We crossed into Cambodia at the Poipet border crossing between Thailand and Cambodia and straight into Cambodian corruption.   Sadly we were not allowed to take our car into Cambodia as it's right hand drive.  Damn.  For the first time we were having to use public transport.   The Lonely Planet summed up the situation in Poipet - 'free' buses will shuttle you to a terminal for travellers entering Cambodia.   This terminal is in the middle of nowhere and from there your only option is to take one of the over-priced taxis.   The only other option is to pre-arrange a taxi while you are still in Thailand but the prices there were even worse.   What makes this so annoying is that this scam has a government concession, they know it's going on but do nothing to stop it. Independent operators are soon pushed deterred by one means or another.   Welcome to Cambodia.

We really missed our car. It was the first time we had been without it and I had forgotten how much I hated buses. Yes, the roads were bad the driving clearly woeful but I still wished we could have driven and seen more of the real Cambodia, rather than just the tourist destinations. The car itself was left in paid parking at the border. Most people can't bring their cars in to Cambodia for the same reason we couldn't so there was plenty of parking.