Cambodia forum

I just came across the border from Laos into Cambodia, stopping for a night in Stung Treng . There aren't many places to get travel advice in ST, so when a Mr Kosal said he could sell me a ticket to Siem Reap via Khompong Cham for $25, I took him up on it. But then it turned out that his "friend" who made the booking had made it from Phnom Penh to SR, so then I had to pay the extra to get from KC to PP ($5). I was aware I was being scammed, but didn't have much choice. I was told that the "friend", a Mr Phanna, would meet me at the bus station in PP and take me to his guesthouse and deliver me to the busstation the next morning for the PP-SR leg. Mr Phanna didn't meet me at the bus station. I made my own way to a guesthouse of my choosing (the Spring GH - very nice) and then contacted Mr Kosal. He told me to go to #10 Lakeside GH and find Mr Phanna and get my ticket for the PP-SR bus. When I got there Mr Phanna was getting ready for a party and kept me waiting for an hour until I bugged him enough and he finally gave me my ticket.

When I got to Spring GH I discovered that the fare from Stung Treng to Siem Reap is usually only $23 US.

Mr Kosal wasn't all bad - he took me on a moto tour of Stung Treng for free and delivered me to a lovely guesthouse (after I said I wouldn't stay in his). But he told me that the only ATMs in the country were in PP (not true) and therefore I felt I had to make the trip there. And he told me he was going to be in the next edition of Lonely Planet. Of course,this scam could have easily been avoided if I'd done some research before, but I'm travelling on my own and you can't research everything.

So just letting you know of a couple of people to be wary of in Cambodia.