March 23 & 24, 2016 – I combined these two days together because not much was going on except traveling.
Crazy Driving and the Market.
Wednesday will be a long, long day. We will drive the 5-7 hours from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, then I will need to get to the airport to catch the flight to Seoul, Korea about midnight.
There really wasn’t any new scenery on the return trip. But Michael wasn’t feeling good and let me drive. That may not seem like a big deal, but you should see the way they drive here. Cars, trucks, motos (motorcycles), bikes and people walking are on the road at the same time.
Here are some of the Cambodian driving tips: (1) The bigger vehicle has the right of way. (2) First one has the right of way. (3) When you pass another vehicle or person, you toot your horn to let them know you are there. (4) Staying in your lane is optional. (5) If you’re passing and a car is coming head-on, you flash your lights at him to let him know you need extra room. (6) You can do just about anything you want (U-turn, turn into traffic, even cut somebody off) if you just do it slowly.
Driving here reminds me of walking through a busy mall at Christmas, only a lot faster. There aren’t any lanes, you just maneuver however you can to wherever you need to be. That’s the roads in Cambodia with cars, trucks, people, and animals.
When we got back to the motel, Michael rested, so I walked to the Tuol Tompong Market. I’ve been to open markets in Mexico and Bahamas. However, this indoor market was bigger and more crowded and definitely hotter. The temperature outside was about 105 and inside had to be 120 or more. Some aisles were so narrow, I had to turn sideways to get down them. It was packed with stuff.
Since Cambodia has many garment factories, there are a lot of clothes and cheap prices. T-shirts for $2, dress shirts for $5, and silk scarves for $5. I got lots of souvenirs. It also had an open food market. Meat was hanging in the heat covered in flies. Yum!
Getting Home Before I Leave.
Well, I am writing this blog sitting at home. There is an 11 hour time difference from Cambodia to Michigan. My 5+ hour flight left Cambodia at midnight Wednesday. I had a 3 hour layover in Seoul and boarded the final 13 hour flight to Michigan. Since I got up at 5am Wednesday to travel, I have been up for 48 hours straight. Feel pretty good (probably all the coffee I drank). But we’ll see what happens when my body says its day, but its night.
The funniest part is that on my way back I crossed the international date line. So I went back in time. My flight from Korea left at 10:30 am on Thursday and I got in Michigan at 10:15 am on Thursday. So, according to the clock, my 13 hour flight got me in Detroit 15 minutes before I left Seoul. We’ll see what jet lag does to me. But good to be home.
You can read daily blogs of my missions trip to Korea and Cambodia at: Asia Adventure – My Missions Trip 2016
Trackbacks/Pingbacks