------------------UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE------------------ (Sex Trade Documentary)

8/14/09 (Frid) So we finally ended up getting bus tickets for Siem Reap last night at like 11:30pm! Since we waited so long to book a boat ticket one of the guys who worked at our hotel said that we were pretty much guaranteed that the boat would be sold out in the morning, and so we would have had to wake up REALLY early, plus it was way more expensive. As a result we decided to take the bus instead. We (Steph & I) will probably take the boat back though, hopefully we will actually get to bed at a decent hour so we can wake up to do so. Steph & I ended up putting all our bags in Becky’s room for the weekend so the three of us could split the cost. I was glad that that worked out. I checked out of my room and was able to book a room for when I return on Monday, and in the nicer main building where breakfast and the internet is! YEAH! :) That will make life a lot easier.

So Steph, Jen, Jen’s friend Melinda, Becky & I left for the bus station at about 8:15am or so (way better then 5:45am or so for the boat). What an adventure that was! When we first got on the bus Becky & Steph sat together, Jennifer & Melinda sat together, and I was by myself. I wasn’t thrilled about it, but what are you going to do. Then this guy sat next to me and I just wasn’t sure what to think about that, or him. After awhile I struck up a conversation though and he ended up being pretty cool. His name is Tim and he is from Ireland. We actually hit it off pretty well and talked most of the time. It made the bus ride go quicker and it was just way more enjoyable. It’s cool to have a contact in Ireland now if Kevin and I ever end up going. Plus he’s a musician so Kev and him have that in common. During the trip our bus broke down, yes our bus broke down. We weren’t by anything or anyone that could help us, just a few farm looking homes. It was REALLY hot standing on the side of the road waiting for who knows what. It might have been a little easier if we actually spoke the language and knew what the heck was going on. It took us awhile to even realize the bus had broken down. Tim had done this trek before and said that sometimes they stop the bus and throw water on the engine to cool it down, which they did, but it came apparent that it was a lot more involved then that.

I’m not sure what we would have done without Melinda…Melinda flagged down another bus and Jen negotiated for the 5 of us to get on board. I think 7 or so of us managed to get on the bus. I’m not even sure how long the other people continued to stand waiting on the side of the road for either the bus to get fixed, or for someone else to pick them up. That goes to show how important it is to be proactive. So the five of us, and Tim managed to get a ride the rest of the way to Siem Reap. The bus situation was quite hysterical really, about 5 of us were sitting in the aisle way with all of our bags and the rest of the people were able to snag seats. At one point I was so uncomfortable that I arranged the bags so that I could lay down, it was actually quite comfortable, and I did it in a way that no one could have snuck something out of my bag while I was sleeping. Not long after I got situated the bus stopped and a bunch of people got off. I then had a seat. So this bus wasn’t a straight shot to Siem Reap like we expected but a semi-local bus that stopped multiple times along the way. We actually ended up getting into Siem Reap at the same time though because the bus driver booked it.

On the first bus there was an older lady eating this weird fruit that kind of looked like a prickly strawberry from the outside. I kind of wanted to try one…When I was finally sitting on the last bus there was a girl eating the same fruit. I tried to ask her what it was called so I could find it, she gave me one instead. Jen and I tried it, and it wasn’t too bad. It kind of smelled a bit like feet, but when I got past the smell the taste was kind of pleasant. Jen thought it was like an apricot or sour patch kids. Whatever it was, it was pretty good. The girls friend gave us some other round fruit to try too. I have tried a lot of different fruits while here in Cambodia. They have the most strange fruits here. Lots of them are really pretty too, like the yummy Dragon Fruit. :) We didn’t have much food at all on the LONG bus ride, so we were all kind of hurting.

Melinda was a lifesaver and used her blackberry to look up hotels and email them on our way up to Siem Reap. I’ve never been so unprepared before, but it was kind of fun flying by the seat of our pants and making plans as we went. It was probably good for me not to be so anal. Our hotel ended up being pretty cool. It had this beautiful wooden floor with matching stairs and banister that was absolutely gorgeous. The beds and pillows in the room were amazingly comfortable too. They actually had wireless internet in the room too. It only worked some of the time though.

So I had totally spaced the fact that Malaria caring mosquitoes are present in Siem Reap and I therefore left my nasty, but essential DEET back in Phnom Penh! Thank God Becky & Steph not only had some, but where nice enough to let me borrow it. So I’m good to go, no worries. Please pray that I don’t get Malaria though :) Thanks. I’m sure it will be fine, the travel place didn’t say I needed the pills. I think Steph was taking her Malaria pills though, so that scares me a bit.

We went to the touristy little market place with all these cute shops and that was really cool. We had a nice meal around there and some great ice cream at this little place. While we were walking around someone asked us if we wanted to get high and if so that he could set it up. I was a little surprised, but I thought why not, just kidding! :) I tried to videotape it without him knowing, but I don’t think it worked out. Oh, something that was really awesome was we saw this humungous billboard, the kind that changed every few seconds. There were three pictures that it changed to and EVERYONE was about sex tourism and how bad it was and stuff like that. I totally videotaped it, it was quite encouraging to us!