Just had a reflexology massage ...$7.00

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Hello everyone,
Well I just looked on the computer it's 3pm and it's friday the the 11th of july ...wow!
Just walked out of a spa....there are blocks of massage spas here in siem reap....paid 7 bucks for a foot and reflexology massage includes shoulder and arms...1 hour!!!
Like nothing you've ever seen in the states...and the price is like slavery!!! but i dont feel guilty!
I dont want to share yet what our days have been b/c i want to walk the border to cambodia with everyone before i forget the Intense retro Hollywood refugee Sureal feeling...
so tuesday morning Just 3 days ago and it feels like 3000 ( really) MY friend jay tells us we are going to travel by car to Cambodia from Bangkok!
I love road trips....but i intuitively felt uneasy about this road trip...it wasnt so much that we had 4 small children ( 5,8, and twins 11 yrs old ) and My daughter Isabella and 24 pieces of luggage ( remember we've been shopping so 20 quickly bumps up....)
But I no longer trusted Jay's lets call it planning cause common sense at this point might be too harsh....so although he said we had the proper transportation ....i questioned him and questioned the whole idea as to why drive if we can fly...but i think he had under estimated the flight prices and although for My family the cost wasnt crazy he had 6 tickets to purchase...so the car choice it would be. he assured me the transport would be comfortable and drive would be just 2.5 hours to the border than we might have to walk about 500 feet between the Zone ( as i so fondly call it now ) with our luggage.....but we can get one of those hotel carts to transport it and His General cousins uncle who's married to his aunts third cousin would be there to expediate the process so that we wouldnt be detained for an entire day...and we'd only have to pay a few people for the favor!!!
Once the bus gets to the beautifu Amari....its'about 11:30 am...I feel great to see the bus and I encourage the children to eat before we take off and the driver just has to wait..... ...so while Samantha and i go up to the restaurant to grab the kids we decide to stay and eat too ...the Brunch that they are offering includes the freshest sushi and beet salads and more sushi and i have seconds...( as you will notice in the pics that i will finally upload ) and anyway we're all full and we load up to the bus ....and i am feeling good about all of this The kids are fed and we dont have to wonder if we're gonna see a Cracker Barrel on the way~~
so off to see Camobodia we go....we make 3 stops ...and the kids are freaked b/c the toilets require you to squat and the way to flush is to put a big scoop of water in to it from the big bucket next to the toilet....Oh and we buy our own toilet paper! What s the big deal right>>> a step up from camping!!!!
On our last toilet stop isabella notices the signage on the wall of the toilet ..it goes like this!
a picture of a car driving + a picture of a car driving too fast and there's a speedometer showing 90 miles an hour = a car turned over with a puddle of blood!!!
the signage is so funny here and literal....
so between 4-4:30 Pm the same day ( ha ) we begin to approach the last thai town to the border...and the drive there was highway and safe and lots of people working the Rice paddie's and abandoned huts and produce stands and a police search...but its all good and the driver also has a translator with him cause it's a tour bus rental!!! as we approach this town that i dont seem to remember the name of but I do know that on the otherside of it the Cambodian side is a Vegas style town with casino's etc....Now this is what my friend Jays MOM has told him....As we get into this town i felt like within minutes 2008 suddenly tunred into the Vietnam war...or what i would imagine it is....You could feel poverty We looked at it straight in the eyes of these people ....OOOOOh you know that recent Mayan' movie the Apocolypso....that's what it was like ...i knew i was somewhere with no rules and lots of street vendors and something like Turkey..
Let's just say the illusions of hotel carts took a sharp turn Cause it was Oxen carts that pulled our luggage 2 of them...and several boys bidded for the job ...Jay handled it! Not sure who's idea it was to count the luggage . but the tension started....b/c of the fear or doubt .but by now as we rounded up the kids close to us and let Jay keep up with the oxen cart full of luggage...i felt like we just walked into a time warp!!!!
gotta go now but will be back tommorow

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Comments

[Tracey]

So your not in kansas anymore

[Tawnya Fondren]

OOOOH, THIS IS GETTING GOOD...
Rice paddies, abandoned huts, oxen drawn carts... ~That~ is sounding like a real adventure. The more details, the merrier. Thanks for taking time to keep us updated.

[mary Grace Picken]

WOW! Talk about an adventure! Glad "Jay " is keeping you guys safe..... except the last part of your entry sounded a bit like a scene from the movie "Platoon"!!

[mary Grace Picken]

Upload those picts !

[Linda Reed]

Loving this!
Who are the people you are traveling with and where did they come from???