Pimp my Phnom Penh Ride

My Ho Chi Minh couchsurf host

Today has been an exhausting but fun day of transport.  At 6:10 (ten minutes before my alarm was scheduled to rattle me awake) I rose from my host's couch and prepared for the bus ride into Cambodia.  She generously drove me to the ticketing office where the most recommended bus company was to pick me up at 8:00am.  We said our goodbyes, I helped her kick-start her bike (it had been having problems), and then she was off to work!  Walking into the ticketing office, I froze with panic.  I had left my purse inside her bike seat because she had warned me about moto-theft.  The bus was leaving in twenty minutes and it would take her at least ten minutes to get to work and open her seat, realizing my purse was in there.  Of course my phone was in my purse so I couldn't call her.  All I could do was wait on the curb and be calm, because there was absolutely nothing else I could do to get my purse faster.  Playing through all the possible scenarios of what I would do if I missed the bus, I turned my head to the right and there she was, thirty meters away, walking her bike toward me.  With my two backpacks, I awkwardly started waddle-running toward her in an epic romance fashion, yelling, "I knew you'd come back!" 

Kelsey.  Seriously.  No more of that.

Highly Recommend

All bags accounted for, I stepped into the red and white coach expecting the worst.  Instead, I ran my hand across velour printed seats and strolled down the faux grass-printed isle and sat beneath a glass-like hanging fixture that was meant to look like a chandelier.  The bus was air-conned and for $13, they gave us a moist towelette, bottle of water, and a box of coconut cookies.  Then, we would drive seven hours across the border and end in Phnom Penh. 

My seat mate was wonderful.  He reminded me of Jack Nickolson’s character in “Something’s Gotta Give” except more politically and socially involved.  He owns a recording studio in Sonoma California, has a beautiful Vietnamese girlfriend 20 years his junior, and carries around multiple copies of Rolling Stone Magazine (praise!)  My typical reaction to the second attribute is usually negative, but I enjoyed his company and we had conversation of substance.  It was interesting to hear his vocational journey that got him where he is comfortably living today.

One km in

Border customs was no problem; we put our bags through an un-manned x-ray machine and walked through a not functional metal detector before getting electronic photos and digital fingerprints taken.  That’s right travelers – we didn’t need to provide two passport photos like in the past. 

After an interesting tuk tuk ride through some flooded streets (it’s monsoon season after all!) I’m staying in the Flicks Community Movie House with The Godfather of Couchsurfing.  He has hundreds of all positive reviews and so far, has been an amazing host.  More about that later.  For now, someone please explain to me how sitting on a bus for seven hours has made me sooo tired!?  Waking up for some bright and early tourism tomorrow.  

Hey thanks, Cambodia