Our travel to get to where we are living this month in Cambodia from Chiang Mai took us on five buses over five days. However we were not just travelling for five days. We travelled overnight to the Cambodian border where almost everyone had to pay extra because we overstayed our welcome in Thailand on accident. So we had to pay a reentry fee to pay for the two days we overstayed in Thailand in order to leave. After we crossed the border (by foot… but not as shady as the Tanzania/Kenya border) we got on another bus that took us to our real bus. This bus took us to the fun city of Siem Reap where we stayed for two days. As a squad we had some time to relax between ministries. Hang out together and just enjoy life. Some people went to the famous Angkor Wat. I chose not to go but my squadmates have beautiful pictures. We got to eat some good food and danced in the street to tthe YMCA. After that we got in another bus that drove us to Phnom Penh where we stayed for one night. Some of the girls and I ordered pizza that tasted like American pizza and watched movies for the night. The next day my team took some tuk tuks to the bus station where we got on our final bus that would bring us here to Kampong Cham. So here is a recap of my travel day(s) from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Kampong Cham, Cambodia. Disclaimer all of these times are ish times… just add ish at the end of each time to know the approximate time this was in reality.
7:00 pm Wednesday – load bus as fast as possible at wongen
7:17 pm – pull away from wongen waving to our contacts
7:46 pm- begin watching New Girl with Robin
10:06 pm – decide to try and sleep for a bit
10:48 pm – water from air conditioning unit begins to drip on my head.
11:22 pm – water still dripping
12:01 am Thursday – go around a corner and water gushes out of the ceiling onto my head
2:37 am – change seats so I can get some sleep
6:36 am – stop to get gas/breakfast/porgy break
6:58 am – back on the road
8:00 am – get to the border two hours ahead of schedule. Unload bus.
8:15 am – get into the passport control place
8:17 am – find out our visas expired two days ago
8:19 am – set up camp for a bit while treasurers figure out how we will pay for this
8:28 am – use my last squatty potty in thailand. Pay 3 baht for it.
8:37 am – the squad starts going through the one open lane for people who have overstayed. Each takes about 2-3 mins.
9:20 am – everyone is through passport control and ready to walk into Cambodia.
9:25 am – Cambodia border entry visa checkpoint, visa payment, and shady buildings to get stamped in.
10:15 am – load the commuter bus that will take us to bus station
10:30 am – arrive at bus station
11:00 am – leave for siem reap
1:30 pm – arrive in SR. get hostel room keys
3:00 pm – take a wonderful shower and enjoy the air conditioning.
7:00 pm – dinner with my team
10:00 pm – back to hostel. Turn on air conditioning so low I need my hoodie. Best thing ever.
12:00 am Friday- sleep
1:45 pm – wake up and hang out with Emily
5:34 pm – go to dinner with Misty, Emily, Chase, and Nathan
7:45 pm – squad worship and podcast time
9:00 pm – just dance
10:30 pm – dance to YMCA in the street
12:00 am Saturday – bedtime
8:00 am – pack up and leave for Phnom Penh
3:02 pm – arrive at hotel in Phnom Penh
6:45 pm – dinner and New Girl with Robin, Suzy, and Stacy
9:03 pm – watch 30 mintues or less
11:18 pm – talk to robin until we fall asleep
12:34 am Sunday – sleep
9:00 am – wake up
10:08 am – team breakfast
11:10 am – pack to leave
12:00 pm – check out and head to bus station
2:16 pm – load bus to Kampong Cham
2:30 pm – leave for Kampong Cham
6:30 pm – arrive in Kampong Cham
End of travel day. 🙂
This month in Kampong Cham we are teaching English, going to villages, going to a prison, and still just loving the people God puts in our path. We have been blessed with our living situation. We have three rooms for the six of us and we each share a large bed. We have showers, western toilets, and wonderful food. Cambodia is hot and we sweat a lot, especially when we take our transportation which is riding bicycles around town!! My team is amazing and I cannot believe that I get to spend every day with these amazing women.
Much love from Cambodia,
-A
