Dan just asked me what day we flew out of Calcutta and I said Feb.1. He responded wait, today's the 2nd, how can that be? 2 days 3 Countires my friend. And then we both called dibs on the name for our blog like computer geeks and decided we would both use it. Of course Dan came up with a better title! For all of you that dont know, Dan has his own blog djrobbins.blogspot.com Sometimes when you read both our blogs you'd never know that we were on the same trip!
So, 2 days 3 Countries. Yesterday morning we said good bye to India. After a breakfast filled with beggars, a very cold shower, and a dog getting a foot (dan thinks just tail) run over by a car, I was offically ready for the next step of the journey. We found a taxi man and as we pulled away from Sudder Street our new and old friends started waving and yelling bye. Even complete strangers were wishing us a safe journey. I'm a blubbering ball of emotions so obviously I started to cry a little.
We flew out of Calcutta around 1pm and landed in Bangkok around 4pm with an hour and a half time change. (We are now exactly 12 hours ahead of you!) Sadly we were only there for the night. Bangkok was beautiful. The city was amazing (from what I saw from our taxi ride) It was voted best city in the world in 2010. Everyone was so kind and polite. We headed to our guest house which was also a step up. Marble room, hot shower, a big bed. (Dan and I have been sleeping in twin beds for the last few weeks) We got our favorite meal, Pad Thai (In Thailand!) and just enjoyed the little comforts of our new home.
5am came around in no time. After reading up for what felt like endless hours about how to get to Cambodia from Thailand, it started becoming reality. We went to the Mo Chit bus station and took a 4 hour bus ride to the border. I slept like a baby most of the way while Danny kept watch, for what.. I'm not quite sure. (He was exhausted though. I had screaming nightmares about cats and my glasses breaking that kept him up half the night. I guess that's what Thailands effect on me is)
We heard horror stories about this border crossing. We were prepared for the worst. So we get off at the bus station near the border and take a tuk tuk (rickshaw) to the actual border. Our tuk tuk driver drops us off at a scam. We were prepared. Danny's deleriousness made him second guess if we should buy into the scam. Luckily I was well rested and said I Dont think so. We got through Thai customs no problem. A new stamp in the passport! Then we walked over to the Cambodian side. We paid $20 for a visa. The border men wanted 100 bhat (5 bucks in thai currency). Budget travelers that we are, we didnt have it. They were kind enough to still give us our visa. We went through customs again and got another fresh stamp!
This is where the scams come in. We're all excited! We got through customs without a problem. Now all we have to do is find a taxi. We read, by no means get on a bus to Siem Reap, our final destination which is 2 hours away. So we shake all the scams and try to find a taxi. We start walking, no taxi. We keep walking, no taxi. A skeptchy man asks us if we want a taxi, we decline. Finally we found someone to bring us to Siem Reap. As were standing there waiting for the car to pick us up, a nice Cambodian man comes over to us. He spoke very good english and said that today was the beggining of the new year and it would be hard to find a taxi driver. (We thought the 1st day of the new year was tomorrow.. silly tourists) Well that explains why it was so easy to get across the border basically hassle free. Thank you new year!
After a "cush" txi ride for $40 USD we are now posted up in our lovely guest house. As we were saving our bhat for the travel expenses, we didnt eat anything all morning. So we dropped off our bags and headed into the "Old Market" area and ate some delicious food down on pub street and relaxed at the fish foot massage tank afterwards. I should say I relaxed. I've been keeping somewhat proper hygine on this trip, which includes scrubbing my feet. My counter part hasnt scrubbed his feet in about 24 years. Neadless to say, he wasnt relaxed as the fish munched on his feat. The Borch children requested that we did this. So when Danny said I'm not doing that and gave the excuse his pants wouldnt roll up far enough, I obviously said that they would be disapointed in him. (Thank's J,J,F,B,N I owe you guys!)
So there you have it. We are safe and sound and celebrating the New Year here in Siem Reap! Tomorrow we start our real exploring! Happy Snow Day (hopefully) to you all back at home.
