Jan 6 2006

6 Jan - Jeremi you're on the website! You slept thru New Year, what you gonna do???

Thinking of travelling from Koh Chang to Siem Reap? From a recent post on the Lonely Planet discussion board . . .

"Despite warnings in the LP for Cambodia, we inadvertently ended up paying 1000 baht from Koh Chang to Siem Reap in Cambodia. (We bought the tickets from the Treehouse, a supposedly backpacker friendly place, who are also part of this rip off). We were taken to a restaurant near the border at Poipet where a guy in what appeared to be the embassy gave us the visa forms to fill out-we didn't realise that this cost an extra 200 baht each, and that this was not in fact the border at all just another rip off. Everyone in the place fell for this, it was so cleverly done. Then we herded (eventually) on to an old crappy bus that took hours to get us to Siem Reap -obviously so that we'd all be so tired that we'd have to stay at the guest house they conveniently dropped us at at 11pm. DO NOT buy any bus tickets from Koh Chang, do this trip yourself - it is a joke and so easy to fall for."

It isn't entirely fair to blame Treehouse for the rip off, but if a resort is doing business with a tour agent it'd be nice to know that they do care a little about the service an agent provides in addition to simply counting the commission they receive.

As one response commented: "Many people handle the border just fine without any scams at all. The one thing they all share in common is that none purchased a transport to Siem Reap from a guesthouse or travel agent in Thailand."

If you're straying in the Klong Prao / Kai Bae area then you'll see five small islands located between a few hundred metres and 3 kilometres s offshore. Here's a few photos from a recent paddle around the islands of Koh Yuak, Koh Suwan, Koh Man Nai, Koh Man Nai and Koh Pli by sea kayak.

Forgot to mention Cookie Restaurant reopened on 31 December. Worth a visit if you're on Whitesands.