Tuesday, August 29, 2006

WRC: Cambodia Style

It was bloody fantastic let me tell ya! We were on a bus (more of a bonafide mini-bus this time) with all the gear stowed in the back seat and heading to the Cambodia/Thailand border. The road heading out of Siem Reap was not bad, had some rather large potholes which after the rain of the previous night, could quite easily have been mistaken for the local paddling pool or pond. 4WD's would be more of a neccessity than a luxury here. I felt for the passengers in the numerous Toyota Camry that were making the same journey.

Once we were in the countryside the fun really started. Our bus making some quite horrific metal on metal scraping/crunching/"help I'm seriously falling apart here" noises. A ride that was roller-coaster esque but without the safety guarantee. Wasn't really that much of an ordeal however, and in terms of our recent border crossing experiences, really quite tame.
Although... When we arrived at the Thai border, it started to rain. Hard. Resulting in mini swimming pools that required traversing in order to actually get into Thailand. So shoes off, pants (trousers) hiked up, and 20kg pack on back, a semi shuffle-waddle-dash was made from building to building or cover to cover. Having been stranded at the border by anyone who knew where we should head once in Thailand, wandering in the rain was the only option. Eventually, soaked but laughing, we found our bus stop and waited. Upon querying our guide as to when the bus would leave for Bangkok, I received "When 10 more people arrive" as an answer. Well fair enough then. No time soon then huh?

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