Cambodia - Siem Reap What You Sow

As previously mentioned, I'm not a great traveler. This is probably why I have a real appreciation for trains - they're fast, efficient, and always get me to where I'm going without real incident. Unfortunately Southeast Asia has yet to come to terms with the concept of efficiency, so the most popular way to travel through countries is bus. And that's exactly how I got from Bangkok to the Cambodian border.

Crossing a border in Southeast Asia is intimidating to say the least. Upon approach, everyone has to disembark the bus, take all their luggage, and proceed to various and menacing customs and immunization agents. It's 90 degrees, with 100% humidity so standing in line amongst every man, woman, pig and chicken trying to get from Thailand into Cambodia isn't fun. But it's all part of the experience, right?

Once we made it into Cambodia, we jumped on another bus en route to Siem Reap. Getting to our hotel was a blessing and we had just enough time to grab a shower as we were expected to dinner. Smelling clean and feeling fresh, we got into tuk tuks and rode to the other side of town to have dinner with the village people. This was one of my most favorite parts of the trip! We had a chance to talk with the families and I loved taking a walk in the rice paddies with a 30 year old woman who talked all about her dreams of traveling the world. The furthest she'd ever been was Bangkok! The food was fantastic and when we were finished, the village kids came to speak with us and practice their English. The little girl in this photo is Joo, and she was such a smart cookie! The dinner made me realize how much we take for granted and how hard others work to achieve what we are born with. It was a fantastic welcome to Cambodia and it set the scene for plenty of adventures ahead.