To Cambodia

(11:30pm Guest House in Siem Reap, Cambodia)
Shortly after our lunch break the bus pulled over. A Cambodian man, who I assumed worked for the bus company, gave the following to us: “The road to Siem Reap is VERY bad, it is dirt and there is no A/C on the next bus. So if it is not raining it will be very dusty, if it is raining the windows will be up and it will be very hot. You can take a cab and it will be much quicker and more enjoyable. Second we will now walk a quarter mile to get to the border, there will be many kids coming up to you. Some will try to hold an umbrella for you; others will simply beg for money, they are all pick pockets. Make sure all your valuables are in your bag and carry it in front of you. Ok now grab your belongings and make sure you leave nothing behind on the bus” This is how we were welcomed to Cambodia. We stepped off the bus into a dusty roadside market area. The guide took the first five of us to the border. The others came with other guides in small groups as well. On the other side we waited for a free bus which took us a few hundred yards down the road to a bus station/taxi zone. The Israeli girls were told a cab should be 800-1000b ($25-30 usd). I had heard $25-50 and our guide insisted that it would be $60 or 2000b. They use Thai Baht and USD in Cambodia. They have their own currency as well but like Laos it is very unstable. I learned after Laos that I didn’t need to exchange money for the local currency there nor Cambodia. As a matter of fact I got stuck with 668b worth or Kip (Laos money) because no money exchangers outside of Laos will take it. I eventually found someone in Bangkok that was heading to Laos and sold it to him for 600b. Ok so back to Cambodia. We walked inside to the window that said “TAXI” on it and asked how much. “2000b”, “no way, too much” we replied. “ok how much” he inquired. “800b” said Hila (one of the two Israeli girls, the other is Nita) “you’ll never find for this price.” He said, and we walked away. We decided to walk up the road and see what we could find. No keep in mind it’s raining, the streets are made of dirt and I’m wearing “locals” (for those not from Hawaii, locals are cheap rubber flip flops). As we walked I slung mud all over the back of my legs, shorts, shirt and bags. The guy from the Taxi zone chased us down. “OK 1500b”. “no thank you, 800b” we stood firm. “you’re crazy; you’ll never find this price. Gas cost more than that” he explained. We moved to 1000b. but still no luck. We told him we’d look around and he said good luck. He got on the back of a motorbike and followed us down the road. Every time we spoke to a taxi driver he came up and spoke in Cambodian to them and they raised their price to 1500b after several times of this happening over a quarter mile thru the mud we realized we were fucked. I told the girls we should sit and have food so he would leave. Only problem there was no restaurants. We got water and I left the girls and bags to find a driver. After several attempts I finally scored one for 1200b. I jumped in and told him to pick the girls up. When the girls and walked to the street with our bags the Stalker and a cop were talking to our driver. We were told he wasn’t a licensed cab and he couldn’t take us. The stalker then slipped the cop some money. Now we were being followed by the stalker on a motorbike and a second taxi with the cop sitting shotgun. I began to worry. Here we are in a poor, third world country being stalked by a mad taxi pimp and now the police. When we stopped at a corner the cop and stalker approached us. The cop explained we could not take an unlicensed cab. The stalker dropped to 1300b and I snapped back “For YOU, 1100b!!!! no more” “Ok I’m sorry, I’m sorry. 1200b, I’m sorry I’m sorry” as he dropped his head. After we got in the car he told us we had to go back to the Taxi station to do paper work. The cop got in the front seat and tried to assure us “It’s ok, I am police” in broken English as he pointed to the POLICE embroidered on his hat. The fact that he was trying to make me feel secure actually made me even more uneasy. The girls were afraid as well. The cab headed back the wrong direction and I pictured us being taken to a dark grimy room to be beaten, rapped and robbed. However, we did go back to the station and in 5 minutes were headed to Siem Reap. Our cab driver didn’t speak any English and listened to loud, whinny (Cambodian?) music the whole way. I reflected on the fact that we just spent 20 minutes walking in the mud haggling over a few dollars. The girls weren’t ready to laugh and said they’d feel ok once we got to siem reap. About 1 mile out of town the mud turned to nice fresh pavement. I felt cheated. If it stayed this nice I was going to be really upset that I didn’t take my bus. A few miles later it was back to dirt however and I was happy to be sitting shotgun in an A/C cab. About 30 minutes into the ride it began raining again, harder and harder. Soon we came to stop. Apparently a truck had gotten stuck in the mud and as cars tried to make their way around him, they were