Finishing Cambodia

Well, I have been in Cambodia for a total of two weeks now. We are finally trying to go to Lao (Laos - here more commonly Lao). The past three days have been quite adventurous. Saturday we hopped on a bus to go from Phnom Penh to Sen Monorom, another city in the middle of nowhere. First I must say the buses are not like in the states, large, air-conditioned, relatively clean. The buses are rinky dink, please let the air-conditioner work, please give me a real seat and not a plastic chair in the aisle, box of metal. Our bus was 5 hours from PP to Snoul, where we were told to switch buses. Our bus went about 15 km and stopped where another bus was on the side of the road. (I had guessed that we were switching buses because the other broke down and then we would wait for the next bus to come and take theirs, like they did ours.) I was correct!! The other bus eagerly boarded ours after we exited (some didn't even wait for us to exit) and we sat and waited. They tried to fix the bus for over 3 hours. We were sitting on the side of the dirt road from 3-6. The sun went down. So in the dark, in the middle of no where, with about 5 houses that had no electricity we were unsure of what to do. All of us passengers got together and worked it out that we would go back to Snoul. We had many different people - Indian, Swedish, French, Canadian, Cambodian, and American. In the dark some stayed, a few took motodups (motorcycle taxis), and the rest of us hopped on the back of a pick-up truck.
I will just say there was chaos while we found two guesthouses that luckily had enough rooms for us all.
Sunday, we were up to meet eveyone at 7:30am in front of the bus station to see if they had the bus fixed, sent another one, or would provide another mode of transportation. They said they would hire a truck to take us all. One truck!! So we did as the Cambodians do! This was a regular (old-style, 90's) pick-up truck. Inside the small cab was the driver and five people. On the roof was the driver's friend to help. Hanging on for dear life on the back was our baggage, boxes, and the other FOURTEEN of us that decided to continue our journey. It is definitely legal in Cambodia to ride in the back of the truck. The 6 hour trip dwindled to 4 since we did not need to stop and pick any one up. The frst half was pretty painful. I sat in the middle next to the Indian guy on a tire. It was so bumpy and crowded it hurt. The second half, daring, rebellious me (I know I will get comments from my many mothers about this!!), I sat on the edge of the truck! I was careful, have no fear. We made it with pictures to prove how dirty we were from all the red dirt clay. It was an experience none the less. We arrived showered (so much dirt) and ate dinner. The rest of our night was mainly filled with religious discussions and debate. We had some sure-fire topics going that had us very pasionate to say the least. It was enjoyable to end the night singing.
Monday (today), we just got back from our elephant trek! It was a great time. We left at 8:30 to get to the elephants and thus began our descent into the jungle. We climbed up the stairs and stepped across the head to sit in a basket on top. The basket was not very comfortable. When walking down the hill we thought we were going to roll right out. Up hill we thought we would fall out the back. We didn't. We made it safely. We were able to swim in the stream, eat our rice, fried pork, and lychees, hunt for the elephants after lunch, and bathe them. It was a once in a lifetime experience. We were a little concerned because of what happened to Jeremy but we were told they were tame and used to this. It was a beautiful jungle.
Tomorrow we will ride another truck back to Snoul (don't worry this time I told them I wanted a seat inside! ) so we can head to the Cambodia-Lao border. Pray for a safe trip again and ease of border crossing!

I will post pictures on snapfish after I return to China but the pictures will not do justice to what I have seen and experiencd here in Cambodia.

I have enjoyed my time in Cambodia. I have met many people - Christians, teachers, foreigners, and had the experience of a lifetime.
Now I look forward to see what God has planned for me in Lao!!