Our Marathon Bus Ride To Siem Reap & Ankor.

May 9th, 2014

Off we go onto our next adventure. It's sad to leave the pepper farm but we have more exploring to do. We decide to go to Siem Reap to explore the Temples of Angkor. We are told the best way is by bus... (later we find out we could have taken a shuttle). We catch a bus at 8:00am from Kampot with a stop in Phnom Penh. No other tourists are on the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, but there are two ladies who help signal us to the right spot since no one is speaking English. At one of the stops the same lady helps us price out some snacks because we are getting the tourist price. By snacks I mean fruit, fried banana and pork buns. At the same stop we see a stall full of fried bugs... BIG ones!!!

Not So Appealing? But Interesting.

The Bus Stop Was a Trip.

We also got swarmed by children trying to sell overpriced fruit and one of them has a live Turantula. I see him talking to Jess and I cruise over. All of a sudden, he throws it on my shirt (I'm thinking, OK interesting)? I decided just to hold the thing, considering its fate could be far worse than being my part time pet. I think these spiders may be less gnarly than people think. The whole experience blew our minds. It was badass and we had a great time.

When Things Break: Stop Fix & Hope For The Best.

Our bus continues on but takes a detour through the back country & we get a flat tire (this will be the 1st of 2 flats on our bus ride). At the second stop to repair the 2nd flat we meet Shā (Spelt Shā but spoken as Schããā .... that's how we say his name). He is the only one who speaks English on the bus and he sees us struggling to call a hotel to book a room for the night. He says he can help us get a room and a tuk tuk since we are getting in at midnight. We take him up on it (only to switch hotels the next morning) but we end up really liking Shā (he's a rock solid friend from the start) we book him as our guide for a 4 day tour of the temples. The following days in Siem Reap have been amazing, Shā is a Full Bro, and a killer resource showing the local restaurants and cool things to do around Siem Reap. Perhaps in all the chaos, lied a certain destiny? It's amusing in travel, we struggle with shit that doesn't work, changed plans, and other forms of confusion. More often, these events -- somehow, seem to spearhead awesome adventures to a destination (or with friends), we never considered. We realized how blessed we are in landing on these small nuances, changing our path for the better. Our trip was 15 hours in total (supposed to be 10) but it's worth the journey.