Crossing Borders

Crossing the border from Thailand to Cambodia is interesting. There at Poipet our taxi driver dropped us off without any instructions. I remembered, though, some of our AVSTMers (PBTS short term mission/summer missions) to just walk toward Cambodia and follow the arrows. So we didn’t take the man’s advice to come buy a 1000 Bhat entry card from the “consulate” and we walked.
Embedded in the border are large casino hotels. So the immigration process is long. It’s time consuming, yes, but it is a long geographical distance. About a hundred yards to leave Thailand. Another hundred yards to pay the $23 visa fee. Then another hundred yards to fill out your entry card (past the casinos). Then a bus to a bus station. And it’s all outside and on this day 97 degrees. When we got to the entry card booth we realized we didn’t have one of our backpacks. After a quick double check I ran back to the visa office. There was our other backpack (the one with our visas and cash) sitting where we left it. Thank God!