getting stuck too. The cars backed up and as renegade cab drivers tried to be hero’s they got stuck as well. It was a complete mess, and stand off situation as cars opposite directions blocked each other in. I asked if we should get out to help, using hand signs. He shook his head no. A few minutes later, seeing him roll his pants up, I took my shirt off and went to take a look. There were about 10 large supply trucks, 15 cars and 1 bus in front of us going the same direction. Cambodia truck drivers stood looking and a few cab drivers as well. One man was using a shovel. The rest watched. Off to the side a cab tried again to go but got stuck. Four Cambodian men and I tried to push it thru. He gained a few hundred feet, but was eventually blocked by stopped cars from the other direction. Seeing this another cab went for the same route. We again pushed, however there were two many people inside. I opened the door and told the 4 Japanese kids to get out if they wanted to get to siem reap. They listened. I then made my way to other cars and began open back doors “If you don’t want to spend the night here, get out and start helping” The Cambodian cabbies got a kick out of this. I don’t think they would have been able to tell their clients to get out, into shin high red clay/mud and push their own cab. More and more westerners began to get out. Soon we had about 40 people, Cambodian and foreigners working together. “Teem, Teem (Tim), this one, this one” one Cambodian man kept saying as he pulled me from cab to cab to push. I’m by no means a big man, but I was twice the size of most the Cambodians. There were three men, dress in designer jeans and dress shirts, standing on the floor board of their cabs, leaning out with the door open. “how’s it look” one asked as I walked back to my cab to check on the girls. I told him it was fucked but if more people would get out and help we might actually go somewhere. He responded something about me asking nicely and not using threats, as one of the others whined about the fact that he had expensive shoes on. “So take them off” as I walked to check on the girls and tell our cabbie to stay in the car so he could drive when we got things going instead of all the cars passing ours like they had been doing already. Making my way back to help one of the three men asked again, “do you think we’ll get through” angry that they were still sitting like sissy’s in their cars I fired back “not if you sit in your fucking car all night. If you get out and help like the rest of the men here, maybe. Look there are even women out here helping” now mind you, all three of these guys were 200+ and only one was fat. After working for 20 minutes I went to check on the girls and give them an update. This time, puzzled that the three men were STILL in their cars, I asked them where they were from. They hesitated and finally answered “Australia, why where are you from?” I cut him off “that’s funny I thought they had men in Australia, I’m from Hawaii, USA, where we work together as a family, as a group, as people for the better of all. Not selfishly sitting in our cars while everyone else does all the work” it just came out that way and I now realize that most Americans would probably sit in their cars too. I think we just truly are a lil different in Hawaii, or Maui at least. I kept walking because I realized that if stopped I was probably going to end up fighting one, or all three of these guys. When we got a few cars all the way thru, cars from the other side began coming our way. This just created another stalemate. Very frustrated that all our work had just been spoiled by the selfish of a few cabbies again, I began soliciting the help of some of the Cambodians. I used hand signals to explain that we need to be organized and allow three cars from one side, then three from the other. Eventually we got things going smoothly and created a lane for each way. Everyone was excited and many westerners and Cambodians alike thanked me for being the “sergeant” as one of them said. At this point I’d like to give a plug to the JAPANESE, French, Germans and Finland MEN that helped. Oh, ya and the two NYC women as well. Ok and I guess the one lone Australian (not part of the three, sissy’s) And of course the many Cambodians that finally started helping once they saw all the westerners getting dirty. After our car made it through we stopped and the cabbie and I ran back to help a cabbie whose car was stuck on the side. I saw the Japanese kids car and thanked them for helping. We took pictures and got back on the road. About 4 miles down the road 8 cabs pulled over in a small town so we could wash up and rinse the cars off. It was mini celebration and again people thanked me for organizing the effort. Now by this time my ego had taken over and I began to dream up stories of the Cambodians talking about “Teem” for years to come and the story of “Tim from Maui: saved the day” being passed from traveler to traveler across southeast Asia. To be fair, we probably would have spent the night there had I not got out and started making others help as