On our way to Laos we decided to break the journey by stopping in Kratie. We bought our bus ticket in Phnom Penh at one of the agencies of the lake side for $5 each. We had been told the trip from the agency to the bus station was included, but the girl from the agency who came with us in a tuk-tuk to the bus station ask us for money! However when we refused to pay she did not complain ...well she tried her luck (as a lot of Cambodians do with tourists) and it did not work out with us! At the bus station, which was specific to the bus company (usually bus departs from the central market), after waiting for a while we have been told to get on a truck to go to the bus parked in a nearby street. Luckily they gave us the front seats so we did not have to squeeze at the back. The bus left nearly on time and the trip to Kratie went fine. We travelled along the sealed road N7, a longer option than travelling on the unsealed road that follows the Mekong. It took us a good 7h to reach Kratie including the numerous stops the bus did to pick up/drop passengers, fill up with fuel, etc.... All the way we have been amazed by what we could see on the road: trucks OVERloaded with goods with people seating on the top (in Europe there is no way they could drive below any bridges!), motorbikes carrying incredible things like big cupboards, beds, another motorbike....really all what we have seen in Thailand is nothing compare to what we saw on this road! In Kratie we checked in a very nice room for $5 at the U Hong II Guesthouse and relaxed for the rest of the day at their restaurant where they serve very good food!
