So three Cambodian guys, a blonde chick and a zebra get into a cab...

Yesterday was an intense day of travel from Thailand to the Cambodian border, then on to APCA. Poi's aunt and uncle helped me book a ticket through a travel agency on a ten passenger bus and then a transfer to a cab to Phnom Penh for 1350 baht.
Poi's grandparents dropped me off at the Malaysia Hotel in Bangkok at 6:30am because the bus was scheduled to arrive at 7am. The bus showed up at 8am and we were on our way. It was cool to see some of the more rural areas in Thailand on the way. The scenery was very lush and green, and there were people out in the rice paddies working. It was very postcard-esque. And I got to listen to some good music on the way via the man from Mexico City's headphones who was sitting in front of me. He seemed to be waging a full fledge attack on his eardrums with his sound cranked all the way up.
We arrived at the Poipet border around 11:30. At the border we all got out and had lunch while we filled out paperwork to get us across the border. Some people from my bus still needed to get their visas, so they did that there too. I sat with a guy from Singapore named Jeremy who was going to meet up with his friends at Siem Riep, where Angkor Wat is. He is a business student at an IT school in Singapore, but is spending this semester abroad in Bangkok, so he is just traveling a bit before his classes start.
Around 12:30pm a man told everyone going to Siem Riep to start walking with a guide. It turned out I was the only one from our bus going to Phnom Penh, so I stayed put. A few minutes later our bus driver came up to me and motioned to me as if to ask why I was still sitting there. I pointed to myself and said "Phnom Penh." He motioned for me to get up, pointed at the group far ahead and said "follow follow!" So I got up, put on my 30lb backpack, strapped my day pack to my front over my other small side bag, and began pulling my 50lb bag full of stuff for the APCA kids with my smaller carry-on size bag strapped on top of it. He shook his head at me and led me to a van. I'm pretty sure he thought I was ridiculous for having so much stuff. A guy drove me passed the group that was already walking and continued on toward what I assumed was the border. Mind you I had no idea where we were going or how this whole border crossing situation worked. The driver stopped abruptly in the middle of complete chaos. There were street children, vendors, cabbies, and beggars all over. He took my stuff out of the van and pointed straight, but said "go left", and drove away. Nervous and with no other falangs in sight I got my bags back on and went straight, figuring that in this case actions speak louder than words.
I was immediately swarmed by about 15 street children offering to pull my stuff for me on small dollies they were dragging. Several men also came up to me offering their taxi and bus services. As I was walking, trying to politely tell the street children ‘no thank you’ while managing all of my bags, a man, who must think himself very clever, came up to me and acted like he was my driver and had been waiting for me. I showed him the receipt for my ticket, which he then proceeded to tell me was no good, and said I’d have to buy a new ticket to get to Phnom Penh. At this point I was a little freaked out and realized he was not with the company I'd bought the ticket from. I told him I didn’t want his help and walked away. Of course he followed me and kept hounding me while I was trying to figure out what the heck to do. About ten minutes later, just as I was calling Poi to ask her to call her aunt, the group showed up with our real guide. I had never felt so relieved.
From that point on our guide, Heng, led me every step of the way across the border. First we waited inside a building to have our passports checked and stamped, which is when you officially cross the border. Then there was an infirmary line outside where they scan your temperature and make you swear you don't have swine flu. Then we walked on about a quarter mile on a dirt road passed like five seedy looking casinos to another line where they check your passport again and you turn in your arrival card. While waiting in all those lines I talked with Jeremy and another girl from Japan named Makiko. She is a teacher in Japan, but has spent a ton of time traveling solo all over the world. This was her 4th trip into Cambodia, and this trip she was going back to an orphanage she has visited before in Siem Riep where she teaches the kids Japanese guitar and songs. She was a really confident and interesting person, and she made me feel much better about traveling alone.
