Day 1- Kampong Cham, Cambodia

---

Travel Date- December 16th 2007

Location-Kampong Cham, Cambodia

Today marks day one of Alexandra and I's epic three week journey through South East Asia. We are specifically planning on traveling from Phnom Penh through Northern Cambodia, Southern Laos and into Vietnam where we will eventually make our way back to Phnom Penh via Ho Chi Minh City.
The first day I wake up at 7am to an excruciating headache. I drag myself out of bed and begin packing, only to find that I've become slightly nauseous. We eventually pack both of our packs and I head to the market to pick up some food for the bus ride. I finally get back just in time to catch the bus as we double check the apartment. Just then I start to feel the ever so distinguisable feeling of water under the tongue. So, I run to the bathroom and pay some last respects to the toilet before we part ways for three weeks.
Finally I catch a tuk tuk while Ali says her goodbyes to the children of Aziza's place. We hop aboard and head to the central market. The whole time I'm struggling to hold down the bit of water I managed to throw back after my exciting trip to the bathroom. She's sitting on the front seat facing me while I'm stretched out across the two seats hugging my guitar and backpack. Thankfully we arrive to the bus station and board without any more problems.
Pleasantly suprised by our seating arrangement, we find that we have plenty of leg room at the front of the bus and we're dirrectly across from a Canadian family who is on their 5th month of a one year trip around the world. How wounderful. Ali and the Father talk most of the bus ride as I force myself to passout for the remaining hours of the bus ride. Unfortunately we take a pit stop at some lonely market on the side of the road. At this point I was back to my normal self and managed to chomp down a spider to entertain the Canadian Family and Ali.
It took another hour or so but we finally arrived into the town of Kampong Cham. We scurry off the bus and grab our belongings. We were both expecting a big rush of people asking us for taxi services but we were only approached by one or two people. As we started making our way to the river front on foot we were unexpectedly charmed by the nature of this easy going town. Everything was laid back. No worries about getting mauled over by an SUV or crazy school kid on a moto and no pedestrians constantly stopping in front of you every five feet. We both looked at one another an exclaimed how amazing it was to be out of Phenomenal Penh.
After reaching the river side two minutes after departing the bus we decided to find the cheap guesthouse we planned on staying at for the night. It was a nice place that didn't have an aweful lot to offer but gave us a place to sleep. One thing the place did offer us was bus tickets for the next day and bicycles!!! We were so thrilled to get on the bike's that we road for hours. We started along the river front and made our way to this unfinished bamboo bridge that we had read about. Then we went down these quaint little side streets where every passerby said "HI" or "HELLO". It was a great relief from the traffic and human interactions we had constantly been receiving in Phnom Penh.
After we grabbed a quick bite to eat we decided to bike 1km to some 11th century temple ruins. It was amazing here. We saw children dancing and playing traditional music as we enjoyed our stroll around the anchient ruins. The best part of the day, however, was when we decided to follow this dirt trail out into the countryside past the temple. This beautifully colored red dirt path took us on a long bike ride through seasoned rice fields that were now being used for hay. We said hello to everyone and got the impression that they had never seen more then a handeful of white people before. Here we saw waterbuffalo pulling wooden carts and waggons heaped to the brim with overflowing strands of straw. It was an unimaginable feeling that I had; being as it is that I come from something so similar but drastically different.
After our long journey of getting lost in the countryside we decided to turn around and head back to the river side for an evening beer while watching the sun set.

---