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It was my clever idea to go by road instead of flying. It was my trip. It turned out to be a little more than any of us had bargained for.

I should have known really, as the journey from Phnom Penn to Siem Reap was by taxi, and my husband's view was that we were lucky to arrive at the hostel in one piece, actually to arrive at all.

It was my dream to visit Cambodia, my special trip, so it was up to me to organize things. I wanted us to see as much of the country as possible, so a road trip seemed like the way to go. Apart from the fact that the taxi collecting us from the airport in Phnom Penn had no seat belts, everything else seemed fine. For the first few miles that was, as we were getting out of the city. We did notice that there didn't seem to be any traffic lights or signs anywhere but as our driver slowed down at every junction it seemed ok. It was once we were on the open road that things turned hairy. He was overtaking without being able to see what was coming and either not seeing large trucks hurtling towards us or just ignoring them. There didn't seem to be many other cars, it was either bicycles or large trucks piled high with all sorts of things. Just 5 hours later we arrived safe and sound if a little shaken at our lovely hostel.

After a wonderful few days in Siem Reap it was time to head back and I was determined not to fly. The journey to Poipet , we were told, was about 8 hours on a very potholed road but it did mean that the driver had to take it slower. The road turned out to be unpaved, just dirt really. At times the dust made visibility just a few feet in front of the car.

We passed many small dwellings made out of corrugated iron and farmers working in the fields. One large town we drove through didn't even have a name. It was lunch time but nothing we saw in passing the few market stalls induced us to stop. The lush green countryside was a pleasure to stare at as the miles ticked by. Eventually we arrived in Poipet, the border town. Our guide book said of this place that the only good thing about it was leaving it. I have to agree. It was a mixture of dingy hotels, gambling joints and people trying to cross the border. There wasn't exactly a dangerous feel more of a desperate one. As we only had a backpack each we had to keep fending off the guys with carts wanting to take our luggage over the border for us.

It was a short walk to the other side and once we got our leaving stamps from Cambodia in a dark and shabby little office we entered

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