Route 6

Leaving Cambodia, it is 150 kms from Siem Reap to the Thai border at Krong Paoy Paet along ROUTE 6. We pack the bike and leave just after 9am for the 2.5 hour ride to the border. Well it took nearer to 5 hours. We saw it all. The general aim if you are a very big truck or flashy luxury tour bus is to travel as fast as you can down the middle of the road, hooter blasting everyone else out of the way, and of course be as overloaded as you dare. Conversely if you are a small motorbike, the aim is to keep out of the way and stay alive. There are numerous 'no hooting' signs. We reach the border and get separated ( Rule no 2,broken). B is allowed through on the bike, total time 2 minutes. I stand in the queue as a passenger, total time 3 hours. B is allowed in with bottled water and relieves me of my back pack. It is very hot and there is standing only. When I emerge through the exit door he is nowhere to be seen. The vehicle exit and people exit are at least 500 metres away from each other. Rule no 4, "if you lose each other go back to where you were last together". I somehow persuade the Thai immigration officer to let me walk back through the vehicle arrival section and there is darling B patiently sitting. Where had I been for 3 hours? Its now 5 pm,, only a few hours of daylight left and we want to get as far south as possible down the eastern edge of Thailand. There are many police checks and blocks as we ride parallel to the border. We eventually find a wonderful spa resort by sunset and send the experiences of ROUTE 6 to the memory bank.