Concern about immigration (bad border crossing incident) issue crossing back from HCMC to Phnom Penh via bus

[Dahon]

How does a bus from Siem Reap to PP take 12+ hrs? Your friend has enough money to buy beer. Next time pay for a bus with an internal combination engine and save on the beer.

Also buy a suitable backpack that will be allowed in the bus and which simultaneously holds enough beer for the whole trip. Stout really doesn't need refrigeration to be drinkable but he might try out dry ice and get an insulated softccase. A 50 L pack holds about a case easily.

I take it that hard stuff or fortified wine doesn't suffice, it has to be stout? Hard liquor saves on the volume.

Make a mental plan for the whole trip, containing items like:

Step 45, when approaching border crossing, remember not to burst out, especially at people in uniform. If they bark/chatter in a funny staccato language while pointing an AK-47 at you and cocking the action, it's a bad sign, immediately present a wad of green paper while shouting "dollar, dollar, dollar, free for you!"

Why not make the trip into a multi stage act with scripted scenes for fixed situations, like getting on the bus, being addressed by bus attendants, crossing the border, and so on?

Remember that successful military operations are usually preceded by detailed planning and rehearsals.

A small portable home use breathalyzer is not wrong, try to keep the reading below the level that carries a mandatory 2 year prison sentence in the UK or Australia merely for the DUI without causing an accident.

Try another crossing like others have suggested. Maybe dye the hair, grow a beard. Even dressing up in decent clothes might help. Store the mtb in the cargo hold for the whole trip, border guards might remember the guy who tried to cross on a bike.

[MrPoopyPants]

Try another crossing like others have suggested. Maybe dye the hair, grow a beard. Even dressing up in decent clothes might help. Store the mtb in the cargo hold for the whole trip, border guards might remember the guy who tried to cross on a bike.

"Roger that"...

... says my friend.

[AnassRamaIV]

i know right, the whole stories so incongruous. the puzzy/ fagg0t rides a pushbike but gets all mad at the border guards n shit?

i know the whole , even panther is still doable when not chilled vibe:i get that.

but man up. sell the pussy-wheels, get an XR. kick the bitch trying to sell u single cans (not the case) in the teeth. drink the case, burn-outs and stoppies to draw a crowd. break two of the legs of the old bitches knee high table. couple of crates underneath, some rough geometry. mocbai is made for it. straights either end. max that xr up and evil-knievil the bitch. don't snivel.

[Dahon]

How about the chain? carry a spare?

In my experience chains don't ever really break, they just stretch out a bit in various directions over time. When your cassette or crank wear out it's time to replace them but they seem to last well.

They can break but only after severe stretching. Check the chain regularly. If you can lift it half a cog on the biggest sprocket the it is time for a replacement.

Also 7 sprocket chains were more sturdy but with the current fashion of 9 or 10 sprockets in the cassette chains have gotten more narrow, lowering margin. Just gave to accept it.

Or get an internally geared hub which is also more sealed against the elements.

Brining spare chain(s) and cleaning k I t us essential. One of those chain powered auto brushes that fit over the brain makes the effort less. Also lube the chain.

Cassette sprockets wear but usually don't break. And if the do you can select another gear or just continue pedaling. Chain wheels usually never break unless you're a competition cyclist.

Cables can break from corrosion so check them. Brake pads wear out.

But all of the above is quite small and doesn't take up massive space.

[Hanno]

How does a bus from Siem Reap to PP take 12+ hrs? Your friend has enough money to buy beer. Next time pay for a bus with an internal combination engine and save on the beer

What I was wondering too. Even 15 years ago it never took 12+ hours.

[MrPoopyPants]

How does a bus from Siem Reap to PP take 12+ hrs? Your friend has enough money to buy beer. Next time pay for a bus with an internal combination engine and save on the beer

What I was wondering too. Even 15 years ago it never took 12+ hours.

Time is a relative concept. In addition to being on "Black Panther Time", my friend is also claustrophobic and "germ-people" phobic. In addition there was a "hardcore Chinese" man on the bus who was literally screaming into his phone for the whole (in relative time) 12+ hours - so much so that many of the passengers (including my friend) were ready to throw him out the window of the bus (ideally, while it was going at maximum speed). "12+ hours" is actually an UNDERESTIMATION of what it felt like.

My friend doesn't know which was more torturous: enduring that Chinaman for (what seemed like) "12+ hours", of the (around) 72 hours spent locked up in a commie torture chamber that one time...

Just another reason for my friend's cardinal rule to "Never, ever, EVER, take the bus"...

[Mèo Đen]

My friend doesn't know which was more torturous: enduring that Chinaman for (what seemed like) "12+ hours", of the (around) 72 hours spent locked up in a commie torture chamber that one time...

Or attempting to read this torturous thread! I think the latter!

[tonytonytony]

don't drink and ride

[black69wolf69]

I don't know if this story is real or not (a bit too much emphasis on the whole beer purchase) but all I can say is if it is real, despite the fact that yelling is considered impolite and uncouth in this part of the world, there is zero possibility of it affecting his immigration status in Cambodia, particularly since the confrontation had nothing to do with immigration itself. It's not like he attacked an immigration officer. And no, the immigration officer most certainly won't remember him. Thai immigration at a particular land border crossing where relatively few farang (barang) cross doesn't even remember me after perhaps a dozen crossings there in the past year, so why would Cambodian immigration remember an incident that had nothing to do with them directly from a year ago, especially with nothing being recorded?

Also, I don't think the Cambodian embassy or consulate has a database to show blacklisting, they just stick a visa in your passport and off you go. If he was worried, the best course of action would be to use another border crossing, though as I said I doubt he'll have any issues whatsoever.