Arrival in Thailand

Sa-Wa-Tee from Thailand!
After a 16 hour journey on 7 buses, two motos, two boats, a minibus and a taxi (as well as our feet) we finally made it to Bangkok. Yes, we actually did. The first bus left Sihanoukville at 8:30 but it was headed for Phnom Penh, so it left us on the side of the road where another bus was waiting which was going back towards Sihanoukville, this time taking the turnoff to Koh Kong, the border town. After half an hour the bus stops at a river crossing : the bridge isn’t quite finished. It’s ok for pedestrians, but not for buses, so we are offloaded with our luggage and asked to walk across the bridge, where a third bus is waiting for us. Off we go again until we reach another river crossing : this time the bridge has barely been started, so we get off the bus, grab our luggage and hop onto small barges that ferry us across to the other side, where we get onto a 4th bus. We set off once more, only to arrive at another river crossing shortly after. There is a bridge, but apparently it isn’t quite ready for either pedestrians or vehicles, so we take our bags and get onto a big floating platform with some tractors and minibuses and it takes us to the other side, After a dusty five-minute walk we find our 5th bus and off we go. The next bridge is actually finished, it’s just the road that isn’t quite done. So the bus stops on the bridge, we get off and walk across to where the road begins and our 6th bus awaits. This one actually got us to Koh Kong, which we reached at about 3 pm. From there two motorbikes took us and our bags (at top speeds, quite scary) to the border point with Thailand. Crossing was quick and easy, and on the Thai side we got onto a minibus (luxurious, with air-con that worked!) to Trat, the biggest town of this “narrowest part of Thailand”. We got there just on time for the 6pm first class bus to Bangkok (where we got treated like royalty : free cold drinks and a hostess to look after us) . From the bus station we took a taxi to the centre, and we finally found a hostel (most places were full) around half past twelve. That’s when we started washing our bags and putting our clothes in the laundry, as they stank of fish, from the hold of the first bus where someone was carrying his catch of the day in ice which of course melted onto our luggage…lovely!
Thailand is in total contrast with Cambodia. As soon as you cross the border you start being driven on the left hand side of the brand new roads, in brand new vehicles, crossing other snazzy new pick-ups and cars. Everywhere there are photos of the King, who is currently the longest reigning monarch after over 60 years on the throne.
But we are not staying. We have decided to alter our itinerary to include Laos, as everyone we meet talks about it with real enthusiasm. So we are hopping on a train tonight that should get us to the border tomorrow.
We’ll let you know how it was in about a week, as we probably won’t have access to the internet till we get back to Thailand!