siem reap to bangkok thoughts

some jewelry we bought in cambodia

I reflect a lot on long rides in between cities and countries. The rides are usually pretty quiet after the initial confusion of how to fit backpacks in the vehicle and where to sit in correlation to it so that I have an eye on my pack.

I prefer to travel by ground rather than flight because I get to enjoy the scenery and the local life, although they take about 10x as long to arrive to my destination. Half the fun and experience is how I get there! There has not been one completely smooth transaction in how we travel from one location to another since we landed in Southeast Asia... and I wouldn't have it any other way. If something goes exactly according to plan, we are so incredibly thankful for it, and I find that amusing since a tiny little thing like arrival time in the US would have caused a gigantic hoopla about false advertising. Here, I lightly brush it off as something that is bound to happen, and i just add about 2-3 hours to the estimated given time. I have learned humility, patience, and understanding of the harsh culture that surrounds me, and I hold that dear to my personal growth.

We have been up since 6 am today. I'm sitting on the 3rd bus of the day going from Siem Reap to Bangkok. It's been an 8 hour ride with stop and go traffic and intermission at the border in Cambodia and then again in Thailand. We took a minibus to the border of Cambodia because our bus overbooked (of course it did!) We are traveling with about 20 other backpackers like us and we were all collectively confused as to the actual arrival time, where to go after each border crossing and where to stay for the night. I love seeing them in one place, splitting up to go our separate ways and then randomly meeting again later in another destination to catch up on what we did in the last leg. We have a small group we met on a bus to Phnom Penh that is going on our same route until Bangkok (same same but different!!!! *_*)

We have met some incredible people along the way and I learned of travels that I could not do due to pure lack of stamina (pedaling a bicycle across 2 countries?!?!?!) but also of travels that are so inspiring that I now have new goals to visit India, Laos, and even Hoi An in Vietnam. All of these places were not on my list to see anytime soon but now they are top of the list for the next big trip!

I might also remind everyone reading this blog that these posts are my personal thoughts, opinions and emotions. Kat and Tien, my two travel partners may have some similar experiences but different viewpoints about our travels. Since their respective blogs and facebook are not working, I am trying to encourage them to post what they feel and sign it in my blog so you have a more complete idea of what we are experiencing together. I post pictures and some collective thoughts on the places we have been to but the observations, insights, opinions and journal entries are still mainly from my point of view. I hope that you enjoy reading this blog; it is my personal journal but it helps keep me motivated to blog when you are reading and commenting! *_*