When the bus breaks down... just start walkin'

Trip Start Jun 13, 2005

Trip End Jul 27, 2005

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Flag of Cambodia Sieng Riep, Cambodia
Thursday, June 30, 2005

AS i said, our new bus was GHETTO at best. Basically a small tin box on wheels. There were about 11 of us on this bus, the two british guys from our tuk tuk, a couple (a korean guy and german/french girl), another random british guy, two chubby british girls with rolling luggage?, a japanese girl, and few other randoms... To begin, when they say that the roads in Cambodia are vastly improved, i immagine all they can mean is that there are no longer land-mines. These are the wors roads i have ever seen in my life, and this is coming from a girl raised in taos new mexico and who safaried for months in Africa. The ride was so insanely bumpy you couldn't keep your ass on the seat, let alone attempt to read. And then... the bus stopped. Our tire was flat, we all got off the bus, and then the bus drove off...One of the bus guys was with us and informed us in his half-english hald-hand gestures that the bus was going up there to fill the leak, and we should start walking. Im sure everyone had the thought in the back of their mind..

bikers

. were never going to see our bags again, BUT there was not a single person in bad spirits, not even the rolling luggage girls. We walked through the mud and blistering heat for about an hour. People from all of these rural villiages were coming out of their houses to look at us, kids were running up to us... (it was alot like that time in KabiMoi in Kenya, the villiage my dad built a school in with operation cross roads africa where they hadn't seen a white person since his group in the 70's, when the kids kept touching my sister and my skin and hair in awe). Our whole group became the best of friends through this ordeal, and we probably each lost about 30 pounds... lovely. Finally, 500 '"the bus us just beyond that tree"'s later our bus was infact beyond that tree. And we watched as they just kinda... hammered at the tire and put it back on. Though i suppose this was an improvement over the piece of wood and rope the kenyan bus driver used to fix our strut's on the world trip 10 years ago. We got back in the bus... lots more bumping, some more rain, and then another stop... for dinner. It was already 730 (our bus was supposed to get into siem riep at 7), and we were only half way. I just threw a mayo packet in one of those amazing tuna pouches and ate that... refusing to pay for the overpriced resteraunt that these bus guys have deals with. Then back on the bus, it was fully dark now. AND THIS IS WHERE THE TRIP GOT LOONEY!!! Suddenly the two british guys behind us (one of them refered to by the cambodian guys as 'justin timberland' 'justin timberland' for his resemblance to the boybander, and the other this tall red-headed skater kid with a headband (Dave..

brits

. can we begin a sub-chapter of the GPC for the HBC?), began to serenade us with some terrible backstreet boys song, it was embarasing that they knew all the words. THEN for the next two hours, our ENTIRE bus started doing some deranged sing along, from the beatles, to queen, to disney, robey williams, and on and on... It was possitively hysterical!!! My favorite had to be bohemian rhapsody... the harmonizing was perfect, and there were even some doing the instrumentals. Lots of proclomations from the adorable headband kid of "my agent would be so pissed if he knew i was performing for free", and my favorite... the two british guys leaning over our seats and declaring "lets leave everything behind and form a touring pop group". I will remember this bus ride for the rest of my life! We were finally dropped at the bus's sister guest house in siem riep at 1130pm, and they gave us a ride to our place which we pre-booked Mekong guest house... a splurge for us at 9$. LOVELY!!! The owner came up to our room in his pj's and told us he had been so worried about us, and that he was giving us another 30 hour before he called the authorities to go look for us. He was ADORABLE!! Then a little AC, and some BBC and SLEEP!!!