If I'd done things my way, I would've arranged to stay in the Bangkok area for my 10 days. I'm so glad I didn't do my way! First, Chiang Mai (especially Juniper Tree) was perfect for what I needed. Second, I found out that week that the girl I'd wanted to visit in Bangkok had to leave unexpectedly! So glad I followed how I sensed the Lord leading rather than what I wanted to do--good lesson for me. Third, I certainly wouldn't have added another country to the list! But...
My beloved director of SAMS encouraged me to visit Phnom Penh while I was there; and though I desperately wanted to have a slower pace, I wanted to listen to him...plus, I'm so close! Also, Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam have been of special interest to me and were hi-lighted on my prayer map when lived in the condo. When I learned that the couple I could stay with were from Wheaton and their sending church was the church I often attend when I visit there, it helped. :)
 |
| Street where I stayed while I was there |
Back to the airport pickup: the family's car which had been in the shop earlier that day, wouldn't start; so I would get my first tuk tuk ride! (A little canopied wagon with seats being pulled from a moped). Woo hoo! That's their version of a taxi. It's open air, which means a combo of heat and dirt, but fun!. :)
Speaking of heat, wow. Thailand also had been extremely hot--in the 100's!!! My app said it was only in the mid-90's in Phnom Penh, but it felt just as hot! In fact, it was so hot that I welcomed the cold shower in my room (when I could've used the family shower with hot water)! That's a first ever.
Funnily, the week I was in Albania, the Colombian girl who visited roomed with me; and we learned that the husband of her friend would be in Phnom Penh for 3 days, too--that overlapped with my 3 days! He and his wife were both Wheaton grads! So I met with him my first morning and got to hear all about his medical outreaches in Thailand and now Cambodia. That afternoon, I met up with Audrey. A lady I'd had lunch with in Chiang Mai told me about her, also a Wheaton grad from my program and now teaching ESL there. So great to see someone from "my world."
I rode on the back of her scooter to get home since she lives in the "same neighborhood" as the family I stayed with. If you don't have assurance of where you're going after you die, I don't recommend this, ha! There were a few times my imagination applied to sheer logic could've sent me into panic, but my strategy was just go with the flow. I mean, I never saw anyone fall or get hit/hurt during my two days there (unless you count the time a Prius backed into the parked tuk tuk I was sitting in waiting for the driver and another rider, but I'm not counting parked vehicles 🤣).
 |
| View from the tuk tuk :) |
Thankfully I had my own tuk tuk driver who speaks English. The family recommended him, and I stuck with him since I don't speak a lick of Khmer (I think it's the first/only country I've ever visited where I didn't at least know how to say one thing! :( ). He took me to a museum which I thought had artwork of Vann Nath--one of 7 survivors of the genocide--but it was mostly Buddhas and ancient relics. Oh well. I learned a few things and realized there is so much I don't know about this religion.
 |
| Lotus garden at the Royal Museum of Art |
As I waited at the Phnom Penh airport yesterday morning, it was difficult for me. It seemed like one of the nicest, cleanest airports I've ever been in--which I appreciate--but seems so out-of-place when the conditions are so difficult there. A lot to think about...
