I am in Cambodia Now

I am sitting downstairs at our guesthouse in Siem Riep, after a long
day of traveling from Koh Chang in Thailand. Siem Riep is the gateway
to Angkor Wat, which we'll visit tomorrow or the day after. Our first
few days in Thailand were fun -- seeing Haisun's old haunts in
Bangkok, then a day trip to Ayuthaya, and then a traveling and a day
in Koh Chang.
Ayuthaya was gorgeous. It's only an hour outside of Bangkok (so easy
day trip), and is a little island (surrounded by rivers) with several
sets of temple ruins on them. Haisun wasn't feeling well, and had
already visited the wats (temples), so she hung out in internet cafes
all afternoon while I rented a bicycle and toured the temple ruins. It
was great, and I felt way too confident navigating crazy Thai traffic
on two wheels. Highlights included riding the bicycle between
elephants and pickup trucks on the roads, eating roti sai mai (thin
crepe-like pancakes wrapped around sugar floss), and seeing Wat Phra
Sisanpet at sunset.
The day after Ayuthaya we took a ride down to Koh Chang, a sweet
little tropical island off the south coast of Thailand. Six hour bus
ride to Trat, taxi to the pier, ferry to the island, and songthaew
(literally "two benches", basically a pickup with a covered bed and
two benches) to the guesthouse. We arrived in the late afternoon, hit
the beach, and had an awesome time. I'm sure someone will quibble
about better islands and better beaches in Thailand, but I don't care.
It was a perfect little slice of paradise, despite the fact that it
poured our entire second day there.
Enough of rainy islands, it was time to set off for Cambodia. We got
up at 6:30am today, and got into Siem Reap around 7ish. Songthaew to
the pier, ferry to the mainland, taxi to the bus station. Bus to
Chanthaburi, 1 hour. Bus to Aranya Prathet, 4 hours. Border crossing,
a little hairy. We had to take a tuk tuk from the bus station in
Aranya to the border, and said tuk tuk decided to drop us off with
some friends who wanted to scam us. Long story short, we just insisted
on being taken to the border, and fortunately that worked. After
wandering around the border netherlands for a bit (not many signs in
English) we found our way into the "Visa on Arrival" office to get our
visas. After hearing that overcharging is rampant at the border,
especially among officials, I was relatively happy to only have paid
an extra 200 baht than I should have. Tourist visas are $20US, and
several border guards kindly offered to process them for only 1,000
Baht (about $28US). Much better than the scam place which was trying
to make us pay $30.
Cambodia is interesting so far, what little I've seen. Most of our
"bus" ride (really a shared van) from the border at Poipet to Siem
Reap went through lovely, flat green countryside at sunset, which was
gorgeous. And so far the Cambodians I've met, aside from corrupt
border guards, have been extremely friendly and helpful, almost
frighteningly so. There's a lot of foreigners in Siem Reap,
predictably, but it's a pretty little town, at least at night. And
you should see how people light up when you even just say "thank you"
in Khmer ("aw gohn") -- I thought Lonely Planet said the Thais make you
feel like rockstars....