A Bus Ride to Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Our short term mission team has been in Cambodia for a couple of days already. The second group of our team arrived safely yesterday in Phnom Penh.

After repacking our suitcases and packaging all the gifts we would be taking to the children, we went to sleep, got a good night rest and ready for the training camps for the Cambodian youths.

The chartered bus picked us up early at the church and we boarded the bus ready for the five hour ride to S., about 220 km from Phnom Penh.

The interior of a Cambodian chartered bus

We had a cool comfortable 5 hour ride on the chartered bus

I haven't had the chance to take public transportation in Cambodia yet. But we did take a chartered bus for our trip.

A mini fridge on the chartered bus

The chartered bus ride was great!

The interior of the bus looked much better than I thought, nicely decorated with colourful curtains.












The chartered bus was even equipped with a mini fridge! What a great idea!

 Since the temperature of Cambodia frequently hovers around the high 80 degree - 90 degree, we are sweating constantly and food can get spoiled easily if not handled properly.

Traffic congestion everywhere in Phnom Penh

Motorcycles - main transportation in Cambodia is everywhere

I was here in 2012, this time I noticed that there are way more cars on the road.


Consequently, the traffic congestion was much worse and everywhere we go, it takes much longer in and around the Phnom Penh area.

Beautiful architecture and buildings with open balconies

The five hour ride passed by quickly as we talked to our fellow passengers, shared the snacks we bought and looked out of the window and watched the scenery go by us. 

It is interesting and educational to be in another country completely different from what we are used to in terms of buildings and landscape.

Here in Cambodia, we do not know the language, the culture nor the people.

I am observing a lot trying to take in and learn as much as possible about this country.

Once outside of Phnom Penh, the traffic is much better, less congested. We passed by a palm oil plantation with huge and lush green palm trees waving their leaves in the air.

We saw many mountains on our way to the camp site

What a nice refreshing sight!
I always love palm trees! There is something about them that lift my spirit.
We arrived at our destination in late afternoon.

After lunch, we went to our site, set up the conference room for our programs for the next few days.
We checked into our hotel room, refreshed ourselves and went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant close by.

The beautiful and tranquil side of Cambodia

Our short term mission team

Our Short Term Mission Team looks forward to the next few days with the kids!

 
R.T.
Sihanoukville
Cambodia