Today we naively planned to leave Don Det and casually cross the Cambodian border on the cycle. During breakfast, another traveler traveling via cycle informed us that they recently closed the border to Laos – Cambodia traffic. Strangely, you can still travel from Cambodia to Laos with no issues.
We thanked him for the intel and decided to try our luck anyways. Fueled by a noodle soup we left for the border.
At the edge of customs I hopped off the bike and parked in some shade near the duty free. We assumed Louise would have an easier time convincing the border patrol to let her through with a naive pretty french girl routine, and we’d read on blogs that French people had been able to cross the border successfully whereas Americans had not.
Louise exited Laos and requested that they didn’t stamp her passport to allow her to easily re-enter the country if she was denied at the Cambodian line (we’ve heard that sometimes they try to trap you in no mans land and then offer to buy your bike for pennies). She continued on the road to the poorly marked Cambodian side.
We’re not sure why, but they opened the gate and waved Louise through. She continued, confused, elated, into Cambodia for a few minutes until a police man pulled up and furiously motioned back towards the border. He snatched her passport and jetted back to the border crossing.
Louise returned with him and he was livid. She offered to bribe him and he exploded in broken English “NO MOTORCYCLES!”
The guys at the Laos border patrol toyed with Louise before letting her go, snatching the keys and kicking at the bike, offering $50 for her to ditch with them and easily cross into Cambodia.
She returned to pick me up at the duty free and we came back to Don Det to spend the night.
Our options now are as follows:
- Sell the bike here in Don Det for a $140 loss and take a pricy buses through Cambodia
- Pay a local guy $150 to bring our bike across the border, dump it at a farm, and meet us on the other side to retrieve it. Risk not seeing the bike again but save lots of time. Also maintain the possibility of selling the bike back to a backpacker somewhere in Cambodia and making our money back.
- Wait three days in Laos to get a Vietnamese e-visa and then cross from Laos to Vietnam (unlikely with only 13 days left in the trip)
- Continue traveling in Laos
For now we’re leaning towards option 2 but it is fully dependent on the local guy meeting us early tomorrow am. We shall see.
On the bright side, I’m nursing a ginger tea on a peaceful outdoor deck. It’s raining.
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