Welcome to Today’s Program

Sometimes you sign up for a program and don’t realize it. As we boarded a morning bus for the Thai/Cambodian border we were met in broken English with the greeting ‘Welcome to today’s program.’ We both looked at each other, questioning what we had inadvertently signed up for.
We tend to take local buses from destination to destination. It is very common to be the only foreigner on a bus and usually it enhances the journey as you are able to observe the local daily life. The backbacker Mecca of Koh San Road in Bangkok brought with it hordes of fellow travelers and the tour companies that follow. Rather than trekking across town to the local bus station we opted to board a local ‘tourist bus’ where we were now being told we were part of a ‘program’. We don’t really do programs well.

First the program director wanted us to buy our Cambodian visa through them. Yeah right. They wanted 1200 baht (around $36USD) when the visa only cost $20USD at the border. Cambodian borders are notorious for corruption and we knew we might have to fight to pay the right amount, but we were going for it any way. It took us 4 hours to get to the border and the whole while the tour company people came up and down the bus aisles convincing everyone that they would have to pay even more than their 1200 baht rate at the border so everyone should go through them. And most people did. About 90% of the bus. When we finally made it through the swine flu check and to the guards we handed over our passports and paperwork with a $20 bill. The guy tried to give them back to us and said ‘1000 baht.’ We said no and gave them back. Then he said ‘ok, 200 baht more’. This whole time we are standing under a sign that says a visa is 20USD. It was laughable. By this time a small scene had started as a few other travelers had joined our cause. Now they just wanted us gone so they could bribe the next group that came through, so they processed our passports and we were off. VICTORY! HA.

With the crossing behind us we just wanted to get to Siem Reap and we did, about 7 hours later in the pouring rain (trip should have taken 3 hours). With our program complete we fought off the pesky tour company as they prodded us to go to their chosen guest house. Needless to say we were not their ideal clients as we did not buy into the ‘extras‘ they offered.

On to Angkor Wat. Chad had previously been there and was excited to show me around. We arranged a driver to pick us up the next day to buy tickets and watch the sunset. Instead of hiring 2 motobike drivers we went with a relatively new mode of transport, a remorque-moto. See the picture below to get the full idea but it is basically a cart pulled by a motobike. Our driver Duk picked us up and we headed out for my first glimpse of Angkor. We hiked to the top of a hill with about 300 of our closest friends, and decided we weren’t crowd people and explored a couple ruins before heading back home for the night. The next day we headed out early, around 4:30AM and were the first people into Angkor Wat to

watch the sunrise. It was a bit early to be walking through the temple in the pitch black with bats flying around your head, but we were rewarded with a quiet solitude and a beautiful sunrise. We spent the rest of the day exploring the ancient temples and ruins while trying to dodge the multiple Japanese tour groups parading behind flagged leaders. We had a blast and managed to cover everything we wanted to see. Angkor Wat is truly amazing. It is a magical place that has to be seen to be believed. We ended the day with 50 cent draft beers at one of the MANY local cafes and bars.

A visit to Cambodia would not be complete though without acknowledging it’s dark past and the Khmer Rouge. From 1975-1979 the Khmer Rouge and it’s leader Pol Pot essentially destroyed their own country to create a ‘pure’ state. 2 million people were murdered, mostly the educated middle and upper class as well as peasants (they targeted people for such things as wearing glasses). There are two main sites that serve as reminders to this tragedy in the Phnom Penh area: the security prison S-21 and the infamous Killing Fields. We first visited the former high school turned prison of S-21, a short walk from our hotel. Over 20,000 persons were imprisoned, questioned and tortured here over a 4 year period. Of those numbers, only 7 prisoners survived to walk freely when the killing ended. After the interrogations and torture of S-21 the actual murders took place 10 kilometers outside the city center at the Killing Fields. We took a remorque-moto into the country side and visited the site. A memorial now stands in an open field containing the skulls of some 8,000 victims. Open pits where bodies were removed exist as a somber reminder to the scale of the murders. Signs displaying the numbers of bodies removed from each pit and noting trees which children were slammed against to their death are also noted. Again as with our visit to Rwanda, it is shocking to behold what some persons are capable of doing to other human beings.

Your Flight Has Been Delayed 11 Hours

We left Nepal in high spirits. The country had rejuvenated us physically and mentally and we headed to the airport excited for the coming months of travel in SE Asia. We had three flights scheduled for the day. The first was from Kathmandu to Delhi, followed by a Delhi to Mumbai flight which landed at 1AM in time to connect to a 4AM flight to Bangkok. We were dealing with 3 different airlines so we had no false hope of all 3 flights and connections going off without a hitch. The first two flights went off as planned but as we entered the check-in queue at Mumbai we were told our flight was delayed until 3PM. I had previously spent the night in Mumbai airport, there are certainly worse places to be, but the thought of sleeping on a dirty floor after a long day of travel was not appealing.


We reached the front of the line, received the details of the delayed flight (pilot had fallen ill) and were pleasantly surprised to be told we were getting put up in Mumbai’s finest, the Intercontinental Hotel. Two hours later we had caught a shuttle and checked into the hotel. Silk sheets (no sleep sheets needed!), aircon, hot water, hair dryer, flat screen TVs...it was somewhat of a huge treat midway through our trip. The next morning we headed downstairs to our free breakfast. The variety of food was somewhat staggering, larger than I have ever seen at a hotel or restaurant. As we relished in our cereal and milk for the first time in 5 months, the headlines of the Jakarta bombings came across the TV. It was an eerie feeling: we were in the nicest hotel of our trip, in a city with a recent history of terrorism/bombings, eating breakfast in the lobby...very similar to the scenario they were describing on TV. You prepare yourself of pick-pockets, thieves and such but for the first time on our trip we were pondering the reality of safety issues of a different type.


We arrived to Bangkok the next day, met another American in the taxi queue at the airport and shared a ride to the infamous backpacker district of Koh San Road. Turns out he was from Chicago but living in DC. He was a tech consultant and had recently been laid off and during his few week stint in Thailand was now pondering whether he should hit up grad school or start a job search once back home. As at home, the current state of the economy is always a point of discussion during our travels.


We have enjoyed the past 4 days in Bangkok. Power outages and operating by candle light were a daily ritual in all of Nepal and many parts of India. Bangkok has brought us some comforts we have not experienced since the first weeks of the trip. There are 7-11s (fountain pop for Colleen and coffee for me), street vendors, cold beer, pharmacies, sidewalks, clean cheap accommodation, stoplights, and many fold more travelers than we have seen anywhere else on our trip. As of late we have been longing for our regular runs along Marina Green in SF that were a staple of our life for the past 5 years. That feeling of a good workout lead us to the nearest shopping mall in Bangkok where we each picked up a new pair of New Balances, workout shorts and a running tank top (Colleen assured me that it was OK to wear a tank top for exercise purposes). We have ran each of the last 3 mornings and have enjoyed the journey through the local neighborhoods although the heat here is a bit stifling. After the runs we hit up 7-11 for milk and cereal and a small part of the whole process actually feels a little bit like home.


Tomorrow mornings run will be early as we have a 7AM 12-hour bus ride to Cambodia and the next segment of the trip.