Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is in fact the only word that can be used to describe our journey from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (sorry, I don't even know how to pronounce these names and don't recommend trying). Our ultimate goal in all of this madness, was to reach the temples of Angkor, so it was quite literally, a religious movement. And like any religious rebellion, we faced our fare share of adversity. Just finding a bus ticket was like trying to buy a tickle-me Elmo doll around Christmas time. And apparently the tickets we did buy didn't guarantee us seats, as we were verbally accosted and nearly kicked off our second bus. Unfortunately for the crew, they were messing with the wrong Americans, and we stood strong despite the painful glares from the rest of the passengers.

Midway through our trip, we finally left Vietnam, which resulted in a collective sigh of relief from the entire bus full of people. There was also a noticeable difference in everything once we crossed the imaginary border into Cambodia. The constant honking of horns abruptly stopped, resulting in a indescribably peaceful silence. Instead of the death defying games of chicken we'd gotten used to playing on the highways; it was more like we were in the middle of a parade in which people were piled on top and hanging off of the cars and trucks to catch a ride. While we waited to get aboard the ferry across the Mekong river, we realized we were in a Cambodian traffic jam, which is essentially their version of a busy marketplace.


In every direction vendors are carrying trays atop their heads with the delicious treats piled high, such as fried cockroaches (see above), salted snails, and other equally appetizing snacks I couldn't quite make out. If you were daring enough, you could open the window of your air conditioned coach and make a transaction...but we preferred to just sit and observe. Right next to us, a young Cambodian girl skillfully snacked on a coconut, which I'm convinced is the secret to a beautiful smile (see below). In fact, after a few minutes in this country, it's easy to see why Angelina keeps coming back: the children are adorable!!!


Upon arriving in Siem Reap, we were accosted by Tuk-Tuk drivers with broken English, each desperately trying to offer us a ride. We'd come to find that it wasn't the ride into town that they wished to provide, so much as a tour around the Temples of Angkor...which will lock in an amazing $12/day for these guys. At one point we were surrounded by half a dozen drivers all yelling things like, "I saw you first" or "where you go?" I felt my fist clench and my temperature rise but amazingly we escaped and made it in to town courtesy of the wonderful Mr. Sovann:


English speaking Tuk Tuk driver, Siem Reap
Email: tuktuk_sovann@yahoo.com
Phone: (855) 12 19 47 116

In Cambodia we had the pleasure of withdrawing good ol' American dollars from the ATM...it's nice to feel the crisp green bills again, but also a bit of a reality check. Previously, it was all as good as monopoly money to us, but now that we're nearing the end of our trip our bank accounts are hurting. We've managed to shrink our budget down to $60/day (a small fortune by Cambodian standards) and we're still enjoying the finer things in life...