As in all travel, it's best to expect delays. We purchased a bus ticket from Siem Reap to Bangkok. When the vehicle pulled up we all crowded in and noticed there weren't enough seats! So the squished one more in a row and one guy sat on the suitcases for the three hour ride to the border.
At the boarder we waited in a couple lines for an hour then they herded everyone going on to Bangkok to a cafe. We waited about an hour and a half for our bus. One man was starting to get a little irritated. Finally the van showed up, packed with a number of people. It looked like not everyone would get a seat. The man was was irate! He started yelling at the driver, sitting in the front seat, locking the door. Demanding a front seat or a refund, screaming in peoples faces and even pushing and kicking. It was chaotic and crazy. This kept up for 10 minutes. Hannah and I were debating just grabbing another bus to Bangkok. He finally left and we were able to get on and get a sit. It was a long, hot, crowded six hour ride to Bangkok.
Upon arrival we were wiped. But we still weren't to our destination. We still had to take an overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai. Luckily we had a few hours on land. We ate and got refreshed. I got a haircut. :)
At the train station, we boarded and the sleeper cars were amazing' air conditioned, roomy, comfortable. We started settling in. Until the train attendant came by to say they made a mistake and we needed to get off the train. Confused, we packed up and got off. The train started rolling away. They said it would be a 20 minute delay. Another train rolled up, we boarded. It was different. Turns out we were accidentally in first class last time. Bummer. We had a taste of the good life. But at least we could still lie down and sleep. After another hour delay at the station, we finally left. It would be 14 hours until we reach Chiang Mai. As the train began rocking on, I fell asleep on the top bunk after a long day of travel.
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