After all of those lines another bus drove us to a waiting point where my group left me and I waited for a long time for a cab to Phnom Penh. Finally a car came, which Heng said was a cab, though it was unmarked. I got in and sat right next to a ladyboy. I don't think I mentioned this before, but ladyboys are what they call transsexuals in Thailand, and they were all over Bangkok. Apparently sex change operations are all the rage there. While I was traveling with Monica and Alisa we decided to code name them ‘zebras’ so we could more openly announce to each other when we spotted one.
On our way out of Poipet we picked up two other Cambodian men and then proceeded to Phnom Penh. So there I was, in the back middle seat of a small Toyota, squished between a ladyboy and a large Cambodian man for 5 hours.
It was absolutely the most terrifying car ride of my life. My eyes were wide and my body was tense the entire trip. Our driver seemed to feel that 70mph was an acceptable speed to go down a two lane road with motorcycles, tuk tuks, bicyclist, stray dogs, cows and buffalo, pigs and pedestrians on either side. Not to mention other cars, which he would pass on the left without slowing down by simply honking like a maniac and expecting everyone else to move over. There were a few instances where suicide pigs, cows and dogs darted unexpectedly into the road. Those were scary. But somehow the whole way there I didn’t see one dead animal and there were no accidents. It truly seemed miraculous.
Heng had helped me give the cab driver Sophea’s phone number, so he knew to drop me off in the Oudong province which is about an hour outside Phnom Penh on the way. Sophea is a staff member at APCA, and he and I have been in communication this week about my arrival because Mr. Dara, the director of the orphanage is in Korea for a conference for NGOs.
Sophea and Dara’s wife, Mrs. Sim, Hazel, another volunteer, and three girls, Sreypov, Nary and Mari were there to greet me. I can’t even explain how happy I was to see them after that car ride.
It was about a half an hour drive from the Oudong market where we met to APCA. When we got there all of the kids ran to the van yelling “Hello Jennifer!” “Nice to meet you Jennifer!” It was the most incredible welcoming I could have ever imagined. They all ran up to shake my hand and hug me, and I had to pull myself together quickly to keep from crying. I was so happy and overwhelmed after such a crazy and long day.
Before I knew it the kids had grabbed all of my bags and were carrying them into the building and up the three flights of stairs to my room. One small boy had my 50lb bag on his back and was carrying it on his own! It was unbelievable. They led me to my room, which is so beautiful; I was not expecting the accommodations here to be so wonderful. I have my own room with two fans, and my own bathroom. I will post pictures as soon as I can. It is really lovely and so much more than I was expecting. They already had dinner prepared for me, an egg, rice and veggies. I was so hungry, and Hazel sat with me and we talked while I ate. Hazel is from England. She has been here for the past 6 ½ weeks and leaves next week. She is volunteering here teaching English and doing research gathering with Dara and Sophea before she begins her university studies at Sussex in England. She is a really kind, smart girl and we have spent a lot of time talking since I arrived here. I’m impressed with how mature and worldly she is at just 19.
There is another volunteer here from Korea named Kim. He arrived last week and will be here three more weeks. He is a grad student at a school in Korea and is majoring in International Peace, which sounds flipping sweet! He is teaching the kids Korean and Tae Kwon Do, and meeting with other NGOs all over Cambodia to learn more about their work. Apparently they have had a steady Korean teacher at APCA for the past 5 months, but she just left, and after Kim leaves another Korean teacher will come for 5 more months.
I just realized I never explained what APCA is. It stands for Assisting Poor Children Agency. The orphanage here in Oudong has about 63 children. APCA also works with 14 villages in the surrounding area doing many projects. As I learn more about their work share it with you.
This blog is getting really long, but I still feel like I have so much more to tell you. I should probably learn to condense my thoughts a little bit better. But I am so excited to be here, and I am really happy that there are other volunteers here as well. I wasn’t expecting any, and it is a really pleasant surprise. I hear Kim yelling downstairs so I have a feeling Tae Kwon Do lessons are starting and I want to participate so I’m going to run. Sorry this was so long! I hope you are all doing well!

