I called my mom and told her that I felt that something was going to happen on the visa trip and she told me not to worry and that everything would turn out just fine. Trying to sleep when you're anxious is not easily accomplished. I woke up so many times throgh the night that I was annoyed when 4:30 A.M. came. Up and at 'em so I won't be late.
I got dressed and check that I had my passport, multiple passport photos, money for the trip and spending money for food, cigarettes, perfume and drink. I packed my MP3 just in case the films on the bus weren't exciting because I knew I would finish my book within the first hour. Good to go. Out the door and down the stairs to the main road so I could flag a taxi.
Bai Sukhumvit Soi 12, which means 'Going to Sukhumvit street 12', I said to the driver and I was on my way to Jack Golf. Their company provides tourists with a bus service, for a fee of course, to go to Lao and Cambodia to attain new visas to prolong their stay in Thailand. Upon arrival I went into the office and filled out all my details. The men were really nice and asked me to wait outside by the 7-11, on the chairs provided, for the rest of the tourists to arrive.
At 7:00 we took off in an airconditioned double decker bus for the Cambodian border. The guide for our trip quoted us approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours stopping at a petrol station about midway. He was correct on the time it took to get to the service station and we were blessed with Mr.Bean the Movie and The Fast and The Furious Japan along the way. We got out for a bathroom break, tough there was a toilet on the bus, and to buy something from the small grocery store. Back on the bus in 20 minutes we were ready to roll again.
About 45 minutes later our bus smelled a like something was burning. the tire had begun to melt due to sweltering road conditions, 40 degrees celsius, and speed. We pulled over to the curb on the highway and waited the next 4 hours in a restaurant for another bus to continue out trip. We ordered luch at the Thai restaurant and drank Sang Sum, thai whiskey, mixed with pepsi. Yummy!
The rest of the ride to the Border was smooth and the movies were good. We arrived at the stamping section and got off the bus. With our passports and pictures in hand we lined up to get our passports stamped. When we were all ready our guide asked us to cross the foot bridge into Cambodia and have a complimentary foot massage and lunch. We all opted for a liquid lunch and within an hour we were collected and went back through the border crossing into Thailand. WIth my bus ticket to somewhere in Cambodia unused I was a bit skeptical but it worked and I crossed back and boarded the bus again without trouble. Back to Bangkok for the next 29 days. What a trip!
