320 kilometers to turn around at the Cambodian border

In the summer of 2015 we were traveling around Southeast Asia on our own scooter. We bought it in Thailand, on Phuket — we told how that went in the post “Buying and selling a scooter in Thailand.” Through Laos we were heading south: on August 13 we were in Savannakhet and went to the dinosaur museum there — a very small one, just a couple of rooms. And by August 15 we were already in Pakse.

The next day we rode around the area. We looked at the big golden Buddha and the temple next to it, and from the viewpoint near them — at Pakse and the Mekong.

Then we stopped at two waterfalls — the biggest of all the ones we saw during the journey.

The plan was simple: one more day on the road — and we would be in Cambodia.

The border

On August 17 we reached the Cambodian border and expected to cross it the same day. It didn't work out: with a scooter on Thai plates we were not let in. We had to turn around and ride back to Pakse — over the day that added up to 320 kilometers, and Cambodia stayed on the other side of the border.

We had no intention of parting with the scooter. We decided we would ride it wherever we were allowed in — and the next day we set off for Thailand.

Back in Thailand

On August 18 we were back in Thailand — the land of fast internet and good roads. We checked into a hotel with a pool, the first pool of the whole journey. In Thailand it is nice and easy to relax, but what we liked about Laos was exactly that it kept us on our toes: you get more impressions when you don't know what awaits you in a new place.

The same day we went to a temple. By then we were rather tired of temples, but we had always liked the Thai ones, and this one turned out to be a true work of art: a huge golden tower, and on the grounds — sculptures like these.

On August 19 we stopped not far from Surin, and on the way we dropped by an aquarium — one of the few sights where admission for foreigners cost the same as for locals.

A new plan

Cambodia hadn't gone anywhere — it had just moved further down our plans. In mid-September we were going to ride the scooter to Malaysia: there we were sure to be let in with it. We decided to leave Cambodia and Vietnam for later, once we had sold the scooter in Thailand — on Thai plates we would hardly have been let in there. As we understood it then, Cambodia did not let in motorcycles from its neighboring countries, and why that was, we never found out. The rules may have changed since 2015 — this is the story of how it went for us, not advice.