Getting to Bangkok from Siem Reap probably appears somewhere in Milton’s seven levels of hell…and if it doesn’t it bloody well should! My guesthouse owner in Siem Reap (Mr. Pol of the Angkor Siem Reap Guesthouse, if anybody happens to be in the vicinity and would like to give him a stiff punch on the nose!) had assured me on selling the ticket – and on several further occasions! – that I would be taking a large, air-conditioned coach all the way from Siem Reap to the border…and another from the border to Bangkok. When a miserable excuse for a minibus arrived at the guest house to pick me up, he also assured me that this was merely transferring me to the bus station. After 6 hours shoe-horned into this (non-air-conditioned!) oven on wheels and bouncing up and down over every pothole crevasse, fissure, Grand Canyon and black hole on the appalling road to Poipet, I had temporarily forgotten all my affection for Cambodia. My mood wasn’t improved by sitting around on the Thai side of the border for 2 hours before the next coach came to pick us up. At least when this one turned up it actually was air-conditioned. I arrived in Bangkok late, tired and in a foul mood!
Fortunately, the hotel I’d decided on had one room left…and it was just up the road from a well-recommended restaurant. The crispy fried chicken with cashew nuts that I devoured at Vijit Restaurant was one of the finest culinary experiences I’ve had on the road. Several bottles of the local Singha beer and, all of a sudden, my days travails didn’t seem so great. The Thai reputation for hospitality was in full evidence and I found myself feeling well-disposed to my new temporary home.
Back at the hotel, things slightly derailed once again when I managed to stop the ceiling fan at warp speed, when pulling my T-shirt over my head. Still, my hand didn’t bleed too much…and the bed was comfortable enough for a good night’s sleep.
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