When we were deciding whether to do the World Race, one of my favorite things to do was read past racers’ blogs. Many racers wrote about travel days, and they always sounded intense: no sleeping, hours on buses, border crossings, etc. Even though I knew somewhat what to expect, nothing could have prepared me for the realities of a week-long “travel day”.
Here is a timeline of our travel from El Alto, Bolivia to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We left Bolivia on January 1 and did not arrive at our ministry site in Cambodia until the night of January 7. It was a long and exhausting week, but it led to some awesome and funny memories with my squad.
Monday, January 1
6:00am – leave Mision Adulam (our ministry in El Alto, Bolivia)
-we all wouldn’t fit in the minibus with our packs, so some of us (me) had to ride with huge 50 pound packs in our laps in the minibus. It was so claustrophobic and I got really carsick. The rest of our team walked to the cable car and took it down to the bus station.
You can’t see me, because I am under all those bags!
6:45am – arrive at La Paz bus terminal where we have to carry everyone’s bags inside who was taking the cable car – we met the rest of our squad at the terminal
7:30am – we were told that 3 teams would be on a bus that would leave in 10 minutes, and the other teams would be on a different bus that would leave soon after.
7:40am – change of plans: actually only Ablaze (my team) will be on a bus by ourselves that is leaving now.
-RJ and I had to sit in the last row of the bus, which had seats that were ramrod straight and we were basically sitting on top of each other.
10:00am – arrive in San Pedro de Tiquina, Bolivia
-we had to get off the bus with our daypacks. The bus is driven onto a ferry to cross Lake Titicaca, and we have to buy tickets to take a very small, old boat across.
That’s our bus on the ferry!
10:45am – get back on the bus
12:00pm – arrive in Copacabana, Bolivia
-we have to take all of our stuff off the bus. Half of the squad gets on another bus and heads to Peru. The rest of us wait on the side of the road. There is much confusion about when/how we will get to the border.
12:30pm – the remaining 30 people load up in 3 minibuses to drive to the Bolivia/Peru border
-I have to sit in the very front middle seat, right beside the driver, with my daypack on my lap.
12:45pm – arrive at the Bolivia side of the border
-We have to unload all of our stuff and wait in line to “check out” of Bolivia.
1:15pm – after getting our passports stamped, we have to carry all of our stuff (daypack and big pack) about 200 yards across the Peruvian border
1:30pm – wait in another line to go through border patrol in Peru
2:00pm – there is more confusion about how we are going to get to our destination
-Half of our squad is already on a bus, and the rest of us have to wait for a while with our stuff while the bus companies decide how to transport us.
2:30pm – we are loaded up in two more minibuses that will hold 15 people each
-This was actually the comfiest ride of the whole day. The only bad part was when it started raining and the driver would not roll up his window (I think it was broken). RJ and I were getting pelted with rain, so we had to cover up with our rain jackets.
5:00pm – arrive in Puno, Peru
-one of my squadmates tries to convince the driver to drop us off at our hostel instead of the bus terminal. He finally agrees if we pay him 20 more soles. Then she tries to use GPS to show him how to get there, but he did not know how to read a map. We have to stop several times for him to study the map before we finally make it to our hostel.
5:45pm – finally arrive at our hostel, Los Uros Hostel, and unload all of our stuff and given our room assignments
6:30pm – I go to dinner with some squadmates, while RJ hangs out with the other team leaders.
11:00pm – we finally go to the bed in the comfiest bed we have had on the WR.
Tuesday, January 2
Tuesday ended up being an unexpected free day in Peru. We were afraid that the borders would be closed on Tuesday because of protests in Bolivia, so we left a day early.
10:00am – we got to actually sleep in!
11:30am – we went to this awesome restaurant, Colors, for brunch
2:00pm – walk down to Lake Titicaca to browse shops
3:30pm – end up getting on a 2 hour boat tour to the floating islands of Los Uros
RJ and I on Lake Titicaca.
8:00pm – go to dinner at Positive, where we waited like 1 1/2 hours for our food
Wednesday, January 3
8:15am – RJ and I went to breakfast at Rico’s Pan, where I was able to post a blog
10:30am – we got a Facebook message from a squadmate that we actually have to check out of the hostel at 12pm, not 3pm like we originally thought
10:45am – rush back to the hostel to shower and pack
12:00pm – leave our packs in the hallway of the hostel
12:30pm – went to lunch at Pacha Mixology with some friends
2:45pm – head back to the hostel where our big packs are loaded into a minibus
3:00pm – walk 1/2 mile with our daypacks to the bus terminal
3:30pm – load bus to Juliaca, Peru
4:30pm – arrive at Juliaca Airport
-we sat in the lobby and cafe area until we could check in for our flight. The airport only has night flights, so when we arrived all the lights were off. We played Phase 10 for the few hours we were waiting.
7:30pm – check in for flight and go through security
9:05pm – time our flight is supposed to be boarding, but the plane has not arrived yet
Getting my “travel hair” ready (braids).
10:00pm – we finally board the plane
11:45pm – arrive in Lima, Peru, where we have to pick up all of our big packs
Thursday, January 4
12:30am – we had to spend the night in the Lima Airport, so we found a spot, blew up our sleeping pads, and laid down
1:00am – ate Papa John’s from the food court (the Lima airport is open 24 hours and very LOUD)
1:30am – got yelled at by security to move our stuff because they were cleaning the floor
1:45am – found another spot to sleep
Our squad attempting to sleep in the very bright, very loud Lima airport.
