Alone ...

I'm alone but not lonely. At least not yet. Pranom seems to have left. Money, trust, and whatever else I don't know. These things.

We got to the Cambodian border yesterday. I knew I didn't have enough money for the visa to get into Cambodia. I have known since the day we left. I was thinking I'd take my ATM card along and withdraw money when I needed it. Yesterday, when we got to the border I thought about where my card might be. I then realized I didn't have it and that I'd forgot to bring it. A big blooper. A dumb thing to do. I had thought to bring along my bank account book too then at the last minute decided against it. I had my ATM card in the bank book. I didn't see the ATM card and so didn't think of it. So I left it at a friend's house. His name is Somchai. I called to see if it was there and it was.

I told Pranom that I didn't want to ask to borrow money but that I had no choice. My visa expired yesterday and where else could I get money? He didn't like this. I won't explain all the details except to say that he didn't believe me. He wouldn't say that he thought I was lying but couldn't believe that I only then realized that I didn't have my ATM card. I told him that I didn't need money before yesterday so didn't think of the card. I can't say for sure but it seems like he wasn't telling me everything, and, I'd say he was lying to me.

I asked Somchai if he'd come to this city with my ATM card because it's only about three hours by bus. Drastic but I couldn't think of anything else. I didn't think to ask anyone at home to wire money and wouldn't want to ask. Only as a very last resort. He said he'd wire the money. I found a bank at the border that was open (yesterday was Sunday) and asked what we needed to do to wire money. Got the money after a little while.

Pranom couldn't cross the border because even Thais need a passport (unlike other border crossings with Thailand where Thais can just use a border pass and get across to Burma or Laos). So I went alone while Pranom waited for me. I gave him my cell phone number before we separated and we agreed to meet at a certain place.

After I finished I went to look for him, asked around for him, but he was nowhere around. He doesn't have a cell phone so I couldn't call him. I called his wife who told me he'd called her and said he was "going back" but that he'd wait for me at "the station". This was confusing too. We had talked about taking the train to a city, then taking a bus to another city. (This was a compromise I'd made with some reluctance. But it still seems like a good option to me so I'll still do it even though he's gone.) Well, I went to both the bus and the train stations and he wasn't there. I asked about him but nobody remembered seeing him. Understandable because lots of people go through and they all seem the same after a while.

I was in contact with Pranom's wife but she didn't know where he was. This was all late yesterday afternoon. It's now almost 10 am Monday morning. I haven't called Pranom's house and he hasn't called me. I may call later just to see if he's home and okay. But I suppose if he hadn't come home last night his wife would have called me. She didn't. I suppose Pranom is sour about the event yesterday and doesn't want to call me. So, that's fine.

I'll look around on this travellerspoint for a walking partner.

I don't mind walking alone but realize it's on the whole better to have a partner.

Enough.

Troy.