Nina Salameh

So, Nina has done it again. Day one and Ive already got myself into trouble.

After a nice, comfortable and entertaining flight courtesy of Emirates (or as Ally prefers to call them, Arab Airlines), I spent the next 3.5 hours in the back of a cab that I chartered from Bangkok airport, bound for the Thai/Cambodian border. Fairly painless trip as I slept most of the way but 3 hours into the trip, my extremely non-english speaking Thai cab driver still wasnt sure where he was taking me.

I eventually got it through to him despite his genuine attempts at recruiting his ‘friend’ via his mobile with the intention of interpreting our conversation that was going nowhere. Mind you, the interpreter spoke even less English than my poor cabbie did.

Destination finally reached with an hour to spare before the opening of the Thai/Cambodian border at 7am and I’m already donning the extra strength mozzie repellent and trying to ward off dozens taxi drivers competing for the financial courtesy of navigating my next trip. At this hour, I have no patience.

7am does arrive and i set off to buy a Cambodian Visa and lo and behold, Nina has lost her ATM Card again. Most likely left it in the machine after I pulled some money out for a cheese and strawberry sandwhich from the 7-Eleven. Recalling the anguish it caused me when I did the same thing in Laos year, I couldnt do anything but cry.

Ive worked out that there is some rhyme and reason to making the same mistake twice. The ATMs here spit out your money before they do your card which correct me if I’m wrong, is the opposite of what happens back home. So i think that the automatic behaviour results in me walking away from the machine after I have taken my money, hence, leaving the card.

So this leaves me waiting until 10am for the local bank to open and attempt to retrieve my card. If this proves unsuccessful, I may become a permanent tourist attraction at the remote Thai Cambodian border.

Don’t worry babe, I’ve already made friends with a cat. Anyway, im off now, my fingers are getting sore from fighting with the ‘F’ and ‘G’ keys on this keyboard as they keep getting stuck.

Just like me.