More Bangkok Adventures

Ok I'm going to make this quick because I only have 9 minutes left at this internet cafe at our guesthouse. I have had an awesome past couple of days. I met up with Monica and the two other Palm Tree volunteers, Jessi and Alisa, who also went on our SAS voyage. We didn't know each other then, but I recognized them. It's so much fun traveling with SASers again. It's such a different experience traveling with other falangs, and I feel very fortunate to have had such different experiences here staying with Poi, hanging with Steve, and now spending time with the girls.
We are staying at a guest house, which is what they call hostels here, in Koh San, which is a very busy, very toursisty section of Bangkok. There are lots of guest houses, restaurants, massage parlors, and money exchange places, and street vendors selling food and liquor all along the road. A vast majority of people here are foreigners, but there are almost no Americans. It's a good, safe place to stay, and interesting to see.
Yesterday we got oil massages in the morning and then we took a tuk-tuk to Platinum, a humongous mall with over 1,500 stores! I didn't realize how much I missed tuk-tuk travel until the four of us were squeezed in the back of one, three on the seats and Alisa on the floor. It's definitely one of the most exciting ways to travel.
Platinum was sheer insanity. There was no way the four of us could stay together, so we created a meeting place and separated for an hour. This wasn't like a regular mall. The stores were more like stalls, and you couldn't try anything on. But you could haggle with the store owners and nothing had a fixed price. And it was ridiculously cheap. I ended up getting a dress for 300 baht, which is about $8.50. I got the girl down from 350, which isn't a huge accomplishment, but I'm just getting back into the swing of this whole bartering thing. Man have I missed it.
Last night we went down to Siam Lum, a huge night market here in Bangkok. We wanted to go to the Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing fight) which is right by the night market at Lumpini stadium. Unfortunately when we got there we found out that the cheapest tickets were 1000 baht, which none of us had on us. But a ticket salesman let us go inside to see what it was like, so we were able to snag some pictures and watch for a few minutes. Though the main fights hadn't kicked off yet at that point it looked pretty cool. At least we got a taste. Then we went and had dinner at the beer garden where Poi and I had gone my first night here. We split four Thai dishes and got some Tiger beers. There is another awesome beer we found here called BeerLao from Laos. I am really digging trying all of these Asian beers that we can't get back in the states. Although I'm pretty sure you can get Tiger some places. Ok computer is beeping at me. Outta minutes gotta go!

