Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh Sunrise

Farewell my dear Phnom Penh. I didn’t think I would like Phnom Penh on my first impression.  I enjoyed the small town scenery along the roads to Siem Reap and Battambang and didn’t care much for the congested city streets of Cambodia’s capital.  But it turns out that I will miss Phnom Penh the most of all the towns I have seen in Cambodia.  She was the first to greet me and the last to see me as I departed this beautiful land. 

Airport Security

Warning to those who plan to visit Cambodia: This vicious dog is trained to attack so be careful!  Actually the airport personnel were so friendly.  They wondered why I was leaving so soon and even suggested that I should have stayed longer.  

I will miss my friends who welcomed me: Dav, Sam, Mab, Namy, Kunthea, Vir, Sam, Cham and Ly. Thank you for so much.

Until we meet again.

Breakdown

The road between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap is smooth compared to the bumpy road to Battambang. For $10 USD on the air-conditioned Mekong Express bus, you get two pastries, a cola and a local tour guide that is called a tour guide because he stands up to announce the town you are about to approach. That’s it. Not the usual, “This town is known for…” More like, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to pass Kampong Cham province. Thank you.” I boarded the Mekong Express from Phnom Penh and was seated with quite a few passengers that spoke with familiar American accents. Behind me sat four New Yorkers that talked about their Wall Street jobs the entire six-hour journey to Siem Reap. Returning to Phnom Penh, I decided to take the bus chartered by Capitol Tours. The ticket price of $4 USD includes only your bus seat. No pastries, warm cola or fancy tour guide. I recognized only two other tourists on the bus that was nearly filled to capacity. The air conditioner also broke down soon after we departed our last rest stop. We got out while the driver tried to figure out what the problem was. I sat on the steps of a home in a Cham (Muslim) village while some stood under the shade of the trees. Both bus companies did have one thing in common. Their bus drivers were both speed demons that drove through the provinces believing that the pedestrians did not have the right of way.

The views from the bus are amazing. Endless rice fields, rural villages, giant carribou, even life-sized Buddha statues being carved by artisans. The bus ride along the Cambodian countryside is amazing.

 

This is the beautiful view from my seat on the bus.

Dinner with Max

I was able to see my friend, Max, in Siem Reap where we met for dinner at In Touch, a Thai-Khmer restaurant.  We sat upstairs near a live rock band that had a pretty good size following.  I ordered fish amok in coconut curry and Max ordered steak.  The last time we had seen each other was two years ago on a small island in Portugal so it was so nice to catch up.   He lives in London but we still keep in touch.  Usually it’s Max writing to tell me that he just got back from Turkey or that he’s leaving on a jetplane for Belize.  He gets over eight weeks per year in vacation time like most Londoners.  

We walked around pub street and checked out another pub where we shared a large bottle of Angkor beer.  While at the pub, the local kids came around soliciting counterfeit Lonely Planet guide books for $5.  I couldn’t tell the difference. The photos looked so vivid and the binding seemed strong.  So Max bought one on Malaysia and I bought one on Cambodia.  

So glad we got to see each other.  Until the next journey and until we meet again, dear Max!

Dav

This is Dav who met me at the Phnom Penh airport, along with Vir’s mother.  Dav plans to earn his Master’s degree abroad in New Zealand next year before returning to Cambodia to work. At Vir’s home, I was caught off-guard when he offered me fruit to eat and told me they were organic. I didn’t know Cambodians cared for such things. We discussed how teachers both in the U.S. and Cambodia are not compensated but he was right to say that teachers in the U.S. are still better off than their Cambodian counterparts. Teachers in Cambodia earn about $50 U.S. dollars per month. Renting a room is about the same so I’m not sure how they survive on such a low income.

In Phnom Penh, Dav and I walked about Wat Phnom and even took a boat cruise along the peaceful Tonle Sap River.  We cruised to the point where the Mekong meets the Tonle Sap.

Forever Changed

My college friend, P, fled Cambodia in 1978 during Pol Pot’s revolution. She was eight years old. She lost her father during the Khmer Rouge genocide. Two men simply knocked on the door asking for her father.  ”We need his help. He’ll return tomorrow.”  He went with them and she never saw him again. Her husband also lost his father during the Pol Pot years between 1975-1979 when approximately 1.7 million people were killed (approximately 1/4 of the population at that time). Along with her mother and sister, she stayed in a refugee camp in Bataan, Philippines, before receiving a sponsorship to the United States. She told me about a time when she and her family bartered with the local mountain people in the Philippines. Her family would trade vegetables and rice for food and clothing. When she had to leave for the U.S, she remembered crying because she had formed strong bonds with everyone that lived along the mountain side.

When I told her I wanted to visit Cambodia, she insisted I contact her family who she had not seen since she left the country. Her eight-year old son was against my visit. He thought I would be turned into a “slave” or “captured by snakes.” These are the kinds of stories he had heard. While I was in Cambodia, he was always calling me on my cell phone. “Are you okay aunty?”

One day I hope that he and his parents will return to visit the beautiful country of Cambodia. I was and will be forever changed by my experience there.