Border Crossing: A Practical Guide

March 11, 2011

For any of you planning to travel between Laos and Cambodia in the future, here is a step by step account of how you make it across.

1: Get out of the bus as quickly as possible, so you do not have to queue behind everyone else crossing with you.

2: Upon reaching the Laos emigration desk, present $1 to the border agent for the exit stamp in your passport. just to be clear, this is not a postage stamp, just an ink blot. After a minute or so of arguing with the agent in very broken English, throw the bill at him and storm off with you passport.

3: Pick up your bag and walk across the border, as any vehicles crossing are apparently stripped to the chassis "inspecting for drugs" or until you pay the appropriate sum (2 bikers crossing the border were in the process of dismounting their tires from their wheels to show they were not filled with blow).

4: On the Cambodian side of the crossing, report immediately to the self diagnosis medial quarantine desk. Please check off all your symptoms, and present $1 to the resident "doctor" for processing your paperwork. I can only assume that you pay $1 per symptom, so make sure you are in good health or a good liar.

5: If you do not have an entry visa, please proceed to the "visa on arrival" hut with $25 and a recent photo. These requirements (alone among this list) are published on the Cambodian Government website. If you do not have a photo, please pay an additional $5 for their on-site photo services.

6: After receiving your visa, please proceed to the entry validation desk where (you guessed it!) you present $1 to have your passport stamped for entry.

In summary, if you did your research, and arrived with $25 US, and a photo. You would be quite upset to learn, you cannot enter Cambodia. Some travellers we crossed with ended up paying $33 each. Only $25 of which will ever make it into the Cambodian Government coffers. Sarah and I only paid $26 each, due to stern refusals to bow to obvious corruption. I'm not sure if they were surprised or pissed off that someone actually stood up to their demands. Either way, lesson learned. Always travel with a wad of American $1 bills.


Sander