14th – 26th August 2012.
Pat and I arrived in Phnom Penh a few days before the tour began, and were very lucky to have the time to recover from the flight and explore the city. Then, there were 14 of us who began the tour in Phnom Penh, travelling all day by bus to Siem Reap.
In Siem Reap, we were joined by another 14 people who had begun the tour in Thailand. The 28 of us then stayed together for the next 12 or so days, through Cambodia then on in to Viet Nam.
In our group, there was one lady from South Africa, another couple from Australia (who were also called Smith) and the remainder were from USA. However, many of the Americans had been born in other countries – e.g. Hong Kong, Iran, Jamaica, Poland, the Ukraine – there may have been more. Some had moving or terrifying stories about leaving their countries of birth, and adapting to a new life, often with little support.
The main feature that the people in this diverse group had in common was the desire to see these countries (and the money to pay to do it this way.) It was interesting to see how the group dynamics developed over the course of the tour, and how different people reacted to different experiences in different ways.
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