Transportation

Well let's just say we've become quite savy in the transportation area. In case you don't know we're no longer in Thailand. After boats, buses, tuk tuks, trains, motor bikes and the wonderful pedal bike I think we have this thing down.

We spent 19 hours in 3rd class on a train to Chiang Mai (Don't do this if your butt cheeks are not well padded or you bring your own...padding that is) Additionally our feet resembled plump potatoes ready to be slathered with butter. My toes were so powdered they looked like I walked to Chiang Mai...through flour patches.

We decided to do it on our own and rented a motorbike when we got there. This was great after I stopped knocking my helmet against the back of Mateo's head. He got the hang of it after the first day and we were weaving in and out of traffic like the locals. I have to be honest though, I let the helmet go after day one. In big blue letters it said BEER on the back and I figured it must be some tourist joke. I already looked like something weird with a headwrap stuck under this small helmet leaving cushion lines on my forehead. My head was ringing and the rain was whistling off the top of my head as we wizzed down the road getting passed up by the more experienced Thai motorbike drivers like 11 year old girls and 70 year old women.

We left Chiang Mai with the anticipation of what Cambodia was to bring but delighted by the experience we had there. 12 hours on a bus and we found ourselves back on Khao San Rd. When we came through there 4 days prior Mateo was wearing one flip flop and one tennis shoe and the predatory sales reps were so amused that one of them remembered and spotted Mateo's matching shoes this time and wondered why he was matching. At 6 am it's just not fun to try and communicate in a language you really can't speak but we laughed it off and headed into the Israli Connection for some rest and tooth brushing.

We enjoyed 3rd class so much that we decided to hit the same style to Cambodia. No problem because this was only a 6 hour trip. Although we were the only non Thai faces on the train we felt right at home. We had been there before. It would have been even better if we were able to purchase something from one of the local vendors but I'm sure we'll get the opportunity some other time.

Of course we were greeted by a willing tuk tuk driver in Aranya Prathet. He held up 7 and we thought we were getting a deal of a ride to the border but when Mateo asked for change for his 20 baht the driver said no 60 baht. It's interesting that he could say sixtey and not seventy until he was about to get 7 baht. Mateo wouldn't budge and some man off the street gave the driver 40 more baht. The point was, this guy tried to get over on us after we asked 3 times how much the ride would cost and repeated 7 baht each time he put up his fingers.

We actually had to walk across the border to Poi Pet, Cambodia. I can tell you this is one of the most disturbing experiences we've had thus far. There's tons of kids begging on the streets and they are very aggressive. Just as we were standing there a kid stole something and ran into the river behind some bushes. A couple of kids surrounded us and I had to say "get going". This was a really hard experience for me. I really don't like to ignore or be mean to kids and at the same time I had to protect our stuff. One young boy was trying to get close to Mateo's backpack while a little girl was walking beside me trying to grab my hand. Most of these kids don't have families and they are truly by themselves. They travel in packs and they are demanding and intimidating if you allow them to be. We walked across the border with a "travel agent" who played right in to our uncertainty. I was really done when two naked babies who couldn't even talk came running up to us trying to beg. They couldn't have been more than 15 or 16 months but very tiny.

A day later we found ourselves bumping down a road from Poi Pet to Siem Reap. This trip is almost indescribable. The bus sounded like a wooden roller coaster and the road was so bumpy that most of us were laughing when we first started out. The novelty wore off after about an hour and then people just got pissed. I thought the best part was when we stopped for a toilet break and the bus driver just pulled over on the side of the road. 8 hours later we reached Siem Reap with some very upset people. Mateo and I made the best of it and stayed at the guesthouse that none of us initially knew they were bringing us to. I actually thought the trip was kind of cool minus my headache and sore neck.

For the last two days we've been exploring temples. If you have a chance look up Angkor Wat. It's amazing and that's where we are. We're on bicycles daily travelling a couple of miles to visit some amazing ruins. We went to Ta Prohm today and that's where Tomb Raider was filmed. It's like some stuff out of an Indiana Jones movie. Ok this post is really long so we'll update you later. In 2 days we head south to Phnom Penh the capitol of Cambodia.

Joronda