She's Got a Ticket to Ride

Please excuse the overly obvious, very cliche Beatles reference, but as the lyrics denote, I bought a bus ticket today.

This weekend I'll be embarking on my first journey outside Phnom Penh to Kampot Province, home to a sleepy beach town and less than 50km away from Bokor National Park, which hosts a variety of wildlife including elephants and tigers. I figured Kampot was a safe selection for my first journey, seeing as how its not as far as some of the other destinations, like Sihanoukville and Siem Reap, that I'd like to visit. I'm calling it my tester run, as I'll be getting a feel for how the bus system works (very slowly I hear) and gauging my travel instincts (i.e. finding a guest house, not getting robbed, etc.).

At first, I wasn't sure I trusted myself quite yet on venturing outside city limits, but after buying a knock off North Face backpack yesterday and my bus ticket today, I've acquired quite a bit of confidence. Come to think of it, buying the ticket was half the battle.

So the next few days I'll be planning out my weekend. Right now I'm thinking a relaxing afternoon on the beach and a day trip to the national park. We'll see.

In the meantime, the ants are still at it in my apartment. This morning I noticed a few creeping out from behind my towel rack, so I sprayed down the area with Off. I walked back into the bathroom not five minutes later, and nearly 100 had congregated. It grossed me out! Luckily they were all dead (thank goodness for Off!) and I easily cleaned them up.


Check out the damage. (Disgusting, isn't it?)