Traveling between countries on the World Race can look very different depending on what countries you are traveling between, but usually one thing is consistent: they are long and usually require innovative sleeping strategies. For example, cuddling up next to your suitcase along the sidewalk outside the Delhi Airport or claiming your space on the Kuala Lumpur Airport floor.
This week we traveled from Thailand to Cambodia.
Here is a breakdown of how we got from Point A to Point B:
Monday, October 30
7AM: Eat breakfast at Thailand ministry site.
7:30-11AM: Pack up all our belongings into our two backpacks and clean the rooms we’ve made our home for the last month.
11:30AM: Eat lunch.
12:30-1PM: Hug girls goodbye and climb into Son-Tow, leaving our ministry site for the final time as we break down in tears as the girls chased after us.
3PM: Arrive at Chiangmai bus station.
3:15PM: Walk to a McDonalds and Tom Toms Coffee to pass some time and snag some wifi, taking over a whole section of each of the restaurants with all of our luggage. Download some new Netflix episodes.
6:15PM: Walk to another bus station and run into two of our fellow teams in the process.
6:45PM: Bus arrives.
7PM: Board the bus, stow backpack, and take some dramamine.
7:15PM: Bus leaves promptly (unlike our first bus in India which we sat in for two hours before we actually started moving). Watch a show on Netflix before falling asleep.
Tuesday, October 31
6:03AM: Bus arrives in Bangkok.
6:30-8AM: Once inside the bus station, take a nap on the bench surrounded by team bags.
8-9:30AM: Wander around the bus station station and grab some food and coffee at the 7 Eleven.
10-11AM: Watch some more Netflix episodes.
11AM: Grab some KFC, hoping you ordered what you really wanted off of the menu which is all in Thai.
NOON: Board the next bus, pop some more dramamine, and start another Netflix episode.
12:15PM: Bus leaves.
1:13PM: Get locked in bus bathroom until a stranger helps you get our after a minute of pounding on the door.
3-3:15PM: Stop for gas, driver orders us all to get out and wait until it is filled.
6:13PM: Arrive in Aranyaprathet, Thailand, and work with a swarm of tuk tuk drivers to determine the location of our hotel.
6:40PM: Arrive at hotel in a very full tuk tuk.
7:30PM: Walk to the closest restaurant to eat some dinner with the little Thai Baht that we have left.
9:50PM: Fall asleep with two of your teammates on two twin beds pushed together.
Wednesday, November 1
7:15AM: Head to a coffee shop (the only place that will take card) for breakfast.
10:30AM: Gather whole squad together to start transport to the boarder.
11AM: Pile fourteen people and twenty-eight bags, and a guitar and some ukuleles into the back of a pickup truck.
11:20-12:10AM: Fill out paperwork to depart Thailand and walk across the Thai-Cambodian boarder.
12:30-1PM: Receive visa in Poipet, Cambodia.
1:30PM: Get visa stamped at separate location down the road.
2-2:15PM: Cram bags aboard a bus to the Poipet bus station.
2:30-3:30PM: Arrive at bus station and venture out to find an ATM. Find out ATM only dispenses USD and exchange USD for Khmer Riel inside the bank (later we find out that most places accept USD).
3:30-4:30PM: Walk to a coffee shop to eat lunch (or dinner).
6:40PM: Board sleeper bus to Battambang. Lay next to Kayla on the bottom bunk.
9:30PM: Arrive in Battambang.
9:40PM: Load bags for the final time into a tuk tuk on the way to our ministry location.
9:51PM: Arrive at ministry location where pastries are awaiting us.
10:30PM: Set up sleeping mats.
11PM: Fall asleep.
Travel days are what you make them. Try not to get to stressed out by the details and catch sleep when you can. Also, be sure to always pack snacks, TP, and have a pen handy.
In the Son-Tow with my girls.
Bus to Bangkok.
Watching a movie in the Bangkok bus station.
Leaving the Bangkok bus station.
Walking to the border.
At the border.
On our last bus.
