Arriving SCAMBODIA :(

[ by Stian ]

At the border....

OMG: We got scammed! We had the worst start ever on our journey towards Cambodia. The worst part was when we actually realized we were getting scammed, which we did halfway on our way between the Thai border and the Cambodian city of Siem Reap. The realization struck us when Kjetil was reading loudly from the Lonely Planet how people get scammed at the border, and WOW the words he was reading described exactly what had happen leading up to the very moment in the taxi. We were so fucking pissed and we knew that our taxi-driver was in on it and we really suddenly loathed the sight of him... but we had to get to Siem Reap...

Lonely Planet = A Backpacker's Bible

According to Lonely Planet people are not aware that they are being scammed, and IF you are getting scammed, the process probably already started when in Bangkok. We suddenly realized Lonely Planet was our Bible to say, cause it was really scary how accurate it was able to describe the whole process we had been through. Already before we left for Myanmar, while still in Bangkok, we had arranged for a ride from the airport in Bangkok to the Cambodian border. Since it turned out that all buses from Bangkok to Siem Reap left Bangkok in the morning, we would not be able to catch the bus when arriving Bangkok at 11am. Our option would then be to stay an additional night in Bangkok and take the bus to Siem Riep the following morning. Since we felt we had gotten to see enough of Bangkok, we decided this did not sound like a tempting option. We therefore had a chat with our Bangkok-guy, the tour guide that took us to the Floating Market in Bangkok, and he made the arrangements so that we would be picked up at the airport when arriving from Yangon, and then be taken to the border. This way we would be able to get to the border before it closes, which it does at 6pm or something. Our Bangkok guy seemed like a very trustworthy and friendly guy, and we had already gotten to spend one day with him since he drove us to the floating market, and we also had long chats with him the days before.  

The Ride to the Cambodian Border

When we got to the airport we eventually found our driver, and after a short while we were heading for the Cambodian border. We had a nice car and it was even possible for us to lay down and relax as well. During the trip our driver asked us if we needed a ride after crossing the border, which we did. We were told that there would be chaos on the other side of the border and that the border town of Poipet is perceived as the wild west of Cambodia. So we thought that it sounded like a good idea to have prearranged ride on the other side to avoid some stress. He also asked us if we needed visa's which at least I and Kenneth did, and we were told that it would take forever to get it fixed at the border. If we dropped by the Consulate of the Kingdom of Cambodia it would take us only 5 minutes to get it fixed, though it of course would cost a bit more.  

At the Consulate of The Kingdom of Cambodia

When we arrived at the consulate we were met by a guy who was very fashionably dressed and who seemed like a very nice guy. He spoke English fluently as well. He asked for our passports and photos and told us that he would be back in a few minutes, which he was, and in just a few minutes we had obtained our visas. We were told we could pay in Thai Baht only, though none of us had any so we had to go to an ATM to withdraw some. I found this very strange since we were sure that we could pay with US Dollars, but well well. So this was the first time I suspected something was wrong, but I didn't leave the suspicion any more thought, cause I first believed it probably was just another example of the bureaucratic inefficiency

We were also told by the same friendly guy that a regular tourist would spend about 10 000 Baht during a week in Cambodia and that the ATMs in Siem Reap would not accept foreign cards. So we should definitely withdraw enough money here, AND he strongly recommended us to exchange the Bahts into the local currency while here at the border, as we would not have to pay commission here, while further into the country they would take at least 10 % commission. He seemed like a sincere guy coming up with reasonable arguments, so we of course believed him. We even withdrew more money than what he suggested since we thought that we would probably spend more than 2000 NOK during the week. So we all withdrew 15 000 Bahts each, which is about 3000 NOK.  

Passport & Visa Control

We then had to pass through passport control. We spent forever in line but we eventually got through. We could have paid off an guy and gotten through way faster, but we really did not feel like spending too much money. So when at the counter there were no questions given other than where we would be heading. So the visas were approved. We met up with our helpful, friendly, fancy guy on the other side of the border. Of some strange reason he did not have to show any ID at the passport control, on neither side of the border actually. THIS should have been our second major concern, but we did not think about it at all at this point. The fact that we had no problems getting through with the visas proved to us that he was a serious guy, cause the visas were the real deal, or?  

Exchanging Currency

On the other side of the border we were then taken to the bus-and-taxi stand, where we would be picked up by our taxi-driver. Though, before we left we were recommended to exchange our money to save commission. Since we have no idea about exchange rates we did not ask any questions at this point. I had 13 000 Bahts left and after changing to Cambodian Rials I suddenly had 1 401 400 ... which is such a huge amount of digits that we really did not know how to cope with it. So far, all good, WE THOUGHT!

Horrible Taxi

When the taxi arrived I got very upset cause it was a regular taxi only for 4 people maximum and it was in horrible condition. We had been told we would get a mini van and I turned to our friendly guy and told him this was unacceptable and that 5 people could NEVER fit into a taxi like that – and we would never be able to fit our luggage in the storage room either. I became angry and told him that we were promised something else and that since we were paying the SAME amount of money for this ride as we did for the ride from Bangkok to the Thai Border, which was 600 Bahts each (120NOK), the amount was too much for this kind of quality and for the fact it was a far shorter ride. His faced changed dramatically and he seemed upset that we did not get the kind of transportation we were promised. On the wall there were posters that said that the shuttle bus only cost 10 US Dollars to get to Siem Reap, so in a very upset moment I at first said that we should take the bus instead. Our guy then told us that the bus would take 4-5 hours while the taxi ride would only take two and a half hours so he recommended us to do the taxi anyways. The rest of my group then of course was of the opinion that I was overreacting and that it was unfair of me to be so angry with this guy, who had been so kind to spend so much of his time helping us.  

