CAM...wait for it...BODIA

Lets jump right in, no introduction needed because this internet cafe is as hot as...the inside of an internet cafe in cambodia at noon in the hot season. It's also packed with kids who I assume are on their lunch break.

Bussed to Bangkok overnight, where I ended up chatting for hours with this really sweet older woman who said I reminded her of her son. When we got off the bus, she told me not to take the skytrain, but that I could save money by taking the public bus into the city. She then took me around the bus station until we found the right bus number and told the driver where I needed to go and to let me know when we got there. Needless to say I was touched. After bussing into the city and walking to the VSO/CUSO office in Bangkok, I met with Thomas my CUSO country supervisor for a debrief session and then took the public bus to the airport. He asked me if I would be willing to come back. I said yes. We'll see where that goes. He also seemed very interested in my research and wants a copy when I finish writing up my findings. Great guy, couldn't have asked for a better country supervisor.

Anyway, from the office, I bussed to the Airport (I'm leaving out a lot here, just assume it was hot and uncomfortable the whole way on account of my carrying all my bags while it's 39 degrees in the shade).

Plane trip only took about an hour and a half, I got stopped at the carry-on baggage check because they FOUND A KNIFE IN MY BAG.
The check lady put the bag through, and then called me over to some side table and asked if there anything in my bag that I wanted to tell her about. I said no. She said "pocket nai?" I had no idea what she was saying, because I couldn't tell if she was speaking english, or Thai ('nai' means 'where' in thai) so i said I didn't understand, and she repeated it 3 or 4 times. FInally she reached into my bag and pulled out my swiss army knife. Being the genius I am, I was packing right at the last minute (an hour before i had to leave for the bus station) and so I completely forgot that my swiss army knife ended up in my bag. I had intended to switch it from my carry on to my checked luggage but that never happened.

Okay, I've got about 1o more minutes on my hour of time at this cafe so lets speed through the rest:
Got to Phnom Penh at about 4:30, it was raining, ignored the taxi drivers at the airport and walked out to the street to save 5 dollars on the trip into town. Ended up agreeing on 2, and hopped on the back of a motorbike. I spent a good deal of the next 2 weaving in and out of traffic going the wrong way up one way streets, driving over grassy medians, weaving around padestrians and other vehicles, running red lights and generally watching my driver prove that he either had no concept of "the rules of the road" or that he felt he was above having to follow them. I remember having this conversation with myself in my head:

"Wow, this guy is driving like a MANIAC...and having lived in thailand the last 11 months that's saying something. Oh...this is a one way street...we seem to be traveling against the flow of traffic. Isn't that something. Uh oh..traffic jam. The street's packed. Wait, did he just eye the sidewalk? He better not be thinking about doing what I...WE'RE ON THE SIDEWALK! WATCH OUT! PADESTRIANS! WHAT'S GOING ON?"

I won't bore you with the details but it continues along the same lines for quite some time. The 30 minute trip into town took 2 hours because the street was PACKED with cars. there'd been a major rain storm just before our plane touched down and many of the streets were flooded. I had to lift up my legs many a time so as not to soak my feet in the raw sewage which was overflowing from the open gutters. Everyone else seemed to be in a great mood though.

Spent the night in a cramped roach-y guesthouse (good thing i brought my roach spray) and am planning to switch to a new one today. Right now I'm in the middle of a walking tour of the city thanks to my handy-dandy Lonely Planet which I picked up for a few dollars from a kid outside the guesthouse last night. My hour here is up so I should probably pay my 37 cents and be on my way.

oh, before i go, Cambodia used to be a french colony so there's french architecture and french pastries everywhere. i paid 25 cents for a HUGE baguette for breakfast. it's great. Time to hit the streets for some more exploring.