Wednesday, May 03, 2006
We flew yesterday from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh with SilkAir, which is a short flight at approximately 30 minutes. After arriving in Phnom Penh and having picked up our luggage, we were immediately approached by numerous taxi and bike drivers. Since it had been raining, we settled for a taxi driver for $7, despite that fact that a bike would be cheaper at $2.
Anyway, we clearly said that he should take us to the main bus station as we had to get on a bus to Sihanoukville. However, we quickly understood that we were in trouble when the driver insisted there were no more buses for Sihanoukville that day. Since it was barely 11:30 in the morning, we knew that he was lying, and his plan was obviously to have us stay in one of his recommended hotels overnight (with a nice commission to him, of course) or to have us go to Sihanoukville by taxi.
Rather than taking us to the main bus station or anywhere with buses to Sihanoukville, he dropped us off in the Dang Kor Market, which is located in the middle of nowhere. Our taxi was quickly surrounded on all sides by excited taxi drivers, who were certain that they would be able to fool a couple of dumb foreigners. Yuka was of course scared to death, and there were not a single foreigner to be seen anywhere. Luckily, Yuka had noticed that the Intercontinental Hotel was located just a few blocks away, so we relatively calmly walked to the hotel and got the help we needed. After an absolutely delicious buffet lunch at the hotel, we hotel provided us with tickets for the Sihanoukville express bus and drove us to the bus stop. Thanks to the nice people at the Intercontinental hotel, we were able to get to our destination without any problems.
Anyway, we clearly said that he should take us to the main bus station as we had to get on a bus to Sihanoukville. However, we quickly understood that we were in trouble when the driver insisted there were no more buses for Sihanoukville that day. Since it was barely 11:30 in the morning, we knew that he was lying, and his plan was obviously to have us stay in one of his recommended hotels overnight (with a nice commission to him, of course) or to have us go to Sihanoukville by taxi.
Rather than taking us to the main bus station or anywhere with buses to Sihanoukville, he dropped us off in the Dang Kor Market, which is located in the middle of nowhere. Our taxi was quickly surrounded on all sides by excited taxi drivers, who were certain that they would be able to fool a couple of dumb foreigners. Yuka was of course scared to death, and there were not a single foreigner to be seen anywhere. Luckily, Yuka had noticed that the Intercontinental Hotel was located just a few blocks away, so we relatively calmly walked to the hotel and got the help we needed. After an absolutely delicious buffet lunch at the hotel, we hotel provided us with tickets for the Sihanoukville express bus and drove us to the bus stop. Thanks to the nice people at the Intercontinental hotel, we were able to get to our destination without any problems.
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