So we got into the taxi. I was pissed off. Our taxi driver did not speak any English at all, so we were not able to communicate with him either. We gave him the adress of our hostel, and then we were on our way.

Realizing The Scam

So it was midway during the taxi-ride that Kjetil started reading out loud about the scams at the Cambodian border and that's when we realized we had been immensely scammed.

The Lonely Planet guide has this guide for backpackers:

1: First of all: Don't accept help from strangers.

2: Do NOT withdraw or exchange money at the border, you will get a horrible exchange rate, and don't believe it when your guy claims it's governmentally run.

3: Do not share taxi's with «local» people.

4: The taxi driver will most likely take you to a false hotel, and tell you that the one you have booked at is closed.

5: The Police at the border is supporting this kind of scams so they do not intervene if you get scammed.

The Financial Loss

Kenneth compared the rate we got with the currency APP and it turned out that we had been ripped of LOADS of money. It turned out that we had actually paid 25 % commission instead of the 10% which they take at other places, that is if they even charge that much commission at all. I exchanged 13 000 Baht, and got as much as 544 NOK's less than what I was supposed to. That is MORE than a day's budget for me – so I was PISSED! We had also paid twice as much as supposed for the visa, which is 20 dollars. Even Kjetil had to purchase a new visa since he had forgotten to print the e-visa he had already purchased for before this trip.

Last but not least – we paid way over normal cost for the taxi ride, a ride that was pretty much horrible. All together we guess that we were ripped for at least 3500 NOK, all together. We realized that the taxi-guy was in on the scam, and I just wanted to strangle him just there and then.

Keeping Up the Scam

The last thing now was to see if he would go even further with the scam and take us to a different place than our hostel, coming up with an excuse. If so then we definitely would know that he was in on the scam. We suspected though that he must have picked up on that we had realized that we were being scammed by now, since we were reading from the Lonely Planet and that Kjetil repeatedly used the English word «Scam» in his tellings, so it would be very strange if he dared to go through with the next part of the scam... A bit later HE DID drive us to the wrong place. We immediately told him this was NOT our place and that he should NOT stop here, but he did. He had stopped at a completely different guest house, though still by the main road. There were a group of 5-6 guys waiting outside and one of them, obviously the one that spoke English the best, immediately approached us, telling us that the taxi-ride ended here and that we had to change to a Tuk Tuk to get to our hostel.

A Unified Anger

We were PISSED and got out of the car and told the whole bunch that we had seen through their scam and they could fuck off. I don't think I have ever seen Sissel that angry before, cause she screamed to them asking them if this is how they want tourists to perceive their country. Once again they were told to fuck off. They just smiled, and some laughed and then probably started to make jokes about us. We were so pissed off. Hadn't it been for the fact that they outnumbered us then maybe we could have approached them differently trying to convince them to pay us back our money – but we chose just to leave and to find our hostel on our own.

Finding Our Way To the Hostel

It turned out that our hostel was just across the street from where we had been dropped off. So we realized that the Tuk Tuk would have been the last part of the scam. They probably would have separated us from our luggage and then taken the luggage somewhere completely different. Though the frustration about Cambodia kept going on, because when we got to our hostel it turned out that they had overbooked so we had to stay at their «second» hostel, just across the street, almost right next to where we were dropped off by the scammers. I was so frustrated and pissed at this point, and last but not least: I was really hungry. So just after I had left my luggage in my room, I had to get out and find something to eat.

Most Uninteresting Street Ever

Our hostel was located in a very very very boring street. There were huge hotels located on each side, but strangely enough they all seemed totally empty cause there were almost no lights in the windows to be seen. We passed several restaurants but most of them looked more like hospital canteens than restaurants and did not seem very nice. There were a bunch of street restaurants, but they seemed so unhygienic that we did not dare to eat at any of them. After a short while we did find a place, and I finally did get to eat some food. We also had a few beers and my mood did improve a bit, thankfully. This had been the worst first impression I've ever had of a country, and both when we were trying to find a place to eat , and afterwards, on the way back to the hostel, I looked at the local people almost with disgust. I had a horrible feeling inside of me, almost racist to say, cause I was not looking forward to spending more days with people that seemed to be this untrustworthy.

So it for sure was the worst introduction ever to a country, a country which is supposed to be a very beautiful and friendly country. We were stupid who did not read the Lonely Planet warnings before we left for Cambodia, so we were to blame ourselves really. We definitely had learned a lesson by now: Never trust a man that is dressed in black pointy patent leather shoes and that has slick hair - and never trust a man that claims he have good friends on the other side of a border of another country. We were also to experience later as well as to never trust anyone who speaks English fluently, they are most likely out to scam you, no exceptions whatsoever. Cambodia did though have a LOT of «work» to do to make up for this first impression, because so far this was the worst country we have been to during our trip... It had now become all about surviving SCAMBODIA! 

Still on Thai side, inthe good taxi, having a good time...

Karma is a bitch, and this taxi driver deserves all the
misery that may come.

Waiting... to be really scammed...

Naive and goodhearted we are...:)