You thought that mini-bus was bad.

After rejection at the hands of freshwater dolphins it was time to leave before Tim’s heart was broken anymore. We were told by a smiling, over-friendly Mr Hap that our exclusive bus would be leaving at midday. We waited with two Dutch girls, who were coming along for the ride, until 1.00pm when we were thrown aboard and set off. We weren’t too surprised but still quite disappointed when we drove round the corner and stopped. To our dismay the engine was turned off and the driver got out. We were encouraged to get out and stretch our legs after the 10 second journey but eager to get on our way we all stuck to our seats. As time ticked on we were told we’d leave in 2 minutes, then 10 minutes, then an hour. Finally Mr Hap turned up, evil smile and all, to translate the truth. The bus would leave when it was full. Oh crap, full to us or full to Cambodians? The Dutch girls looked horrified and we were assured that there would only be 14 extra passengers and as we’d paid Western price we would have to sit next to any Asians. Casting the insinuation of racism aside we decided to count seats instead. To our Health and Safety addled minds we counted 10 seats, with five of us already in. The Dutch girls fled, calling Mr Hap all the words for thief their excellent English vocabulary could manage. We stayed.
At 3.00pm people began to arrive and clamour aboard. I took a photo when I counted 23 passengers but two minutes later a monk was squeezed on board and two boys clambered through the back window. We left at 3.30pm with a total of 26 passengers, which Tim and I decided was a pretty shoddy effort considering the amount of space left above our heads. We envisaged some kind of strap system that would easily mean an extra 2 people, something for them to consider.
The road east is a sealed delight and it only took 2 hours to reach the halfway point, unfortunately this is where the way became somewhat bumpier. For the next three hours, most time-wasting activities were impossible as the contents of the mini-bus were thrown around like we were driving on a bouncy castle.
We arrived in Ban Lung after dark and thus, as it always goes, we stayed in a complete dive for the first night. The next day we moved to Treetop Lodge for a more sanitised experience and headed to the infamous volcanic lake. The waters were as crystal clear as promised and we floated and splashed about in the beautiful setting until the krill’s interest in us became too much. For the rest of the day we sped around on bikes, investigating waterfalls. After much characteristic indecisiveness we booked a two-day trek. Two hours later, after a trip to the market to amuse the locals we were prepared. Sensible shoes for both, some classic Asian pyjama bottoms for me and some industrial strength insect repellent, we were ready for the jungle.