{"id":240,"date":"2015-11-10T14:50:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-10T19:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/?p=240"},"modified":"2015-11-10T14:56:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T19:56:24","slug":"all-the-way-to-cambodia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/?p=240","title":{"rendered":"All the Way to Cambodia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before researching whether or not there was direct service from the south of Thailand to Cambodia, I had already decided that some beach time was in order.<\/p>\n

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Apparently, however, the rainy season is ending at this time of the year on the Andaman Sea side but just beginning on the Gulf side. \u00a0I wish that someone would have clued me in during the planning stages of my trip…I may have decided to go to Krabi or back to Koh Phi Phi or Phuket.<\/div>\n
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Sadly, there was hardly any beach time in Koh Samui, due to the rain. \u00a0And sadly, there is no direct route from the south of Thailand to Cambodia…you must first return to one of Bangkok’s airports to continue onward.<\/div>\n
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Our tickets were booked on Air Asia from Surat Thani, but first, we had to get from Koh Samui to Surat Thani in time for our 11:45 am\u00a0flight. \u00a0Knowing that weather (rough seas), mechanical or even lack of interest in departing on time could affect our ferry departure, I had been a bit anxious about making our flight.<\/div>\n
Hoping we could buy ferry tickets in town, as you can do in Koh Phi Phi, I soon found out that this was not possible. \u00a0Asking around from tour desk to tour desk, I was given various bits information, sometimes each contradicting the other.<\/div>\n
\u00a0I was given wrong departure times, told to go to the ferry terminal (all the way across the island) the day before, told that I could make my flight if I took the fast ferry departing at 8:00. \u00a0Finally, after discovering that Seatran’s first ferry departed at 5:00 am, not 6:00 am,\u00a0we decided to try for this one, although it meant departing from our hotel around 3:15 am. \u00a0Thanks to the agent at Green’s Guest House, whom we’d become very acquainted, we arranged for transportation to the Seatran ferry pier the day before.<\/div>\n
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Travel to the Seatran pier was not lengthy\u00a0at this time of morning since traffic was at a minimum. \u00a0After arriving, we were able to purchase tickets for the ferry and bus service to Surat Thani city and board the ferry shortly thereafter.<\/div>\n
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\"Ferry\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"arrival\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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The journey was about 1 1\/2 hours and we arrived in Surat Thani as the sun was starting to rise. \u00a0A short walk down the pier to the terminal brought us to the staging area for the buses which would take us to Surat Thani town. \u00a0I discovered after talking to an Englishman who resides on Koh Phangan, that once we reached Surat Thani city, we would then be able to secure a taxi or tuk tuk which would then take us to the airport.<\/div>\n
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Finding a taxi or tuk tuk had been a source of my concern, however, there were many waiting. \u00a0Negotiating a price was the hardest part, as they assumed they could charge more than the going rate. \u00a0Before long, however, we were on our way in a tuk tuk and arriving at the Surat Thani airport.<\/div>\n
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Checking in at the Air Asia counter, we hoped that they would extend a little mercy towards our bags after we told them we were crew…and they did! \u00a0Thank goodness! \u00a0I was allowed to bring onboard both my rollaboard and my Longchamp bag, only checking my small duffle bag (laden with souvenirs). \u00a0We were then told to go to Gate 1.<\/div>\n
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Clearing customs and immigration, we proceeded into the gate area. \u00a0After a while, realization hit that we were the only ones in the gate area. \u00a0Panic started to set in…were we in the right area? \u00a0Finally, an agent identified herself and escorted us outside to the correct gate. \u00a0It seems that we were the only ones that were connecting to an international destination…everyone else was completing their travel in Bangkok, so, it was necessary for us to clear customs and immigration in Surat Thani.<\/div>\n
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Once we landed at\u00a0Don Mueang Airport, we were met in the jet way by an Air Asia representative who escorted us to our check-in counter and then to our gate.<\/div>\n
Shortly thereafter, we were on our way…<\/div>\n
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\"Arrival<\/a><\/div>\n
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After arriving in Cambodia, we discovered that applying for the Evisa online \u00a0was the way to go. \u00a0Almost all of the passengers from our flight had to go to the counters and fill out the forms for the Visa Upon Arrival. \u00a0We were allowed to go straight to the customs officials with no wait. \u00a0I would definitely say it was worth the $37 and filling out the forms online as opposed to $30 for the Visa Upon Arrival.<\/div>\n
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Once our bags arrived, we exchanged some dollars to riel, although later finding out that while riel is used, dollars are preferred. \u00a0Even ATM machines dispense US dollars!<\/div>\n
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A 15 minute cab ride ensued and we were soon ensconced our Cambodian home, The Cheathata Suites Hotel.<\/div>\n
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The room we were given was massive, containing a double bed, a king bed and a twin (added). \u00a0There was a sitting area, a refrigerator and coffee area and an enormous bathroom. \u00a0Our balcony overlooked the Night Market and adjacent bars and restaurants. \u00a0We truly felt like we were in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, as we watched the flow of revelers enjoying the entertainment and shopping.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0\"CAhotel\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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\"Hotel<\/a><\/div>\n
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Breakfast was included every morning and the staff was welcoming and friendly.<\/div>\n
A rooftop pool and bar welcomed us with cool water and drinks as well as a delicious menu.<\/div>\n
Sure, there were some extremely luxurious hotels that we could have stayed in, but the location of this hotel was amazing and the price…well…you just couldn’t beat it! \u00a0$49 a night (after tax)…and that price was split three ways!!!<\/div>\n
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Seatran Ferry<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.seatranferry.com<\/a><\/div>\n
\"seatran\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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Air Asia<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.airasia.com<\/a><\/div>\n
\"air<\/a><\/div>\n
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Evisa<\/div>\n
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\u00a0https:\/\/www.evisa.gov.kh<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Flag_of_Cambodia.svg\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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Cheathata Angkor Suites<\/div>\n
http:\/\/www.ctaangkorhotel.com<\/a><\/div>\n
\"full_237891_14112917160023693439_800x600_1418701079\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before researching whether or not there was direct service from the south of Thailand to Cambodia, I had already decided that some beach time was in order. Apparently, however, the rainy season is ending at this time of the year on the Andaman Sea side but just beginning on the Gulf side. \u00a0I wish that … Continue reading All the Way to Cambodia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cambodia","category-thailand"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}