What I thought was going to be a 5.5 to 6 hour trip turned into a 12 plus hour journey. We left Sihanoukville at 7:30 a.m., and drove to the Cambodian/ Thai border (after several stops to pick up others). We had a 40 minute stop for lunch at a restaurant in Koh Kong, which wasn't that great.
Once at the border (about 4.5 hrs later), our bags were loaded onto a cart which a Thai dude took across the border for us. Little did we know, once we cleared customs, we were asked by our baggage handler that we needed to tip him. He would not leave you alone until you gave him something. I opened up the wallet and basically gave him the smallest notes I had left which were 3 X 300 Riel. I believe that is about 8 cents. He wasn't all that pleased, but I told him if he didn't want it he could give it back...
We had about an hour wait until we got into a van. At one point 7 of us were sitting there in this van, with a couple of seats empty. The driver came in and said something but we couldn't figure out exactly what it was he was trying to say. It was either "We need 2 of you to change vehicles." or "We are waiting for 2 more people to join.". We all kind of figure it was the former of the two, because after he stood there for a few minutes, he then closed the door and turn the a/c off. We sat in the sweatbox for about 30 minutes. We figured it was a way to sweat a couple of us out. It was brutal but none of us succumbed to the torture. Finally, 2 others joined us and we were relieved of the heat. Away we went. Had yet another van transfer, a ferry ride, then two tuk tuk rides but finally got the main area of Koh Chang around 7 p.m. and the hotel about 8 p.m..
Staying at a rather expensive place but due to the fact that we (hanging with a Swedish couple) got here late, in the dark, and were tired, we didn't feel like scoping out anything else. The plan today is to try to find something else a bit cheaper.
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