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Well our trip has just started and its already been eventful. The travel day was fine. We had a 5 hour layover in Shanghai in which we were super bored. We watched some Chinese volleyball game for awhile. After awhile Seth got hungry so we went to a restrauant where Seth got a lasanga, yep you read that right. He saw they had it and he wanted it. He said it wasn't too bad either. After that we went back to our tv spot but the volleyball game was over and the news was on in Chinese. I started playing cards solitaire to kill time. Thanks to Dad for giving me the habit of always packing a deck of cards in my bags.
Shanghai is an hour behind S. Korea and we misread the clock several times, Including one time where we thought it was boarding time. After 30 min passed the broading time I got a little freaked out but we finally figured it out and waited another half hour till it really was our time.
So you are probably thinking that this sounds like a normal travel trip. So far right? Well this is really where the story gets started. I had arranged with our hostel for an airporrt pick up. Easy right? Well, the flight took an extra 30 min. in the air, add on top of that the time it takes to apply for a Cambodian visa at the airport (appr. another 30 min.) and our pick up had waited long enough and had left us at the airport. Not too much of a problem, the airport taxis knew our hostel and charged $7 to get there (honestly too much for Cambodia, but what else are we to do while we are sleep deprived?).
This is where the hiccup starts. Because our airport pick up came back to the hostel empty handed they assumed we were no-shows and gave our room away! Makes sense on a business stand point but it was inconvenient for us. Luckily the guy proceeded to find us a room at another hotel, even though I could tell he was obvisously annoyed that we had showed up and he had to do this. The other hostel had a good room and view, being on the thrid floor. Also, our hostel offered to pick us up in the morning so that we could have breakfast.
This takes us to the next day...
We wake up on time, even though my ipod was on silent, and are taken to our hostel for breakfast. It's Sunday and we hadn't planned on doing anything except going to a church we found online. A guy from our hostel, Patran (sp?) gave us some ideas and bouchures. Seth really liked the idea of ziplining. Neither of us had done it before and we didn't know how long it would take to know if we'd have time to do it before church (services started at 4pm). So at 8:30am after Patran's offer he tuk-tuked us to the travel agent. The agent lady said it was a 3 hour experience and the next class would be at 10am. Perfect timing! It was a little expensive considering it's Cambodia, at $158 but thats why we have spending money. So we went back to our hostel and waited for 1/2 an hour for the experience to start.
"The flight of the Gibbons" picked us up at our hostel and proceeded to go to the National Park with the temples. We got a three-day entrance pass since we planned on going to the temples the next day. We would've gotten a two-day pass but they don't offer it. They have a one day for $20 or a three day for $40. Oh and they print your picture on the pass so you can't pass it off to anyone. The actually ziplining was a lot of fun. A total of 13 line, the longest being 300 meters which starts at a tree house 42 meters high.
The treehouse was about halfway through the course. And while we waited at the treehouse to rest, our sky guides, Vanna and Bunroung, pointed out the local mountain range and told us some history. For instance the outer layer of stone for most of the famous temples were collected in that mountain range 49 km away. Also the range is a sacred place for Hindus. Vanna (a guy) said that when you are on that mountain you must be careful what you say b/c the gods will make it come true. Now the two of them liked to joke around with us but they told us this belief with completely serious faces. They told us an example of someone saying "At least there are no crocodiles" and then the gods sent the crocodiles to attack. So be careful what you say on that mountain!
The rest of the day was great. We took a nap and bought our bus tickets to Bangkok for a 8-9 hour bus ride for $15 each. Then we went to the night market and I bought more than I should've. Seth is still trying to teach me to haggle.
Now off to bed for another exciting day tomorrow this one of temple exploring!
Jessica
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