How I Nearly Got Stranded at the Thai-Cambodian Border

I probably shouldn’t have been squatting

It’s not a pleasant place.

Or is it the Cambodian-Thai border? I mean, we were coming from Cambodia into Thailand, so…

But does it make a difference that we were coming from Cambodia back into Thailand?

There’s a bit of rivalry between the two countries, so maybe this is a sensitive issue. Socially, culturally, politically.

Linguistically, however, it’s pretty conventional to put the shorter-sounding name first. Just rolls off the tongue more smoothly.

Unlike the toothbrush I was holding. I mean, it wasn’t supposed to roll off smoothly. The side of the head with the ridged surface is meant to scrape gunk off your tongue after an entire night of keeping your mouth closed and letting all the bacteria stew even if you brush every night before bed (which is, I suppose, a superior alternative to not keeping your mouth closed the entire night and letting something foreign drop in).

Done with the brushing. Onward to more urgent business.

But I wasn’t at home.

The previous night, we had waited a significant while at our hotel in Phnom Penh for the sleeper bus that would take us back to Bangkok. Or so I’d understood it. On another note, waiting a significant while wasn’t a big deal. We had nothing else planned. It wasn’t in the spirit of backpacking to be in a hurry.

The bus did not take us all the way to Bangkok. We stopped at Poipet, a town at the Thai-Cambodian border and also one of the main crossings if not the main crossing between the two countries.

It’s not a pleasant place.

Various minibuses would take us to our various final destinations. They would wait for us while we dealt with our morning routines — which could mean different things to different people — in the public group toilet around the corner.

My minibus almost left while I was performing aforementioned urgent business.

The only reason I didn’t get stranded was my travel buddy crying out to the driver.

What if I had been traveling alone?

Dash Ip is glad he has friends.

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