Day 61 - Cambodia South to North in 14 hours

My first picture in Cambodia, notice the tired look... also probably not a good idea to be sporting a Vietnam t-shirt at the Cambodian border!

Day 61 - 23rd August

A nice monument on arrival, one of many.

So I crossed into Cambodia and was greeted as the first on our bus at border control. A quick look and finger print scan had me passing through easily.

One of the many casinos as you enter Cambodia from the south, it was like a mini Las Vegas down there!

Sèbastien and I invested in some bananas but they were so under ripe that we ended up blowing bubbles with them. Not an experience I wish to repeat in my next two months.

This is all I saw pretty much all day so sorry for the lack of inspiring photos.

For the majority of my day, I sat in the back of a hot coach, bouncing around like a kangaroo on Red Bull and just listening to music. Sèbastien and I engaged in a couple of conversations but we were both clearly still thinking how much it sucked to have left Jordy behind and how the girls were now gone. We were glad they made it home safe.

The Cambodian countryside was stunning, and I began to appreciate the struggles he people have sustained here. In Cambodia's past, the educated were killed, books were burned and schools were turned into prisons which has left half the population either at 20 years old or younger. A staggering statistic.

We stopped at Phomn Pehn for lunch and soon after, felt queasy. The bus operator told us we'd be staying for two hours, but when we checked because it didn't sound right, it was in fact half an hour because we were leaving at two pm. Lucky escape there,

Another six hours later, we arrived in Siem Reap. The sun had gone down and we had no idea where we were. A short negotiation managed to get us a Tuk Tuk and within ten minutes we were 4KM into the city, $2 down and dropped off at I Win hostel. It wasn't great, with no locks on door, no sign of a locker and a light switch that didn't work for the whole dorm, but did the trick.

After finding Sèbastien details of a bus ticket to Bangkok, we retired to bed. It had been a long day and  my volunteering would begin bright and early the next day.

Exciting times ahead.