on the trip.

Cebu to Bangkok budget – Php 9,500.25

Cebu to Bangkok and Siem Reap budget – Php 16,166.625

Debbie and her friend Mel were only going to Bangkok so I had to separate their travel expenses and created a separate budget for my trip to Siem Reap and Bangkok.

There was also a point where I already got irritated since I felt that I was doing all the research and they were doing nothing. They were asking questions like “Will there be hot water in the place where we’ll stay in Bangkok so that we can just bring noodles?”. “Uh, Bangkok is not like Hong Kong and I don’t have an idea since we agreed we’ll look for a place when we get there.” Then they’d ask me if how much it will cost us to go to this province to see some elephants. One was even hesitant in pushing through the trip to Siem Reap and would rather stay in Bangkok since they were concerned of the expenses no matter how many times I stressed that it is cheaper to stay in Siem Reap than in Bangkok. I couldn’t finalize the reservations on the guest house because of the fickle minds. *sigh* Sometimes, things like this irritate me. Situations like this are normally bound to happen when you will plan your own trip but don’t let this hinder you from pursuing your plans of travelling. This phase will just pass

I guess it was also my fault not to delegate the task to them and kept telling them they have nothing to worry about the trip. I guess they were also confident enough to let me handle all the planning since they know I’ve been to the place before. Anyway, I simply stopped searching since I got tired from all of it and I got busy with work too.

So everything was set two weeks before our scheduled trip. It was decided that we’ll go to Siem Reap then meet up with Debbie and Mel in Bangkok and look for a place there. With no itineraries listed, all of us were excited that we’ll all travel to a foreign land together!

Then all of a sudden, I received a call from Ed. It’s about our friend Den who decided to join us on the trip at the last minute. She was supposed to leave for China but since her trip got postponed, she decided to do a detour to Bangkok and Siem Reap. So I immediately contacted the guesthouse that I made reservations and inquired about their Triple Room. I didn’t get any reply at all. And then all of a sudden, I found Chyng Reyes’ blog since I was looking for info about her experience with an Aspara show, which I planned to see too. I read in her blog about how big her room was at Bou Savy Guesthouse and how satisfied she was with their service. I immediately googled Bou Savy Guesthouse and found that they have package tours. I checked one of the packages and after computing how much we’d spent in Siem Reap with and without that package, I sent them an email to inquire about minor concerns I had. After getting a prompt response from them, I booked for their $72 – 2 DAYS 03 NIGHTS PACKAGE good for 3 persons. I no longer revised the budget since our expenses will be cheaper with three heads to divide the costs of transportation and food

Also, thanks to Praline’s kindness, she allowed me to borrow her digital camera since all I got is a camera phone which could die any minute on me. Since we were to leave ahead of Debbie and Mel, Ed and I had our money exchanged in dollars too. The plan was to have our dollars exchanged to Baht in Bangkok. I still don’t know if it was the better choice since my brain cells are already tired computing.

Budget, check. Siem Reap guesthouse, check. Camera, check. Backpack, check. Laptop, check.

I was all set. I didn’t sleep the night before the trip since I was working and 2 hours before I had to leave my house for the airport, I took a nap.

To be continued…

————————-

This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – The Accidental Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap in 2011
#2 – You are reading this now
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport

Last year, I vowed to myself that I should stop travelling to international destinations in the next coming months as I need to save up considering the fact that I just “retired” from my 5-year job in a BPO company. But when opportunity presented last October, the vows were completely forgotten and I gave in to the travel itch.

This was all Cebu Pacific Air’s fault!

Kidding aside, I’m really grateful for the promo fares that Cebu Pacific offer its passengers. If not for them, I wouldn’t be able to travel to both local and international destinations with those exhorbitant fares other airline companies charge.

My friend wanted to go to Bangkok to shop for clothing to sell back home and when I told them of the promo fare I saw online for Clark to Bangkok, she said they’d avail of the promo. She also convinced me and pleaded me to join them too and I was sold *sigh*. I told a travel buddy of mine about the trip and he agreed to join us too. The plan was for all of us to fly to Bangkok together. But after my buddy made me realize that I’m no longer restricted to the normal 2-days off work schedule since I now own my work time, what used to be a 4-day trip became a week-long trip instead. Fireworks were popping up my mind as I immediately formulated a plan to do a side trip to Siem Reap. (light bulb!)

So when I announced to my parents that I will be travelling to Bangkok last January 2011 my mom immediately blurted out “Na naman? Anong gagawin mo dun?” (Again? What are you going to do there?)

(Being Bicolanos, our parents required us to speak Tagalog inside the house so that we won’t forget that dialect. That’s why my other Cebuano friends find my way of speaking the Cebuano dialect weird. That’s because it’s a mixture of Bisaya, Tagalog and Bicolano.)

My reply was simple. “Mo-laag!” (will roam)

And when I also told them I’ll go back to Cambodia, my dad blurted out “Di ba delikado doon?” (Is it not dangerous to go there?). I guess he was referring to the landmines and the war and conflict that he had heard from years before.

I immediately reassured them that there’s nothing to be afraid of when going to Cambodia. Especially that I’m still around and nothing bad has happened to me when I last went there. I used Cambodia and not specifically Siem Reap since I know he doesn’t know where that one is

Parents. They’re always like that. Over-protective. But after explaining, they consented since they really can’t do anything to stop me from travelling. hehehe

exposed pictures of our balloon ride in Siem Reap in 2008, one of the reasons why I had to go back

Actually, this was my 3rd travel to Bangkok and my 2nd to Siem Reap. My first trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap happened last 2008. I love Siem Reap so much that I promised to go back to that quaint “not-so-little” town one day. And I never imagined that that one day would be this year. I was so excited. Finally I can take photos again of how wonderful that place is.

For my next blog posts, I’ll be documenting our detailed trip to Siem Reap and Bangkok, including the cheap places we stayed, the great food trips we devoured, the beautiful places we’ve seen and the exact money we spent for the entire trip. To give you an idea, I spent a total of Php 8,750.25 (~$197) for my trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap last January 18-25, 2011. That’s Php 4,296.00 (~$97) in Bangkok and Php 4,454.25 (~$100) in Siem Reap. This only includes food, transportation, accomodation and sight seeing in Bangkok and Siem Reap, not including the plane fares and bus fares from Cebu-Manila-Clark-Bangkok-Clark-Cebu and the travel tax and terminal fees in the Philippines

So do visit thetravellingfeet regularly as I’ll give you a blow-by-blow account of my 1st trip for the year 2011.

————————-

This is a series of blog posts documenting my trip from Bangkok to Siem Reap and back in January of 2011. If you haven’t read the first posts, please check on the links below:

** Off to Bangkok and Siem Reap
#1 – You are reading this now
#2 – Trip to Bangkok and Siem Reap: The Planning Stage
#3 – How to Create Your Bangkok to Siem Reap Itinerary
#4 – Arriving 5 Minutes Late on our Connecting Flight to Bangkok
#5 – En Route: Clark to Bangkok
#6 – Touchdown Bangkok!
#7 – Suvarnabhumi Airport a.k.a. Bangkok International Airport
#8 – Bangkok Train Station: Waiting for our Train Ride to Aranyaprathet
#9 – My First Taste of Authentic Thai Food

Unfinished Series from my 2008 Trip…
My First Train Ride From Bangkok to Aranyaprathet
Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok
My First Trip To Bangkok

You might also find this useful:
Modes of Transportation in Bangkok
Things to Consider When Planning Your Travel Itinerary
The Cheapest Way to Bangkok from Suvarnabhumi Airport