I wake up in my hotel room, pack my stuff and it is time to go to Phanom Rung the other Khmer temple at the border of Cambodia. After a nice evening with expats it is now time to go ahead.
I get out and reach the main road, walk for a few 100 meters and realise I am really in the middle of nowhere. I take my mobile phone to check on google maps where I am and how far I am from the bus station….. what a surprise…. I am at 20km from the bus station….. Grrrrr.
On top of that I don’t see any tuk tuks or Taxis. I continue to walk till a big junction and try to find a way to reach the centre. Amazingly I could not find anything. I really start to be angry against Dimitri….
I continue to walk expecting to see a tuk tuk coming by or stoping by my side as they usually do. My anger is turning in frustration, so I decide to stop in a coffee shop and have an Iced moka to cool me down in all senses.
I then remember I received the card from Mr. Cookie…. So I take my phone and call him. I tell him I am lost in the middle of nowhere and need to go to the bus station. I try to explain him where I am according to google map, but impossible. I then pass him to the lady at the bar who explains him where they are located. He got the direction, and about 15 min later he is in front of me. I feel much better and it is so nice to see a known face smiling at you.
He told me when we met 2 days ago that he could also drive me to Phanom Rung as he has a car. I then start to negotiate with him a price for going there. He tells me to wait until we arrive and we will fix the price. But arrive where?
Finally we get into a kind of Parking with his tuk tuk. I presume it is where he parks his car and that we will discuss further more the details of the transport. I get down and we start to chat. I ask him where we are and if his car is there. He says no, you will check in and then we will see if my friend with a car can drive you tomorrow to Phanom Rung.
WHAT!!!! no no no Mr Cookie, I will not change my plans. My idea is not to find a place to stay, it is to go to Phanom Rung today, and either stay there for the night or come back, but you will certainly not start planning for me and not this way putting me in front of a situation I did not created.
I had enough frustrations for the day and I did not want more so I told him to stop all negotiation and to drop me to the bus station with no more alternative.
Finally I get into my bus to Phanom Rong, in fact not directly to the historical site but to a village nearby where you can get buses or drivers to get you to the site.
Unfortunately when I arrive it is raining, so I decide to get a driver directly to the historical site.
Even-though the weather is not as good as I would have expected, the site is extraordinary. It is impressive and the quality of preservation is just amazing. A long paved track ended with stairs make you slowly discover the temple as you get closer and closer. The rain and the dark sky gave a very dramatic scenery with a heavy atmosphere. It was just great.
After staying a few hours walking around in the park, I decide to go back to the village with my driver. He drops me where he picked me up at the bus station. I take the next bus to Korat and expect to arrive round 7:30 PM.
Arriving in Korat I have now to find a place to stay. I check in my Lonely Planet guide and find 2 places that don’t look too far from the bus station. I decide to walk as rain has stoped.
I arrive at the first address mentioned…. and nothing, no hotel, no bord nothing… It looks like it is my day of frustrations…. I continue my way to the other direction mentioned in the guide. It is still at a walking distance even distances on the maps look always more reachable then the reality…. I reach this little hotel which in fact is very nice. All staff was very kind, making sure everything is fine and as expected. What a change with the motel of the previous day.
For dinner I did not had to go far as the entire street was a restaurant. I just had to walk and pick up anything I wanted or sit at an improvised table . I love it! We did not invented anything with our food trucks…. 🙂