well, but I don’t think any monuments will be built soon! Ok so back on the road this going well, but every once in a while hitting very slick muddy sections where cabs, including ours, spun out of control as if on ice. Soon we were stopped again. There was another truck off to the side and cars being stuck in the mud. No gridlock yet so we quickly pushed the cars thru and as our car made it, a few cars began to back up from the other direction. As we drove away I wondered how long before complete mayhem at this spot as well? 6 hours after we left we completed what was suppose to be a 3-4 hour journey. Our cabbie dropped us with the rest of westerners way outside of town where there were Tuk Tuk drivers waiting to take advantage of us. I called Phansy, a Cambodian man from CS (couchsurfing.com), who said he would pick us up and have dinner with us. It was 10pm and we were suppose to be in at 7:30ish. He said he would come get us so I handed the phone to our driver so he could explain where we were. The driver handed the phone to tuk tuk driver, and after a short conversation in Cambodia he hung up. The tuk tuk told me Phansy said he was busy and wouldn’t be able to make it. The girls gave him three names of guest houses they read about in lonely planet and he told them they were full and offered to take us to another house. They get commissions from the guest houses. He also wanted to charge us $1 per person, when it was only suppose to be $1 all together. As I offered to give him $2 to take us to our guest house, Phansy pulled up on a motorbike. He explained that the Tuk Tuk told him the wrong location. Phansy thought I was alone which is why he came by bike but he told us to wait and he called a car. When the car arrived he took us to our guest house, free of charge and we made plans for lunch the following day. We checked into Popular Guest House, one recommend by Lonely Planet and suggested by the girls. Mandalay Inn was across the street and was what Phansy suggested. Popular was 17$ a night for three of us, one single and one double bed, while across the street it was 18$ with free internet and wifi, but they were booked full. I put our name down for a room for the following day. Next morning we moved across the street and met phansy for lunch. He answered all our questions about Ankor wat and the surrounding temples, how to get around, what to do in town…everything we needed! He was great. Again I am going to RAVE about how amazing www.couchsurfing.com is. I paid for his lunch and we went to buy our bus tickets from Siem Reap to Phnom Phen. Phansy said we needed to go ahead and get them before the busses were full. We decided we would make a full day of temples the following morning, sunrise to sunset and then leave first thing Sunday morning. The girls bought tickets all the way thru to a lil beach area while I decided to stay in Phnom Phen for a night to see the “Killing Fields” and then continue to Vietnam the following day. We returned to our guest house and played on the very very slow internet and the girls left for smoothies while I worked out our transportation for the temples. Rin, another CSer, is a tuk tuk driver so I called him to see if would drive us. He met me at the guest house and we discussed our itinerary. We were to be picked up at 4:30 and stay til sunset, with transportation to 5 different temples. The cost was 15 USD, the same that the guest house had quoted us. The returned at 7pm and we left for the Night Market. I stopped for food at a street vendor that was full of Cambodian people eating. I told the girls to go to the market and I’d see them there or at back at the hotel later. The food ended up being _________, a Cambodian dessert that was AMAZING. Bread, fruit, that clear jello stuff, shaved ice, milk and some kind of white syrup on top! It was only .50 USD. On my way into the market I ran into the Japanese kids and the asked to take pictures with me, again I dreamed of the stories they would tell! I asked them to write in my book of people I’ve met. I have everyone I spend any significant time with write in this book. I explain that later down the road I’ll read it and remember our time together and that I won’t be reading for at least a few weeks or month to come. So far I’ve only read Andy’s, Natalies, Akes, Ploy’s and Alicia’s. There are still a lot to read. I saw for girls sitting at the “Island Bar” a gazebo bar in the middle of the market and I asked if I could join them for a bite. They were from England and leaving the next day for Thailand on a bus. I told them they might want to consider hiring a taxi instead and told them about our adventures. Behind the bar a young Cambodian man was doing some amazing bar flaring and I walked over to give it a go. He was happy to have someone to play with and showed me some new moves. My flaring skills were nothing compared to his. I walked around the market a full lap and then went back a second time to make my purchases. Now I’m back at the guest house, where I found the girls fast asleep in bed. Its now 1 am so I should be sleeping too! Good night