7:00am – checked into our next flight to Miami, went through security where they took my peanut butter, and waited at the gate for our flight
10:00am – our flight leaves for Miami
Still all smiles!
4:30pm – our flight lands in Miami
5:30pm – we had to go through customs and collect our big packs
6:00pm – we got in our rental car with our squad leaders, Hana Beth and Charmagne, and our friend Amy
-our first stop was Fed Ex, where we mailed home 12 pounds of stuff
7:00pm – we went to Target to buy toiletries and snacks
8:30pm – we went to Chili’s where we stuffed ourselves silly
10:00pm – we drove to Hollywood, Florida, because all the beaches in Miami were closed so Hana Beth can stick her toes in the (freezing cold) water
Friday, January 5
1:45am – we headed back to the airport
-I slept, while RJ drove. 🙂
The Miami skyline.
3:00am – arrived back at the airport
-We met up with the rest of our squad who had been sleeping in the lobby. I repacked my bags with the new Target purchases.
4:30am – we checked in for our flight
7:00am – our flight leaves for Atlanta
-RJ and I got upgraded to first class on this flight, but we were so tired that we fell asleep before we even took off.
9:30am – arrived in Atlanta
11:55am – our flight was supposed to leave for Seoul, South Korea but it was delayed slightly
12:30pm – flight departed for Seoul
-Our squad was divided for this flight, so 8 of us (RJ and I included) were on a different flight to Seoul. They left around the same time. This flight was 15 ½ hours long. Korean Air is a really nice airline, and they served us two really good meals. They also provided nice blankets and pillows and there was a TV on the back of every seat. The flight went by really fast and was not bad at all.
The flight pattern to Seoul.
(During our flight to Seoul, we crossed the international date line so all times moving forward are Korean/Cambodian time)
Saturday, January 6
5:45pm – flight arrives in Seoul
6:00pm – our connecting flight was boarding, but we had to stand in a long line to go through security again so we were sweating a bit
6:30pm – arrive at gate
-The other part of our squad had not even arrived yet because their flight had been delayed out of Atlanta so we had plenty of time to board the plane.
7:00pm – the rest of our squad boards the plane after they were escorted through the Seoul airport and the flight leaves for Phnom Penh
11:00pm – arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
11:30pm – stand in line to get our tourist visas for Cambodia
-While we were in line, we realized that the visas were $30/person, so we had to wait for our logistics team to get money out of the ATM and figure out how to pay for them.
Welcome to Cambodia!
11:45pm – see a guy holding a sign with RJ and I’s name on it
-We realize that 8 of our bags did not arrive in Phnom Penh (the people who were on the separate flight)
Sunday, January 7
12:30am – had to stand in line at the lost and found desk to fill out paperwork for our bags
1:30am – finally went through customs and left the airport
2:00am – took a bus to our hostel – Lovely Jubbly Villa Hostel
2:15am – arrived at hostel
-Once we got to the hostel, a group of us realized we were starving, so we walked to a strip of restaurants and ate our first Cambodian meal – Ramen
3:30am – got back to the hostel, took a shower, and slept for a few hours
7:30am – woke up and ate breakfast by the pool
9:00am – went back to the room to take a nap
11:30am – took a minibus to the bus station
12:30pm – our bus departed for Siem Reap, Cambodia
6:30pm – arrived at the bus station in Siem Reap
-We waited with all of our stuff while we tried to figure out how we were going to get to our ministry site, the Overflow Guesthouse. The tuk tuks outside the station had never heard of it and we could not reach our host on the phone. At this point, we were all walking zombies so we were just ready to get to our destination.
We were all so exhausted.
7:00pm – finally got ahold of our host, and she said she would send tuk tuks to get us
8:00pm – the tuk tuks finally arrived and we loaded all of our stuff and headed to Overflow
One of my squadmates, Shannon, with all of our bags in a tuk-tuk.
8:30pm – we arrive at the Guesthouse and have a brief orientation
9:00pm – we eat dinner and finally crash
If you made it to the end of this blog, you may be as exhausted as I was when we arrived in Siem Reap. I felt like I could sleep for days, mostly because of the time change, but also because my body had been through a lot. I feel like I have finally recovered, but I truly wish I could apparate like Harry Potter for our next travel extravaganza to Europe in a few months!
Update on our bags: They arrived in Siem Reap on January 10! I was so excited to change out of the clothes I had been wearing for 10 days!
WOW WOW WOW, Kayla!!! What a ride!!! I cannot believe what you all went through to get to the Overflow Guest House. Your adventure continues to amaze us. You all are learning to be “flexible”, a necessary trait for missionaries….just go with the flow….you are all are taking it in stride! Good job!!! Hang in there. Blessings on your time in Cambodia!
What a long, grueling trip!
I love the way you guys maintained a good attitude all along. Well done!
HOLY COW! Bless you all! Not a chance that the world race is for the faint of heart (i.e. ME). I literally was not only tired for you all, I was frustrated, anxious, and worried. But also in reading your writing, I can tell how mush trust you have that God will work it all out, and for that I admire you and your whole group! Miss you!