Hi again!!We decided to do some mass posting while we had the internet and the time..and tell you about our first few days in Cambodia! Our plan was to cross the border at Ban Hat Lek (in Thailand) and go into Koh Kong in Cambodia and then take a taxi boat down to Sihanoukville. We did an overnight bus to Bangkok on the most uncomfortable night bus yet...tiny seats with NO leg room. We spent the day in Bangkok and then took our second night bus to Trat, which was a teeny bus station. We had to get a taxi there at 5am to make it to the border for 7am when it opened. 
Border crossing went smoothly, we crossed, got our visas no problem and then had to catch a taxi to the boat, which would take us to Sihanoukville. It was raining when we got there, and had been all morning. Our taxi driver (or was he!?) drove us to the dock, where he told us that the boat wasn't running and hadn't been because of the rain, so we decided we should just go straight to Phnom Penh. We didn't want to be on the beach if it was raining...so he took us to the "bus station"which we assumed was his friend's guesthouse. They had buses there, and we were in a place we didn't know..so didn't have much choice but to book a bus at 9:00am to Phnom Penh. He told us it would take about 6 hours...HA. When are we going to learn that mass transport just is NOT the same!? We climbed on a mini bus (full) and headed off. We were both absolutely exhausted and had had about 3 hours of sleep in 2 nights. We thought we'd at least be able to sleep...but got woken up 4 times to cross a river on a "barge" because the bridges WEREN'T BUILT YET. After the crossings were done, we switched mini vans to one that already had 6 people in it...Us 4 girls were crammed in the middle. We decided that the bus had just been hijacked by 16 year olds and they were just seeing how many people they could cram in there for fun..at one point we had 23...23!!! people in the mini van. People hanging out the windows...babies sleeping...seriously. They stopped about every 10 min to pick up or drop people off. We switched drivers at one point..you know..just for 
fun. At 6pm we FINALLY got here...and had to navigate through masses of tuk tuk drivers and garbage to find a hostel. There are a million and one more motorbikes here than thailand!! we luckily found a cute hostel right on the lake, in backpacker central! So we feel relatively safe there :) But honestly...we miss thailand already! We did visit Tuol Sleng museum, the Royal Palace and the National Museum today, which were all really cool..and are doing some more sight seeing tomorrow (including maybe ipod shopping?!).
Border crossing went smoothly, we crossed, got our visas no problem and then had to catch a taxi to the boat, which would take us to Sihanoukville. It was raining when we got there, and had been all morning. Our taxi driver (or was he!?) drove us to the dock, where he told us that the boat wasn't running and hadn't been because of the rain, so we decided we should just go straight to Phnom Penh. We didn't want to be on the beach if it was raining...so he took us to the "bus station"which we assumed was his friend's guesthouse. They had buses there, and we were in a place we didn't know..so didn't have much choice but to book a bus at 9:00am to Phnom Penh. He told us it would take about 6 hours...HA. When are we going to learn that mass transport just is NOT the same!? We climbed on a mini bus (full) and headed off. We were both absolutely exhausted and had had about 3 hours of sleep in 2 nights. We thought we'd at least be able to sleep...but got woken up 4 times to cross a river on a "barge" because the bridges WEREN'T BUILT YET. After the crossings were done, we switched mini vans to one that already had 6 people in it...Us 4 girls were crammed in the middle. We decided that the bus had just been hijacked by 16 year olds and they were just seeing how many people they could cram in there for fun..at one point we had 23...23!!! people in the mini van. People hanging out the windows...babies sleeping...seriously. They stopped about every 10 min to pick up or drop people off. We switched drivers at one point..you know..just for 
fun. At 6pm we FINALLY got here...and had to navigate through masses of tuk tuk drivers and garbage to find a hostel. There are a million and one more motorbikes here than thailand!! we luckily found a cute hostel right on the lake, in backpacker central! So we feel relatively safe there :) But honestly...we miss thailand already! We did visit Tuol Sleng museum, the Royal Palace and the National Museum today, which were all really cool..and are doing some more sight seeing tomorrow (including maybe ipod shopping?!).Hope all's well at home!
Love L and L
3 comments:
Hi girls
THis is Opa and I've just seen your pictures and I am amazed at what you have already seen and experienced so far. Enjoy every minute (the bad and the good!!). You'll have a lot tell when you get home.
Keep enjoying and be safe!
Love Opa XOXO
Hi Girls
I can't get over the experiences you,ve had already. YIKES! Consider staying in hostels at night instead of doing the dreaded bus trips. It doesn't sound like they are that expensive, and likely the safer way to go. Sounds as though you're doing absolutley everything you possibly can. Good for you. Keep safe.
Love Jan
It's all incredible! xoxoxoox
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