IM NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!!

In the effort to save money, l have foolishly taken as many over-night transports as possible. I justify it by saying that it saves me a night's accomodation & saves day time hours for sight-seeing.  But some trips are just not worth the discomfort. The bus trip from Siem Reap in Northern Cambodia, to the capital Phnom Penh, is one of those trips. I have travelled it several times at night & each time l have promised myself that 'lm not doing that again.' But time erases away the pain and l again think that a little discomfort will be worth the saving. 

The road is in a terrible condition, correlgated & pot-holed by heavy traffic & monsoon rains. That combined with extremely crammed conditions on a bus that possesses absolutely no suspension, is a nightmare of a night. Even after taking 'over the counter' Valium, l was kept awake all night but the bone rattling bangs and the constant honking by the driver to let all traffic know that he was ploughing through. It's a 6 or 7 hr trip, leaving about 11pm & arriving anywhere from 5-7am. Maybe l should have taken more Valium but you never know. Maybe l should have travelled during the day.

I arrived in Phnom Penh feeling tired, aching, dirty, and cranky as!!  I was not in the mood for negotiating with tuk tuk drivers at the bus station. My thumping headache morphed me into one of those demanding Westerners that l often see & want to smack. 

And even after a shower and l have scraped off the filth from the road & the bus, my mood cannot be lifted without a 10hr nap. And the day is wasted. The saving of a few dollars is lost. And again l state, 'I'm not doing that again.'

I have travelled in other third world countries, in fact, the over-night buses in neighbouring Laos, can be extremely comfortable. Apparently Giant Ibis bus company offer luxury buses in Cambodia but are not as well promoted at backpacker hostels because of the price. But now through blurred vision hindsight, it would have been worth it.

Train travel is my preference but there are none in this country.

I kick myself in the arse sometimes & also laugh at my effort to stretch my travel dollar as far & wide as l can strain it. And then when lm departing a country, l unload my left-over currency to  someone who looks like they need it. Sometimes, it's just not worth exchanging it. But that's when l think that l could have treated myself to a foot massage. But l try to account for all those last minute expenses, like taxis, coffee at the airport due to delays, and the worst is departure tax. It's almost impossible to calculate, whilst standing at an atm, how much you will need before you leave. I always take out a bit extra, but more often than not, it's not enough. And I've been delayed in an non air-conditioned area without water & refusing to withdraw any more currency in that country. An already over-priced bottle of water in an airport works out very expensive with atm fees. This happened to me recently in Manila, terminal 4 has no shops to even buy water with a credit card. I was out of pesos, needed water & gasping to board my Air Asia flight. I knew l had Malaysian Ringett which is accepted onboard. As soon as l dragged myself up those stairs, l quickly fibbed to them that l needed water to take medication and l was served immediately. They don't like people passing out on their flights.

So now in Phnom Penh, l will recover & recuperate. Ready to face the chaos & congestion of Phnom Penh. Looking forward to shopping at Central Market and visiting my favourite bar, the Foreign Correspondents Club, overlooking the mighty Mekong. Gaining my strength back at the very friendly Mad Monkey hostel. Cost per night, dorm room, abt $8.