Journey from hell
So, at 2pm I got a minibus from Pai to Chiang Mai, then a 40 min wait in the bus station from where, instead of getting on a bus to Bangkok, I was collected by săwngthăew (sort of a pickup truck) which then drove around Chiang Mai for an hour, picking up more people, to get on a grotty coach, nothing like the one promised, (which also turned out to be infested with things that bit my hands feet an ankles. This bus was supposed to arrive at a specific place at abut 6am and I would need to walk just around the corner to get the connection.
However, despite waking us all up to eat at about midnight, we arrived at 4am leaving me 3 hours to wait til the next bus. In some ways this was lucky as the map we were given with the bus stop and pick up point was clearly done by someone who had never been there, or at least not for some time and was doing it from memory, so a 5 min walk became a 40 minute walk in the pouring rain until I found the pick up point, a pretty revolting guest house. I was told I could wait on a stool in the corner til the bus came, however I elected to try to sleep on a bench for a while in the lobby, which did not please the man on duty but there was little he could do, as the place was empty and I couldn't sit on a small wooden stool for 3 hours. I couldn’t sleep anyway as it all seemed .... not right and I was anxious.
Finally a man arrived to pick me up (make walk 50m for me to stand at the end of the road) with another few people who had turned up. A minibus eventually came, not a VIP coach as booked, which then drove around Bangkok collecting the other people who were to share this ever more delightful journey we then drove slowly to the border.... all the time I was getting more and more uneasy that this was not what it should be.
We finally stopped at the border and were overcharged for a visa to get in... They refused to take us the next 2 miles t the border unless we paid $35 rather than the $20 I knew it was. I said I only had the $20 and I was basically forced to go by motorbike to a cash point to get the rest.
When we got through they then made us wait 3 hours for another bus.... massive alarm bells! Was trying to explain to my fellow passengers that this was a scam, they would take us v slowly until it was dark then try and take us to hotels of their choice or something. No one listened and it was I discovered the last bus of the day. I had to get it.
It was exactly as I had predicted, we got to Siem Reap, and the driver refused to stop in town as promised, even when I was shouting “STOP THE BUS” he just pretended not to understand and drove straight out about 3 miles out of town to a place where lots of tuk tuk drivers were waiting in a small clearing down a dirt road in the dark. He refused to take us back and there were no pay phones or even buildings around. Though my fellow passengers at first had agreed with me that this was not good, and we should not all be ripped off AGAIN, they all caved in as the situation got more threatening and got into the overpriced tuk tuks to go back into town.
However, then the tuk tuk drivers refused to take me because the bus driver told them that I had caused trouble on the bus and they began trying to separate me from the rest of the group.
I was getting increasingly scared because I knew that they were going do something to me if I was left to walk it on my own, (as they were saying things like “careful something happen t you in the dark” and “you girl on your own” and other things, and frankly, with no sleep, no phone, and a 24 kilo pack on my back I know I‘d have no chance against them if they did try anything, especially out there with no witnesses, but luckily a German couple stuck with me, realising I was in trouble, and refused to pay the tuk tuks either and we started to walk back down this pitch black dirt track to the main road, whilst being continually buzzed too close by the gang on Tuk Tuks and motorbikes, which was even more scary.
Finally we were able to flag down a tuk tuk driver who wasn’t of part of the gang (who as we left, initially chased us and threatened us) and they came with me to my hotel before going to the one they had booked. I have never been so grateful to anyone, or so pleased to see hotel!
Finally arrived there at 8.45, nearly 31 hours after I had begun my journey feeling rather traumatised.
Spent all day by the pool today trying to feel better about it all, as I knew that I should have been quicker off the mark, spotted the signs earlier, handled the situation better, and was very nearly in real trouble. Feel like a total twat.
No comments:
Post a Comment