Land in Campudia

LAND

Thailand  

Poi pet The land border between Cambodia and Thailand at Poi pet was opened to foreigners in February 1998. An increasing number of travelers have come and gone this way since, and the roads from the crossing to either Siem Reap or Battambang are safe, but in terrible condition. International donors are upgrading the road between Poi pet and Phnom Penh, but they will take a few years yet, so in the meantime prepare for a bumpy ride. To enter at Poi pet you need to obtain a Cambodian visa, which costs US$20, from Bangkok in advance. You can arrange this or you can get a travel agent to do it for a small commission.

Coming from Bangkok, there are two trains a day from Hualam phong train station to the town of Aranya Prathet, which cost 48B, but the 5.50 am is the one to go for unless you want to end up spending the night in a border town. There are also regular bus services to Aranya Prathet (144B with aircon and around 75B without). From Aranya Prathet you can take a songthaew (pick-up truck) the 4km to the border for about 5B. Some travel agencies around the Khao San Rd in Bangkok offer minibus services direct to the border for around 300B. Once over the border in Poi pet you can jump in a pick-up to Sisophon for about 5000r in the cab or 3000r on the back, although you'll have to negotiate. Once in Sisophon, you can make for either Siem Reap or Battambang. (See the Siem Reap chapter and the Battambang section in the Around Cambodia chapter for more details.) It is worth noting that the road between Sisophon and Siem Reap can become impassable at times during the wet season. If the road is impassable, you could head to Battambang and then take a fast boat from there to Siem Reap.

Leaving Cambodia, there is no departure tax by land, but guards may ask for a dollar. From Poi pet, you must take a tuk-tuk (motorised three-wheeled pedicab) or songthaew to Aranya Prathet, from where there are two trains a day to Bangkok at 6.40 am and 1.45 pm, and buses every hour from 4 am until 10 pm.  

Koh Kong The coastal border between Krong Koh Kong (Koh Kong Town) and Trat Province in Thailand is also open. Coming from Bangkok you need to take a bus to Trat from platform 10 at the city's Eastern bus station (\ 69B; five to six hours). Buses depart every half an hour from 7 am until 11.30 pm. If you take the 11.30 pm bus you can make it to Koh Kong in Cambodia in time to catch the 8 am boat to Sihanoukville and avoid spending the night in this seedy frontier town. Another convenient option for travelers staying in the Khao San Rd area .is to take one of the Koh Chang minibuses as far as Trat. This might work out slightly more expensive than taking a public bus, but it saves you the hassle of getting to the Eastern bus station in Bangkok. From Trat you can either take a minibus straight to the border at Hat Lek for 100B, charter a taxi there for about 400B, or go in stages, first to Khlong Yai and then to the border. Take either a songthaew (50B) or a seat in a share taxi (60B) to Khlong Yai and then another songthaew to Hat Lek for 30B. The border opens at 7 am so you can stay the night in Trat and still make the boat if you get up early enough. Alternatively, stay the night in Koh Kong. Once in Cambodia you can take a taxi to Neang Kok, the town just over the river from Koh Kong, for around 30B and then cross the river by boat for a further 20B a person, although make sure you are agreed on this price before you jump aboard. Fast boats from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville (500B or US$15; four hours) leave at 8 am. Make sure you don't get on a fast boat going to Sre Ambel or you'll end up in a smugglers' port some distance from Sihanoukville. From Sihanoukville there are cheap air-con buses to Phnom Penh: see the Sihanoukville section in the Around Cambodia chapter and the Getting There & Away section in the Phnom Penh chapter for details.

Leaving Cambodia, there is no real reason to stay in Koh Kong. Get off the boat at the ommune of Pak Long, just before Koh Kong, and you can take a speedboat through the mangroves to the border (100B; 30 minutes). Immigration officials check your passports at Pak Long, so you will know when to abandon ship. This way you don't have to mess about with taxis in Koh Kong. If you stay on the boat right into Koh Kong town, you will have to cross the river and then take either a taxi or moto (motorcycle with driver) to the border. Once over the border you can take a songthaew/taxi combination to Trat and from Trat there are regular buses to Bangkok. However, if you want to get to Bangkok that night you will have to move fast as there are hourly buses through the day until 6 pm but then a gap until II pm. Alternatively, stay the night in Trat and then head to Ko Chang or the surrounding islands the following day. Motos to and from the port in Sihanoukville cost about 1000r from the guest house area and nearer 2000r from the town centre.

Vietnam  

The only fully functioning land crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia is at Moc Bai in Vietnam. The trip by taxi between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City should only take about six to seven hours. If you take the bus expect to be delayed at the border for a couple of hours while the locals are shaken down. You must have Moc Bai stamped on your Vietnam visa or you will not be allowed to enter the country, even if you plead. See Getting There & Away in the Phnom Penh chapter for details,

Coming from Vietnam you can easily arrange share taxis in the Pham Ngu Lao area of Ho Chi Minh City for USSS, and a number of the cafes in this area also run daily minibus services. Cheaper still, you can take a local bus to Tay Ninh from the Ben Thanh bus station for 3000d (dong) and ask to be let off at the turning for Moc Bai, the Vietnamese side of the border with Cambodia. Moto drivers can take you the rest of the way for about 10,000d.

There are daily cargo boats that run along the Lower, or Bassac, River between Phnom Penh and the Vietnamese border town of Chau Doc. It is not yet a legal entry or exit point for foreigners, but the boat operators say a few barangs (foreigners) have travelled this way. The boats leave at 6.30 am from a port called Psar Takhmau, near Takhmau, which is a small town about 10km south of Phnom Penh. The cost is 30,000r for the five hour trip.