Helllooooo Cambodia!

My alarm wakes me at 6:30am to get up and finish packing. Once I got everything together, I made my way down the street to get a motorbike taxi to take me back to Kao San Road where I can catch a bus to Cambodia. This ride was also interesting because I was carrying a big pack. I negotiated the ride for 125 Baht and since the roads were virtually empty, by Bangkok standards, we made it there very quickly. The biggest challenge in that was not falling off the back of the bike every time my driver accelerated.

The 1st of three buses I took was very easy and I read and slept the entire time. We pulled over near the boarder at a meeting point and found out its going to be another 3 hours till the 2nd bus comes to get us. It had broken down in 5km before the boader and was stuck in Cambodia. This was a good opportunity to meet my fellow travelers. There was a very diverse group of people traveling from USA, Japan, UK, France and Israel. We all mingled by talking about our trips and exchanging stories of previous travels. Before long we were being shuttled to the next bus that will take us on a 5 hour ride into Siem Reap. Along the ride we passed many rice paddies and flat plains. As we ventured deeper into the country, see saw the impact the rain has taken on the environment. Everywhere was flooded for as far as the eye can see. Though this seems to keep the locals entertained as they were all sitting around with each other tubing. Some tubed in the rivers and other in their back yards.

We arrived in Siem Reap around 6:30pm and I was very eager to find me some quality street food. I sat down at the first place I saw and it was a damn good decision. I had a chicken and rice noodle soup along with sauteed beef with onions, tomatoes, fried egg, and rice. This was especially fun because I was the only foreigner in the chain of stalls. Everyone was watching me eat and lots of people came and sat with me to find out what I'm doing in the area. These conversations also ended up in getting me a cool tour guide for the temples.

After eating I walked around town on my own while drinking some Beer Lao. The city has a great night scene packed with markets, bars, clubs, massage, and endless options for food. I eventually met up with some of the people I came in with and we spent the rest of the night bar hopping and finally ending at a club packed with both locals and tourists. The 2 for 1 special really got the best of me as I was quickly reminded that my college tollerence is gone.

So to sum it up, this was an easy day of traveling, a great night, and a solid way to kick off Cambodia.