Bumping and Grinding

So I'm probably never going to post the rest of our first half in Thailand because it was over a week ago now and I'm over it. We went to an island. It was beautiful. We took a tour into lagoons and went sea kayaking under limestone rocks. We swam at gorgeous beaches and took a hot pink night bus that played pirated vid Vin Diesal movies all night long. I got a bad stomachache again but persevered through many temples and Buddhas and tailor shops. We saw an incredible temple by surprise and watched a slew of middle aged women participate in an outdoor Jazzercise class while the sun set over the river. It was cool.

Monday morning (last Monday) we crossed the border at Koh Kong and immediately caught a taxi to the bus station. After much haggling, sweating, and ultimately money, we finally got on a bus to the village of Andoung Tek, which we were supposed to catch a bus to journey to Chi Phat, a government-sponsored EcoTourism site that promised adventures through the Cardamom Mountains. This bus ride was the beginning of the inspiration for the title of this post. It was a bumpy, bumpy, hot, smelly (many children pulling from motion sickness) way too long bus ride. By the time we got to the first village, the boat had left and we waited instead for a motorbike to take us to Chi Phat. The motorbike was actually so cool. My driver drove for about 40 minutes through rice fields, little villages, and stunning vistas of jungled mountains. The road was completely dirt and sand but he expertly shifted us through all of the obstacles without breaking a sweat. It was beautiful.

After eating at the communal dining "hall" (open air, thatched-roof hut) we spent the night in a concrete jail cell of a room that had both of us fantasizing about terrifyingly creative escapes from trash can fires gone wild (mainly me) and sweating profusely for lack of windows (mostly Rob). It was not ideal, but we were in the jungle in Cambodia so life could definitely be worse.

The next day we went mountain biking through the Cardamom Mountains, led by our guide who spoke extremely limited English but was insanely talented at biking through sand. Which is what we
did for most of the morning. Surprisingly we were surrounded by massive tress, all which grew out of this rocky, nutrient-less, soil. After stopping at a waterfall for lunch (which was SO cool...the waterfall and lunch because the waterfall was very cleansing and lunch was rice, chicken and eggs wrapped in BANANA LEAVES), we biked through a banana plantation and across a stream that becomes a thundering river during the rainy season.

After getting back to "town" and booking our boat ride for the next morning, we watched the local men play on their and volleyball court. They LOVE volleyball and the games are nightly rituals. The  men are quite good and there is a bookie who takes bets. Each side chooses how many players they want on the court, so we saw a two man team beat a team of five. Teamwork. Its all about the communication, I was the only female watching. In Cambodia, volleyball is definitely a man's game.

The next morning we took a lovely ride down the river back to Andoung Tek to catch the bus. The river wasn't too big, but there were these MASSIVE boats with cranes and big construction diggers
pulling up the sand from the bottom. We think the sand is used to make concrete, but it was a very juxtaposed experience riding by on our little long tail boat as huge cranes and diggers drag the ground out from under us.

After another bumpy (albeit airconditioned) bus ride and another bumpy bumpy tuk tuk adventure through Phnom Pehn, we spent the rest of the day coffee shopping before going to the casino...Nagaworld. Nagaworld indeed. It was awesome. As an American who has yet to experience Las Vegas (mom and dad took Rachel there for her 21st....another family vaca I was RUDELY excluded from and am clearly still feeling the painful repercussions of that and other parts of my deprived childhood), Nagaworld. Was. The. Shit. 7 floors of gambling and people watching (I spent a grand total of $4 to lose repeatedly at roulette) and free beer. We were basically the only white people and definitely the worst dressed people in building but it was so. Much. Fun. Happy Chinese New Years indeed!

The next day was spent at the prison and the death fields, which I already wrote about so I'll skip here. Then on to SIEM REAP and ANGKOR WAT and by far our worst and bumpiest bus ride ever. It was bad. And hot. And 8.5 hours long. During the day. With at least 6 puking Cambodians (after 6, we stopped counting) On an UNPAVED ROAD! It might be my first world-ness, but I also don't think it is because this was the stupidest unpaved road I've ever been on. It is by far the most critical thoroughfare in Cambodia because it connects the capital city with that of the country's (and worlds) biggest treasure. The road we came into Phnom Pehn on was paved, but for some unknown and inexplicable reason, this road was not. It just...didn't make sense.

But I digress. We rented bikes and caught the temples at sunset, grabbed some PIZZAAAA for dinner and passed out before waking up incredibly early to try and catch the sunrise (which we missed but oh well...it was cloudy anyway). Angkor is amazing and Indiana jones like and beautiful and unique and mystical and terrifying and just everything. I could go on and on, but pictures are better. After a run  along the river in Siem Reap,  which is perfect for running and so lovely while the sun is setting,  we got a three course dinner for $6 and spent a couple hours wandering through the stalls, buying fruit shakes and  things for people from home (get pumped).

The next day, we said goodbye to Cambodia (:-/) and got on our last bus ride. It was surprisingly enjoyable. The scenery was beautiful and we passed the time quickly chatting about life and making friends with all the English speakers who surrounded us (for once). It was actually really nicebecausewe hadn't seen Americans  in so long(everyone is European) so it felt good to be among our people again.

That was Cambodia. Dirty and bumpy, but ultimately beautiful. It is truly a land of perseverance and tenacity, keeping temples alive, open, and holy for thousands of years, embracing life and country despite all encouragement towards the opposite, growing jungles out of sand, building roads through rice fields and cow pastures, and of course, spending 8 hours silently and stoically puking on a mercilessly un-airconditioned bus.