Ant Baguette

Hello :)

Today we are heading from Kampot in the South, to Siem Reap with a little stop at Phnom Penh on the way through. Our friendly guest house lady, the same one who booked us the sandwiched-into-the-back-of-a-ute drive up Bokor Mountain, organised our tickets for the bus.
It was an early start - so Naomi picked up some baguettes (crappy bread rolls, the only French element remaining was the name) for us to eat on the bus.

















Look closely, and you might be able to spot the ants that we discovered after eating half of the roll.

Other than the disappointment of an ant-ridden breakfast, the first leg of the bus ride went pretty well.
























I was quite amused when plastic chairs started to line the aisle, so that more people would be able to buy seats for the bus.














Eventually, quite a little crowd was filling the front section - although this is nothing compared to how the locals travel. We had the luxury of two people in each pair of seats! Further down the bus (they give the Westerners the front few rows) there were whole families sharing the space provided by one pair of seats.

A halfway stop at the 7 Nice Super Shop gave us a chance to stretch our legs, get some fresh air and stand in everyone's pee at the very well frequented toilet block.



































(7-Nice is, apparently, now newly opened)

Some hours later, we found ourselves once again on the streets of Phnom Penh. It was beautiful to see the giant frangipani trees lining certain roads again, and also fun to watch the traffic mayhem.
While driving to the bus station I spotted this for Paul -


















although I wasn't able to catch their contact details. It could have been just what we were looking for!

Now, I had made the mistake of thinking that we were halfway through our drive, and the simple process of changing buses would be... well, a simple process.
We gathered our bags from the first bus, only to find Naomi's bag had been removed from the other side - there were a few scary moments before we discovered that it was still with us.
Having sorted our baggage, we were cheerily informed to be back at the same time tomorrow to get the bus to Siem Reap.
It took twenty minutes of careful negotiation to convince the bus company that it would be a good idea to get us to Siem Reap today, considering that was what the ticket said and that was what I had paid for. Reasoning such as "but today is Saturday" really were not going to convince me.
They got one of their buddies to drive us around in circles for a while, and then to a depot of different bus company where we stood around aimlessly before discovering that we had been slotted on to another bus that was leaving in just under an hour.















The good natured vendors, wearing all the hats they could find, left us alone after the first few rounds of refusals.
We bought some bananas, one of which was given to a young toddler nearby... and a sneaky man looked at our ticket, then told us the bus about to leave was ours. He did this because when we rushed over to it, his mum sat down on the seat Naomi had been occupying.
























Instead, Naomi retired to the covered driveway where she exchanged smiles with a gang of teenagers sitting against the opposite wall.















I amused myself by watching the world go by on a typical Phnom Penh street scene... and wondered if the timber stacked neatly across the road had come from the beautiful forests we had driven through on our way through Bokor. Was it only the day before? ahh, yes. The bruises on my ribs and buttocks certainly said so.















After what felt like a very long wait, our bus did arrive and we climbed aboard - only, we had Seat no.2, and Seat A.
It turns out "seat A" is the small folding chair next to the driver! The bus man tried to convince several locals to move there, but they all refused (and rightly so! they had paid for their proper seats just like everyone else). So it was me this time, who was sitting in the aisle of the bus! The photo above shows Naomi in the rear-view mirror, in the luxury of Seat No.2 and as seen from my very much front row Seat A.

While in the front of the bus, alongside the driver, I found myself really paying attention to those we were sharing the road with.
























Chicken Man, with dozens of live chickens draped over his bike.

Also, the next vehicle - sporting a Star of David on the back window.















These guys were a long way from Caulfield!

I was not very sad to leave Phnom Penh... with the excitement of the temples being only six hours away, and the fact that after Bokor no road could really scare me any more.












One of the bridges, where footpaths are used for motorcycles, and I guess people just find somewhere else to cross.

Unless, that is, they all pile on top of each other in whatever transport is available.

























The above image is in fact fairly tame. We once spotted 40+ people on a ute (seven or eight rows, 6 people in a row) and even a motorbike with a family of seven - three adults and four kids!
Bikes with four or five are fairly common. The load of seven was pretty special.

















In no way was it limited to people getting stacked in ridiculous proportions! This (above) rider not only carried his buddy with him, but also enough wicker furniture to cage a thousand monkeys... or start your own low budget hotel. :)

The drive started to take its toll on me in my little folding chair next to the driver, and Naomi was kind enough to swap at one of our breaks.














For the rest of the ride, she was the one on the rickety chair.
Some hours later - after 12 hours on the road, in fact - we reached our destination.
The first night spent in Siem Reap was at the Freedom Hotel, where we were not greeted with much of a smile. It was a temporary stay for us while we waited for a room to be vacated at another place.

Our desire to leave was confirmed when we sat down to dinner.
Naomi found her legs tickled by a large cricket navigating its way up her trousers, and then the last straw came as we watched a giant rat casually strolling through the hotel restaurant.
















Amusements from the menu aside, we were happy to leave first thing the next morning.
And that is where you will find us next!

until then...

smiles from Naomi and Guy.