Flight from Taipei to Phnom Penh took about 3 and a half hours, arrived at the Raffles Hotel around 12:30. We had until 2 to check in and report to the meeting.
Beautiful old colonial hotel with shuttered balconies and celing fans) (boosted by central air). It is HOT and STEAMY here! We took a half hour dip in the pool, joined by the 2 13-year olds -- Bill's daughter Petra who is travelling with us the first week, and Ben from Texas whose teammate is his grandma from Barbados. Ben's Mom Zoe and her partner Rannie swam too. It was really refreshing.
At the meeting, we were given the book of scavenges and learned that we must get ourselves to Siem Reap to meet at 2 PM tomorrow. Flying is discouraged - major point deduction. We spent some time planning out the trip with Steve and Bart, great guys from Southern California. Bart has visited all but 12 countries in the world and knows a thing or two about independent travelling.
We chose to go to the central market and buy school supplies and soccer balls to deliver to an orphange, which is about 50 minutes outside of town. Between buying and delivering the supplies, we decided to do a mandatory meal at Malis. During dinner, I started feeling unwell and decided to go back to the hotel while Alex, Bart and Steve went on to the orphanage. I took a cool shower, drank a lot of water and put myself to bed. While I was busy grappling with my whatever, Alex, Bart and Steve went to the bus station and bought tickets for the 8:30 AM to Siem Reap - about a 6 hour bus ride on partially unpaved roads. Hmmmm.