First night bus experience

We purchased these overnight "luxury hotel VIP bus" tickets for only $8 per person to get us from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Who knows how luxurious a $8 bus ride can be?

We were set to meet the bus at 10:40pm at the Lucky Angkor hotel which was about a 5 min walk from our airbnb. We were at the hotel just after 10pm just to make sure we don't miss the bus.

11:10pm an old van pitched up to pick us up, this was VIP service in not such a VIP style. The van dropped us at the bus rank and they told us to wait inside this very old building with steel chairs and not much else in it. Isabel almost got attacked by a rat, or at least she screamed loud enough that you would think the rat attacked her.

Midnight the bus finally arrived and we boarded skeptically. After struggling to figure out which seat/bed was ours as they all looked like single beds to me. The driver showed us our bed for two, so the single beds I referred to was in fact double beds meant for two, maybe to asians, it was hardly big enough for just me.

The ride it self was very bumpy but I at least got 3 hours of decent sleep which is more than I can say in a 5 hour plane ride, so thats a thumbs-up. However I did struggle to find a comfortable position in the limited space and poor Isabel had to make herself as small as possible to allow me to just fit.

My only fear going into this bus ride was a potential road accident as the driver might fall asleep in the middle of the night. Luckily we arrived safely in Phnom Penh to be awakened by the bus scraping its side as it tried parking the bus in depot. Not the worst accident, but not an ideal way to wake up and find out you have arrived at your destination.

Probably the worst part of the journey for me was the next 10min as tuk tuk drivers like vultures tried to grab our bags and force us to use them to take us to the hotel. We have learned in the short time here that you don't allow anyone to take or do anything until you have negotiated a price or it will cost you.

The most persistent driver wanted $10 to take us to the hotel which is a complete rip off considering we have paid $16 to come over 200km and he wants that for the last 3km. I negotiated him down to $5 by threatening that I will rather walk than pay more than $5, while I really did not have much of a choice but to use him as all the other drivers was already gone and walking really wasn't an option with my bad back and all our luggage.

Just after 5am we arrived safely at the beautiful Palm Tree Boutique Hotel. We checked in, they did not have a room available unfortunately as they were full the night before and couldn't guarantee an early checkin as they had to wait for guests to checkout and then clean a room.

They offered to keep our bags and said we are welcome to sit and wait in the lobby or use the sun-chairs poolside. We opted for the sum-chairs and got some more R&R under the starts until about 8am using towels as blankets. We decided we will have breakfast at the hotel and go hit the sights after waiting a while for a room. Halfway through breakfast they actually brought our room key as someone checked out early, BONUS, we were able to settle in and freshen up before hitting the sights.

{Roedolf}

Ek is deur 'n helse tyd om die tuk tukdrywers van my af te hou want Roedolf was nog salig in die bus en ek is vreesbevange hulle steel my tas. Ek het min geslaap meestal gebid, ek het darm rustig langs die swembad met my oogklappe geslaap.
{Issy}Read more