After a week of working VBS, paired with a week of being a camp counselor, and a hearty dose of Tynenol PM, it wasn't hard to sleep a full seven hours out of the first twelve hour flight. Note to self: don't take Tynenol PM until you have actually boarded the plane unless you would really like to fall asleep in the waiting area of he airport. 1 1/2 movies, 5 chapters, 10 pictures of the monks in front of me, 18 pictures of my new 80 year old BFF( who by the way, was wearing a blue cheetah print sweater, had on sparkly nail polish, and did not speak a word of English. But that didn't stop us from bonding over Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.), 579 airplane selfies, 11 Facebook messages, and 42 snapchats later I have finally landed in Cambodia. The 52 year flight ( 20 hours and 40 minutes if you round down) taught me many things of value. Most importantly: monks don't respond well to people taking creepy pictures of them. Also that the Taiwan airport has a Hello Kitty Lounge, in case you ever wanted to visit. And that the children of Taiwan really like people with purple hair, and touching said hair.
Getting to the hotel was an event in itself. Our ride is this little thing called a Tuk-Tuk. Which in English translates to: sketchy cart pulled by a moped, or something like that. It's extremely dangerous and passing motorcyclists like to reach in and snatch phones and/or luggage. We loaded the bags into one Tuk-Tuk and the rest of us split up into the other two. Lo and behold, the Tuk-Tuk I was in drives about 7 feet before turning so that we are PERPENDICULAR to traffic, as in BLOCKING the street. Our driver, and the driver of the other death trap both get off their mopeds and go to this grassy area near the second Tuk-Tuk. Stranded in the middle of the roadway, the only thing left to do is observe the scene while trying not to freak out. A security guard walks up and starts yelling at the second driver and kicking at his moped. Next thing I know, the two are throwing punches. The driver really should have tried to use his words because, unfortunately for him, five other guards come and chase him directly in front of our cart. The six guards surround the guy and start kicking at him. Everyone is yelling and it is complete and utter chaos, they are so close to us that I pray a stray punch doesn't enter our "vehicle". Good thing the driver is quick because from the looks of it, it's hard to dodge six guys. unfortunately half of the guards get out their tasers. Our driver decides that we have had enough excitement and saunters lazily back over to our cart. As I look back I hear the electrical current and see the guy get tased a few times then pushed away back towards his cart. Lord have mercy. Welcome to Cambodia.
No comments:
Post a Comment