Bye Bye Cambodia!!!

Day 8 (14th March 2008)

After a week of companionship, of laughter, of sharing the fun, I am now back to travelling solo onwards to Laos.

Ganda left earlier this morning back to Bangkok for her flight tomorrow back to the Maldives. Thank you ‘Neng for coming with me, for appreciating the beauty of Angkor, and the horrors of genocide at Toul Sleng. I couldn’t ask for a better travelling buddy! Someone who at one time drank more Angkor beers than me, belts out at videoke, and above all, is always taking pictures!!!

I left Phnom Penh at 7.15am via the Sorya Transportation bus. Nothing interesting on the entire nine hours and a half trip. We made a couple of 10-15 minute stops to have lunch or go to the toilets. Surprisingly, even if I did not have breakfast and lunch or any snacks in between, hindi talaga ako nagutom during the whole trip. It must be all the pork we had eaten for the last 7 days (unbelievable, how much weight i have gained just for a week!!!).

Stung Treng

Arrived in the town of Stung Treng at about 5pm. I exchanged my bus ticket first for the Laos border – Pakse. Good thing, they now have these types of arrangements and not anymore that of an individual crossing which is what I really feared it would be. Anyways, let’s see how its gonna be tomorrow.
With just about 26,000 residents and a smattering of guesthouses scattered near the riverside, the town has a very relaxed and laid-back atmosphere. I decided on staying at Stung Treng Guesthouse which is just a block away from the bus station (I need to be there by 7am tomorrow), it has the cleanest and most spacious rooms in the area but still within a reasonable budget range!
Had dinner at Richie’s Restaurant (my first meal of the day at 6pm!) and moved over to the Riverside Café to check emails and online tsismis updates. Okay, I need to organize my things and rest my butt after the almost ten hours trip today and again for tomorrow’s nonstop trip, Stung Treng (2 hrs) – Dom Kralor (Cambodian border) – Voen Kham (Laos border) – Pakse – Vientiane.

It will be “Bye Bye Cambodia, Hello Laos”……