Laos-Cambodia border corruption
After leaving Don Det and the 4000 islands in Laos we wanted to head to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We hopped on a bus and headed for the Dom Kralor border crossing. The corruption on the border is far worse than expected. We expected to pay US$20 for the Cambodia visa with a "processing fee" of US$1-2. This is WAY off!
We arrived at the Laos border and were requested to pay US$2 per passport to stamp out. A little more than we would have liked to pay for the bribe but there wasn't much choice (although we did short change the guy and gave about US$3 for both of our passports).
We then enter Cambodia and are required to pass through a health inspection. To get our passports back we had to pay US$1 per passport. Again, we cheated and I slipped the guy only US$1 for both passports and walked away quickly.
Next to get our visa. Again, it is known that the Cambodian visa costs only US$20. On this border crossing they wanted US$23 per visa. We were a large group of people and we started to argue the price difference. The border officials then started bargaining with us and offered US$22! We laughed at them and the price was immediately raised back to US$23.
A few of us decided to stand our ground and pay only the official price. We were just ignored! In the end we had to cave-in and pay their "special" price. Gadi and I got away with paying US$45 for both passports so we saved an additional dollar. A small defeat.
You'd think that it was all over, but no. Once we got the visa we stood in another line-up to get the visa stamped. Guess what? They wanted another US$1 per passport! At this point I said I had no more money left. I whipped out my wallet and showed them the empty folds. They agreed to do it for free for me. Another small defeat and another US$2 saved.
Finally got our Cambodian visa
After the whole ordeal we boarded the bus again. We looked out the window at the health inspector just in time to catch him pocketing the cash. It is just infuriating!
In the end, the visa which should cost only US$20 turned out to cost much more. If you payed all the requested bribes the Cambodian visa costs US$27! Be prepared to have extra cash and it is best to bring US dollar bills.
I wish you all the strength and patience!
The Slow Boat Experience: Advice for Travellers
From Chiang Mai we wanted to make our way into Laos. There are very limited options to do this:
1) fly ($$$)
2) take a 16 hour ride on a mini-van to Vang Vieng and skip out on Luang Prabang
3) take a two day slow boat into Luang Prabang - we went with this option
Advice #1: book the full excursion from an agency in Chiang Mai because you get better value than if you were to try to do it on your own. We paid 1650 Baht which included a mini-van ride to the border, accommodations the first night, dinner, breakfast, a lunch box and the two day boat ride.
Here is how it goes:
Day one, we were picked up from our guesthouse and driven to the border town of Chiang Khong. Along the way we stopped to see some hot springs (which are great to soak your feet in) and in Chiang Rai to see the amazing White Temple (Wat Rong Khun). We made it to the border where we checked into the guesthouse and were given dinner (included).
Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple
Advice #2: use the guesthouse service to get your Thailand exit stamps. To avoid having to wake up early the next morning and cue up for customs, you can pay 100 baht and your guesthouse will do it for you. They also give you all the necessary paperwork to fill out to get your Laos visa.
Advice #3: go buy provisions for the long boat ride. Bring drinks and snacks because there is limited options on the boat and it is way more expensive.
Day two, we got breakfast and a take-away lunch box (included) for the boat. Our stamped passports were returned but not before being accused of carrying a fake Israeli passport! We were driven to the border and then got on a rickety long boat and crossed the river into Huay Xai, Laos. After a long wait we got our visas which cost $US42 for Canadians and only $US30 for other passport holders.
Advice #4: do not listen to any touts trying to convince you to upgrade to a bus! They will tell you of the horrors of the boat and how expensive the night to come is. Not true! Just stick with the boat, it is an experience. You won't regret it and plus, you've already paid for it.
We were driven to the slow boat and we were off down the Mekong River. There were some very comfortable and reclinable chairs and most benches had cushions. There was even enough floor space to have a great round of UNO. The boat ride was only 6 hours (the aforementioned touts claim it takes 10 hours).
How many white people can you fit in one boat?
Advice #5: make friends, it will make the time go by faster. Sit beside the guy with the guitar and join the sing along or bring cards/games. The slow boat can be lots of fun!
