Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam to Phnom Penh Cambodia, a route I came up with as I wanted to find a way to connect 2 countries I have always wanted to visit. Well, it sure was an adventure alright. I figured I would start at a coffee shop in HCM, Coffee Goc Pho (the 83/50 location as it is a chain) and end at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, where the king of Cambodia resides. The route I mapped out is 144.7 miles, or 233 km. I wanted to take my time to enjoy the adventure, interact with the locals, and document what I learned along the way. I did this self supported, and thankfully had my friend Dean Dobberteen there to run some miles with me as well as stay accountable for me and my whereabouts-having a buddy system while doing this stuff is important. So is prioritizing safety over time. Well after crossing the Cambodian border on day 1, I figured it would be best to get a hotel for the night as Krong Bavet is not the best area, and I did not want my first stint at running through a new country to commence at night time. Krong Bavet is full of casinos and is probably the only area of Cambodia I wasn’t fond of (the rest of the country is quite lovely) and I will explain why. Most hotels around the border are attached to casinos, and accept high rollers only, which explains why I could not book any online in advance. Now, my friend and I found a casino hotel called “New World” where I was able to negotiate my way into getting a room for $60. However the hotel only accepted cash and being that the atm was broken, the hotel offered to drive us to an atm down the street and back. After being gone for maybe 10 minutes, and coming back to the hotel once we had cash, the guy I had negotiated with disappeared and a group of men very sternly told us no rooms were available any longer, as it was VIP only. I was frustrated and aggravated, until a younger, kind employee offered to have us driven to a hotel down the street with potential availability. We were able to thankfully get a room for the night. However, I kept my watch running throughout all of this to stay as transparent as possible, plus everything happened so fast and I had to do whatever it took to get a room. But, to make sure I covered every ounce of the course on foot by running or walking, I made sure to walk back to (and document via photo) New World Casino the next morning before starting my mileage for the day, as that is the last place I stopped my mileage at the night before. Additionally I accrued some extra mileage after border officials accidentally sent my friend and I into the wrong line, back into vietnam (yes I have 2 Vietnam passport stamps). Thankfully I was able to clear this up-otherwise this could have been pretty catastrophic. Ok, so we’re past explaining why my data looks a bit wonky. Now, it was time to experience running through Cambodia. Once I got out of Krong Bavet, I met some of the most hospitable and selfless people you can imagine. Cambodia, like Vietnam and really most of Southeast Asia has some the friendliest locals, as hospitality is such a highlight in this part of the world. There are multiple stands selling food and drinks set up on the side of the road for motorbikes continuously passing by, so you will never have to worry about getting dehydrated (mind you it was about 100 degrees and very, very humid every day) or hungry on this route. Just carry lots of local currency, and while USD is acceptable in the major cities, people in the countryside will only take Cambodian Riel. Although it was pushing 100 degrees, I kept my HR down throughout the day, so I was able to eat (and keep down) everything from pizza to ice cream to bahn mi. I even devoured some octopus stir fry at one point! My friend and I would walk miles throughout the day together, then I would find us a guesthouse where I would shower, charge some belongings, and he would stay while I run more miles throughout the night. While I was running miles overnight on my own, I would text Dean my location via WhatsApp. We had a good system going, and I never encountered any issues throughout the night. In fact, once you get out of busy border areas/major cities, rural areas in Southeast Asia are arguably safer than most areas of the US to run around at night. I had curious people on motorbikes stop to hand me water bottles, as well as a truck driver stop around 2am to not just hand me water, but offer me money for a ride as he thought I was a lost hitchhiker. A police officer even stopped to take a selfie with me and ask if I was ok. I think one of the most beautiful acts of kindness I encountered was after my first solo overnight run, when I approached a local woman around 6am asking to purchase a coke. She saw that I was covered in sand (from taking naps on the side of the road that night) and had chafe marks on my back from carrying a pack all day. She had me sit down while she used baby wipes to clean off the dirt, and rubbed pain relief cream over my wounds. She then encouraged me to lie down in one of her hammocks, changed my socks, and had me slip into a comfy pair of crocs. I woke up to Dean sitting next to me in a hammock after I had sent him my location (I figured I would be here for a bit) and the local woman smiling at me, handing me a pastry, hot ramen and banana leaves stuffed with sticky rice. She expected no money, refusing any cash, and additionally taking time to help me out while her children were also getting ready for school. It was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me, and goes to show that no matter where you go, people share the same concept for love. Truthfully, people were so welcoming in both countries, although Cambodia has a special place in my heart as most of my miles were run there. People were genuinely curious about me and what I was doing, as I was this strange American lady running through a rural area in a foreign country. The majority of locals greeted me with hospitality and smiles, happy that I was giving them business, cleaning off their tables and encouraging me to take a seat in the shade to enjoy my drink to food of choice. Not all of them understood what I was doing, but that didn’t matter, which made this adventure all the more beautiful. On the final morning, my friend Dean met me as I was approaching Phnom Penh, we crossed a few bridges, stopped for some coconuts, and finished at the Royal palace in 74 hrs and 45 minutes, before celebrating with some ice pops and cheeseburgers. This was easily the most enjoyable running adventure I have ever been on, mostly because it was self pioneered, there was no pressure, I took time to enjoy my surroundings, eat all the food, and have all the fun. My only advice is that if you do something like this, come with a decent bit of cultural competence, realize things will probably go wrong and you will have to troubleshoot quite often (which is apart of the experience) and to simply focus on enjoying this route as well as all the beautiful people along the way. There’s a lot of love out there, and sometimes you need to travel to the opposite side of the world to find it.