Laura and I booked a “coach” bus from the Island of Ko Chang in Thailand to Siem Reap.

For 600 baht, we were supposed to depart Ko Chang and arrive in Siem Reap by 7pm.

The bus (large van) picked us up at 8am from our guest house. We took a ferry to the mainland and continued in our bus to the border, where we were supposed to get our visas. In reality we were dropped off 15 minutes from the border, ate lunch, and were carried via cargo barge to the consulate (I assume the consulate) where we overpaid for our Visas.

Then we were taken to the border, we crossed over via foot with minimal trouble (don’t forget your departure card!) and we stood in Cambodia waiting for our “coach bus”. Our travel guide, who seemed nice, strongly recommended we take our some money before crossing the border because there were no ATMs for miles. So I did. Then he said we could get it exchanged to Cambodian Riel for a good rate on the other side of the border.

I am dumb for letting my guard down and not researching this before hand.

We were rushed on the back of a motorbike, by our guide, luggage in hand, to an exchange station.

I exchanged 5000 baht to 350,000 Riel (rate of 1 to 70), but the reality is, the exchange rate is (1 to 117) AND U.S. Dollars are FAR more common than Riel.

We then were put on the bus, which was crowded, hot, and rickety. The journey from the border at Poipet, Cambodia to Siem Reap is only 157km, yet takes 6 hours due to condition of the Road.

WOW it’s bad. REALLY bad!

We got one flat tire, and one transmission malfunction, both problems were quickly fixed by our driver.

We arrived 4.5 hours late in Siem Reap, and are staying in a nice place called Angkor Town Hotel.

Siem Reap is very beutiful and people are very friendly.

Beach in Ko Chang, originally uploaded by nicholasjohnfield.

It is true that Thailand is cheap, but it’s not as cheap as it used to be and is perceived to be.

The Thai Baht, the currency here, is approximately 30 baht to 1 Dollar. It fluxuates more and less, but that’s a good way to organize your budget.

Now things are way cheaper here, especially after spending time in expensive Australia.

You can obviously spend as much as your hearts content, but to live well, you should budget about $70 dollars a day. About 2000 baht.

Living well:

You can eat out every single meal.

You can sleep in reasonable guest houses, some with Air con

You can go out drinking every single night

You can travel

You can rent mopeds

You can live on the beach

You can shop for an article of clothing per day

That’s good living. I strongly recommend coming here for any of your shopping needs too! If you want a custom fit, good quality silk suit, you can easily get it for under $300 US. EASILY!

Bangkok is a big dirty city. But it is fun. People are nice, but everyone tries to take your money.

If someone says something is 500 baht. Offer 100. Negotiate as low as you can go. It’s easy.

The food is incredible. Lots of different curries. Lots of street vendors.

The beer is awesome and inexpensive. Singha is really good. Tiger is good. Chang is okay. Heineken is everywhere.

Traveling is easy. Everyone gets commission off you, even cab drivers or tuk-tuk drivers who take you to the travel agencies, so be careful what you pay for.

It’s the “monsoon season” here now, from June to December I believe, it rains at night time for about an hour, pretty hard, but there is still plenty of sunshine and heat to make it still worth coming here. The season changes almost every hour.

Thailand’s economy is doing very well at the moment, especially with the fall of the U.S. Dollar.

Laos is supposed to be what Thailand was 30 years ago. I’ll keep you up to date.

South East Asia, originally uploaded by nicholasjohnfield.

Hello, here’s the plan for South East Asia. Plans will change, but this is the general idea:

1. Bangkok, Thailand
2. Ko Chang, Thailand
3. Siem Reap, Cambodia
4. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
5. Ho Chin Minh City, Vietnam
6. Hanoi, Vietnam
7. Laos
8. Mekong River, Laos
9. Chiang Mai, Thailand
10. Phuket, Thailand
11. Ko Samui, Thailand
12. Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
13. Ko Phangan

Afterwards, likely back to Australia.

Eastern Thailand, originally uploaded by nicholasjohnfield.

I left Australia. Laura (my girlfriend) and I landed in Bangkok on Tuesday the 17th of July.

We spent about five days in Bangkok. Bangkok is very cool! I absolutely love it there. Shopping is great there!

Afterwards, we traveled to an Island called Ko Chang via bus then ferry. We’ve spent about a week on this island and we absolutely love it! We’re are going to be heading Cambodia to Siem Reap tomorrow via bus.

Follow the purple line.