Day 1 - Good Morning from Cambodia!

We arrive at the airport, and being my first time EVER in an airport I was, to say the least… fascinated. The various stages of security and procedures were all very exciting to a first-timer, and I was loving every second. It STILL hadn’t sunk in that in 24 hours I was going to be at the other side of the world. Maybe it would hit home when the plane took off? No… It really didn’t.

At 8.30 we boarded the flight to Mumbai, after stopping outside the door to touch the outside of the plane that would be our home for the next 9 hours. “Can we open the window?” I said casually as I fanned myself… “No Jess…. “… Oops!

After the SINGLE most amazing journey of my life and various times of me opening the window shutter to look outside (disturbing EVERYBODY’S sleep) to turn around saying ‘WOOOW…This is the BEST THING EVER!’ we arrived at Mumbai at 11.20 pm [India Time].. this being around 5.30 pm in England.

The Indian Airport staff were strict… confiscating Ashley’s NEW pack of 8 AA batteries and the majority of the groups water supply. After a 2 hour queue to pass through security. and a compliment about my watch from the lady scanning me for weapons… we were off…rushing down the corridors to the next flight. The only part of India I experienced was the short gusts of hot air that hit between the doors and the plane…

It STILL hadn’t quite hit me that we were SO far away from home.

The 5 hour flight to Bangkok began, and what was to be the most uncomfortable sleep of my life. At 7a.m. we arrived in Bangkok [Thai Time]. With 6 hours to waste we made our way to the “MEMBERS LOUNGE”, grabbed lunch in an….INTERESTING… Chinese restaurant during which Chris found a small animal in his soup, and I mistook the sugar for salt. Oh dear. We were all absolutely shattered, and crashed out on every sofa available in the Lounge after tucking in to the COMPLIMENTARY popcorn.

At 12.30pm we left Bangkok on the third plane, the smallest of the three. The taking off and landing were the most exciting thing in HISTORY for me at least… and I managed to dash to the window seat on every flight.

Phnom Penh… Picked up by a retro minibus and the fact we were abroad finally hit home. After a 40 minute ride in the bus, and the most extraordinary views… We arrived at the hotel. The single most divine cold shower was had, by this time we were ALL dying for one. After the shower I discovered that the drain was OUTSIDE the shower door… meaning all my clothes were wet! HOW EXCITING!


Time to relax….falling asleep at 7pm… and waking up at 10 am the next day… 1 hour after the meeting for breakfast! OOPS!

Talk soon! [Joshua 1 : v 9]

Jess x