We arrived in Pak Beng and were whisked away to a great guesthouse. All the guesthouses cost 200 baht and we had the cheapest beer to date. Again, the same touts promised rooms no less than 400 and expensive food. The only down side is that electricity shuts off around 11pm so the whole town is dead. It is a good excuse to get an early night.
Day three, we got breakfast and some more food for the boat (the baguette sandwiches are cheap and taste great). Then it was back on the boat. The second boat was a tighter squeeze but we got the floor where we read, slept and played games. We were on the boat for 7.5 hours but with the beautiful scenery and great company the time went by fast. We arrived in Luang Prabang with high spirits.
Views of the Mekong River
In conclusion: slow boat = good times
Some paperwork for our trip to the Soviet…errr…I mean Russia
We managed to get our well deserved rest. This is what we call a vacation from our vacations. Believe it or not, backpacking is hard work. You have to wake up early, walk a lot, party hard, it is just exhausting some times. So here in the comfort of our Modi'in home, we are enjoying the luxuries that we can get while it lasts.
We took the opportunity to get some of our paperwork together. I had to get my Israeli passport extended and Rebecca had to get a Russian visa for her Canadian passport.
Apparently, if you are married (male or female) you have to send the certificate to the Israel Consulate. This I failed to do back in Canada. The Consulate decided to return my passport with a little note saying that they have only renewed my passport for one year (instead of 10 years) until I send them the Marriage Certificate. Unfortunately, our time in Canada was running out before the trip and the cost to send "important" papers via mail is quite expensive. So we decided to do the paperwork here in Israel.
Well, the passport officer here did not like my Marriage Certificate because there is no official stamps (nobody told me that I needed to get it stamped!). Anyways, we decided to go the Canadian Consulate to asked them to get it stamped. When we arrived the officer told us that he won't be able to do that for us because he can only stamp Federal documents and a Marriage Certificate is a Provincial one. What the f***. What do we do now? My Israeli passport will expire before the end of our One Year Trip. To wrap things up, the nice passport officer at the Israel's Ministry of Interior gave me a one year extension free of charge so I can get back to Canada and send my forms to the Toronto Consulate.
On with Rebecca's Russian visa. This was kind of a nightmare. We started by going to the Russian Consulate. This was a complete mess, full of people. We weren't even able to get into the consulate. The people at the door would not give us any information. We finally, sneaked into a side door and we got someone to talk to us. We just wanted information about a tourist visa. The very nice woman (sarcastic) said and I quote: "it is impossible", and I said "but how do we get into ..." cutting me off she said "it is impossible", she turned around and left, that was nice. This whole ordeal took about 3 hours just so we can hear that it was impossible to get the visa. By this point we were just thinking of paying the penalty and changing our flight so that we don't fly to Russia.
Anyways, we decided to go to a travel agency to obtain our visa. This is another method to obtain it if you don't have an invitation from a citizen of Russia. Yes, you need one if you don't go through an agency, crazy!
Our intention was to go to Moscow and then St. Petersburg continuing to Riga, Latvia and then back to Moscow. For that we need a multiple entry visa, which the Consulate denied it to us. They are really a pain on the ass! I really think that their country is still a little bit behind in time. So we probably will have to cancel our Latvia section of our trip.
So, we are staying in Israel until the 19 of May when we have our scheduled flight to Athens.
We will keep you posted.
Cockpits and More…
This is my first blog entry and so I have a bit to contribute.
I truly believe that this trip was meant to be. In the past few weeks, everything somehow came together: I sold my junky car, found someone to take over my cell phone contract and even gave away my MCAT books on the very last day (thanks Melina!)
We are now in Lima, Peru and I´ve suddenly realized that this trip is for real! It took about 24 hours to get here: Calgary-Vancouver-Dallas-Miami and finally Lima. It was on the Dallas to Miami flight that we sat beside Mr. Van Murphy. This man is not only a pilot, he is a volunteer sheriff, writes a blog for the Panthers, paints, designs shoes and is an air marshal (I sat on a plane beside a guy with a gun!) After the flight, he took us into the cockpit where we could play with all the controls...
In the American Airlines Cockpit
So far Lima has been lovely. The hostel is located in an upscale neighborhood called Miraflores. I managed to get my Brazilian passport in a fraction of the time and price of that in Canada. We strolled down the beach and spent the day recouperating.