Little falang in the big city

So I figure I'll write as much as I can while I'm here at Poi's with internet access. Basically I'm in love with Bangkok. It is completely chaotic, vibrant, random, futuristic, old world, and diverse-it has everything. It kind of like if you threw Japan and Vietnam together in a bowl, and mixed in a pinch of the US. It is unlike any Asian country I've ever visited.
Bangkok is a very lively and business centered city, and appears to be very much on par with the rest of the first world in terms of the businesses that are here. Yet it is still very much a developing country, evidenced by the poverty seen even here in a major metropolis. Poi told me that kids do not have to go to school here, and sometimes families cannot afford to send their kids to school, even though public schools only cost 2 Baht per day, which comes out to $20 US dollars per year. So those kids often end up as street vendors from a young age. Though there is no quick fix to alleviating poverty, education is probably one of the best ways to prevent it.
The juxtaposition here between old and new is amazing. There are giant skyscrapers intermingling with temples sandwiched right between them. Life here just seems to flow quite naturally. Cars, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, bicyclists, and pedestrians share the road, and that seems to be the chain of command in terms of who has the right of way. Lanes or lines of any color on the street are treated more as suggestions than law. But I have yet to see a single accident, though close calls seem to occur by the second.
The people here are much more diverse than I expected. There are a decent amount of Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and tons of falangs, which are us western people. Steve said that there are about 6,000 ex-pats who live in Thailand, most of them in Bangkok. However I guess that's not a lot considering that 93 million people live in Thailand. I feel like I see a lot of Americans and Eurpeans around, but they are probably mostly tourists like me.
I was able to get new passport pages pretty easily yesterday. I left my passport with the embassy in the morning and came back in the afternoon where it was ready and waiting for me. So now I have more extra pages in my passport than I think it came with originally, and I am good to go for quite some time.
Poi's mom treated me to a Thai massage and facial yesterday at her friend's salon called Bliss Spa. I had never had a Thai massage before, and it was not what I expected. It involved a lot of pushing and pulling and stretching, bone cracking, and deep muscle massaging. Though not entirely relaxing, I felt great afterwards. It is supposed to be really good for your body because it stimulates blood flow. The facial was nice too, and though it was an upscale spa it was still ridiculously inexpensive.
Afterwards Poi's family driver took me to Steve's to pick up my big bags. The traffic here is ridiculous during rush hour! The stop lights can be red for up to 10 minutes. It took us two hours to go a total of probably 4 miles. I didn't think you could get worse traffic than in LA, but boy was I wrong.
I am planning to meet up with Monica and two other volunteers from Palm Tree tonight after they fly in from the beach. I'm going to stay with them for the next couple of days in Koh San, which is a section of Bangkok. I'm hoping we can go see a Muay Thai fight tonight, which is Thai kickboxing. Hopefully Steve will be able to come too.
Poi's uncle is helping me figure out getting a bus into Cambodia, so that should be worked out by today. Her family is so friendly and generous. They are really taking care of me while i'm here. A bunch of her relatives just arrived so I'm gonna get going. Take care!

Alive and Bangkickin!

Hey everybody! I just got into Bangkok this morning after a not-at-all-horrible 14 hour flight. Thanks to discounting my dad's suggestion to get a good nights sleep my last night in the US, I was completely exhausted by the time my butt hit plane seat at 11:40pm July 19th. flight passed in no time at all. Thai AirwaI put a sign saying "Please wake me for food" on my chest and promptly passed out moments later. Theys serves three fabulous meals, passes out drinks more often than necessary, and has an amazing in-flight entertainment selection with about 30 movies to choose from. Between sleeping, eating, going to the bathroom and sporadically watching Benjamin Button the flight flew by and I arrived rested and ready to take on Thailand an hour and a half early at 5:20am Tuesday (Thai time). Moments after departing the plane I was greeted by a man with a sign bearing my name. Through the magic of connections that is my dad's friend Steve I was through customs within 5 minutes, passport stamped and everything, a process that usually takes at least 40 minutes. Steve is my dad's friend and business partner, and he and his wife have been splitting their time living in Thailand and in their house in San Clemente for the past 12 years. Their apartment is gorgeous right on the Choapraya River. Choapraya runs right through Bangkok and is really happenin. There are lots of boats going back and forth on it and it was fun to watch the action happening. Anyways, I got showered up at Steve's and then we went to his office about 10 minutes away. Steve had some work to do so his assistant Narudee took me around for the day. We got to use one of Steve's drivers and we went to the Grand Palace where we were taken on an awesome tour with a private guide, a woman named Kanya who really knew her stuff. Thailand's past 8 kings lived in the palace. The 9th king who is in power now moved out and now the palace serves as a major tourist destination. It was beautiful and so ornate-pictures to come. Narudee and I then went to pick up a SIM card for my phone so I could call Poi, my sister's roommate who also lives in Bangkok and is Thai. Narudee dropped me off at Poi's house, where I am now, about to sit down to a 5 course Thai dinner. I think we are going out to a night market with a beer garden tonight, which sounds awesome. I'm pretty tired though so I hope we don't stay out too late. I'm getting early tomorrow and Steve's driver is taking me to the American Embassy so I can (hopefully) add some pages to my passport. I realized last week that I might not have enough left for the whole trip, but it was too late to do anything about it at home. I have to go now because we are going to eat. Hope everyone is doing well at home!