Crossing The Border With A Motorbike Between Laos And Cambodia

While there are no laws that state taking a bike between Cambodia and Laos is illegal, lately this has been difficult for international tourists due to corruption. There is only one international border crossing between the two countries.

 

Due to this being the only legal border crossing between Laos and Cambodia, it is the most popular option. However when we went to do this in June 2014 we were told by locals and expats that a scam was happening at the border. Apparently the officials let you leave Laos or Cambodia with your bike, but deny you when you try to cross into the next country. They then ask for an extortionate fee to give you ‘permission’ to cross. If you don’t agree to this, a tout then appears and offers to buy your bike for peanuts. As you are stuck in no-man’s land, you are left with little choice but to sell your bike. Due to these stories we decided to skip this border crossing and head into Vietnam instead.

Special Note: We met a local man on Don Det, in the 4000 Islands, who made an interesting proposition to us. He offered to ferry us and our bikes across the Mekong River into Cambodia and park them at his friend’s farm, before taking us back to Laos. We then could cross the border from Laos into Cambodia on foot and hitchhike up to the property to collect our bikes. As tempted as we were, we decided against this. We DO NOT recommend illegally crossing borders between any countries. But if you end up doing this, please let us know how you go!