Terminal

So Friday was the trip to Vietnam. We got up early and were on our way through the countryside by 7:00 am. It was a long trip. And I would love to tell you how beautiful Vietnam is and how friendly the people are and what a great night we had there. But I can't. We never made it in. We could only stare longingly from the border.

If you've been reading my blog at all, you know that frequently here in this third world country, things don't go as planned. Honestly, I need to wake up each day with mere suggestions in my head because any plans are easily thwarted. I had gone through a travel agent to get bus tickets and a hotel room in Ho Chi Minh. Neither the travel agent nor the tour bus company mentioned to me that we had to purchase a Vietnamese visa here in Cambodia. I assumed that it would be just like here where you purchase it when you arrive in the country. The bus people even took our passports from us when we got on the bus (yes, that was a little disconcerting at first), and didn't ask us about the visas.

So after a 3 hour bus ride, we got to the border, exited Cambodia, and drove a short distance to the Vietnam border. We all had to get off the bus with all our stuff, and after a wait, one of the people from the bus company came back to Megan and I and tried to explain to us with what English he had that we didn't have visas and would have to go back to Phnom Penh. We were, needless to say, completely surprised and confused. We thought surely there would be a way for us to get a visa there. No, no.

So, they pointed us back toward the Cambodian border, paid a moto driver some cash, and told us to go. Not knowing what would happen next, and not able to speak enough of the language to ask questions, both of us with two bags a piece got on this moto and headed back - to where, we didn't know. We couldn't even call anyone to help us ask because our phones wouldn't work once we were out of Cambodia. Have you ever see the movie Terminal - where Tom Hanks plays a character that gets stuck in the international terminal unable to enter the US? That's what it felt like for a few moments. We were stuck between two countries not able to get into one and not sure if we would be let back into the other.

We went back to the booth to the people who had just stamped our passports and had taken our exit forms and tried to explain that we needed to go back. Keep in mind...the whole reason that I was going was because my visa was going to expire and I needed to get it renewed. So we tried to ask what was going to happen to us, and I tried to ask if I could still renew my visa. Luckily the second man who helped us knew a little more English. (I think he felt sympathetic for us...he got upset with the bus company for not checking our visas before we left.) But, he told me that because I didn't actually get a visa stamped in a different country, I couldn't renew. So not only did we take a 3 hour bus ride to nowhere and would have to travel 3 hours back, but I also still had to figure out how I was going to get a new visa before mine expired.

At this point, the moto driver motioned us to get back on the moto - with all of our stuff again - and we started driving away. He couldn't speak English, and we were still not clear where he was taking us. I am chuckling as I type, because Megan later told me that as she was trying to hang on to her stuff and stay on the moto, she thought he was driving us all the way back to Phnom Penh! But no, it was to the last bus stop we had gone to. He brought us to a driver of the same company we were traveling with who told us that we would have to wait for an hour for the next bus going back to Phnom Penh.

I have to stop here and say that my attitude was beginning to wane at this moment. Honestly, when he told us that we would have to sit there for an hour and wait, I hit that breaking point and wanted to get angry or cry or both. At the same time, though, several verses were going through my head..."Rejoice always, in everything give thanks, consider it pure joy when you face various trials..." Yep...I wasn't feeling so joyful or thankful.

But you know...that's how those moments are. You never feel like giving thanks and you definitely don't feel like being joyful. But in the midst of trials is when that's most important. It's a choice. I realized that I could choose to go down the path of misery and nurse the frustration that was quickly becoming anger and allow my mind to dwell on everything that had gone wrong. Or, I could choose to take my eyes off myself and my situation and be thankful for...well, whatever I could think of.

And there was a lot. We were, after all, able to get back in to Cambodia. And we weren't traveling alone (can't imagine what that would have been like). We were going to be able to get back to Phnom Penh. Several people had helped us (even though we couldn't understand that that's what they were doing:). Once in Cambodia, we could use our phones to find out what was going on. We got to see a little more of the country. We met several other westerners as we sat and waited at the rest stop. And above all, we have a God who knows our every need, never leaves us, and is not surprised by our situation.

After I took some time alone to ponder those things, I was able to begin laughing at how absurd the situation was. I mean, really. We were stuck in the middle of two foreign countries! I am adding that to my list of "Never thought I would say the words...".

Me...after I had time to be thankful:)

The "rest stop" where we spent an hour.

Exhausted yet? Stick with me. I have a few more things to share.

I tried along the way to get some shots of the countryside. I wish I had adequate words to describe the beauty. Megan and I were talking about how if you look beyond the dirt and rubble, you can see just how beautiful the country really is. Once past the city, it's even more clear. The land is filled with lush, green rice paddies, which are flooded now from the rain. Tropical trees dot the landscape. Animals roam the fields. And a lifestyle out of the past is evident as people harvest the grain by hand and live in their simple huts or homes. Here are a few shots. They are taken through the bus window, so the quality is not the best.

We had to cross the Mekong River on a ferry.

Horses and carts wait alongside the cars to get on the ferry.
People sell goods to the travelers waiting to board the ferry. Doesn't it look yummy?!
I love how she can balance it on her head.
It's the rainy season, and so the fields are flooded. People were swimming in the water.
Cambodia is very flat, so I was surprised to see this rise in the landscape.
Lots of rice paddies.
I tried to get a shot of some of the homes we passed.

So after all that...here is some of what I learned and was reminded of on our trip.

• Travel Tip #179: For Cambodia, buy a visa at the border. For Vietnam, buy a visa before getting to the border.

• Sometimes you just gotta choose joy. And it will be the hardest to do when you need to the most.

• Beauty can be found in even the darkest places.

• Travel Tip #67: Don't eat the free food on the bus. (You don't want to know.)

• Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Yes, I am having plenty of opportunities to grow in faith, persevere, and practice being thankful. Every day is a new adventure and another chance to trust in the One who has brought me this far and will continue to change me. What a blessing.

So, you can continue to pray for my visa. I still need to get it renewed and am not quite sure how that will all work out yet. But, I know that it will.