It was pretty exciting time at the school since the name and branding of the school changed over the weekend. The old name was Fun English and the new name is English “iLike.” In addition, Mathnasium was added to the school to teach Math to kids. To make the transformation, the huge banner in front of the building was taken down and replaced with another. Also a light-box sign was added outside, plus decals on the doors, new signs inside, posters on the walls, and math artwork in all the math classrooms. For Monday I went back to Trat with the family and saw a few sights there that I missed before. Before long it was back to the school.
When I got back to Thailand I bought a plane ticket from Bangkok, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Last summer I contacted and planned traveling through some of these countries with a partner (from Finland) that I found on a web site (plus a friend she is bringing along). In an attempt to synchronize our traveling, I knew the exact flight they were taking to Cambodia so I was going to surprise them at the airport by going on the same airplane as them. They thought I was in Cambodia and I was supposed to meet them there.
However things didn’t work out that perfectly. I got an email saying the girl from Finland just got very sick and they are going to stay in Thailand until she recovers. To make matters worse, they are going to travel by bus to Cambodia to the same beach town I just spent 4 days in.
There was a chance they would take the plane but I didn’t have any such luck, so I boarded the plane and for the second time entered Cambodia on my own. This time I realized I’ll be on my own for a while but I’ll have to push forward anyway.
The airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the smallest I’ve ever seen. Including my plane I only saw 3 planes in the entire airport, surprising for a capital city of a country. Also flying over the country I noticed all dirt roads and no cars driving on them. I’m wondering what I’m getting myself into again.
I took a moto to a guesthouse I looked up earlier in the day. The driver had a suggestion (where he would get commission). On later thought, I wished I would have taken his suggestion because the room I stayed in had was not too great with no windows and was $15/night. I was running low on cash after the $20 Visa fee, paying the moto taxi and the room. I only saw $3 in my wallet, so I walked around for an ATM and to look for some water. I found neither. Even though I was in the center of the city, I didn’t see a single convenience store or ATM. It was getting dark and starting to rain so I went to bed with no drinking water.