7/13/10 (phnom penh)
Annie LinPhnom Penh
I’ve talked a lot about Jon’s addiction to TV shows while denying my own addiction…noodle soups. There I have said it to the world. Everywhere we go I am in search of noodle soups. Jon wonders how I don’t get tired of eating them but I explain that every place makes them different. Now that Paul showed me where the noodle soup shop was located I decided to venture on my own this morning to get some for breakfast. I hoped they remembered me from the day before so I could have the same thing as the day before. As soon as they saw me coming I sensed that they started to look busy or away so that they didn't have to figure out what I wanted to order. I was stubborn in my quest and took no offense at all. They don’t get many tourists and I don’t speak Khmer at all. After a few finger pointing and hand gestures they understood I wanted the beef noodle soup and iced coffee with condensed milk. I’m quite happy with my accomplishment and brought the food back to Metro to show Jon. Jon was more than happy to have breakfast at Metro while I chowed down my soup.
Last night Paul’s other guest showed up while we were having dinner. The challenge was that we were staying in his room. After some quick maneuvering by Paul he got the guest situated at the hotel across the street. We felt terrible about the situation since Paul wasn’t really expecting us to stay with him. We booked a room for tonight at a boutique hotel not too far away.
We originally planned on a road trip with Paul to Kratie to check out the rare freshwater dolphins but after talking to a few people we realized it was too far of a drive for one day. Instead we decided to take the ferry across the river to silk island. We were going off the Lonely Planet grid since I couldn’t find the island in the guidebook. A lot of the silk is made on the island, hence the name. The staff at Metro said we would get a chance to see “real Cambodians.”
As soon as we crossed over to the island we entered another world. Luckily, Paul drove his Land Cruiser because the dirt roads were treacherous with lots of potholes. It was quiet with very few cars and only some people on bikes and motorbikes. Many of the houses were built on stilts to protect the people from flooding during the monsoon season. We stopped at a temple with two large lobster statues. The entire temple was painted in a lobster orange color. There were some kids playing kickball with a shoe. We later realized it was a cemetery. Not sure why there were lobsters at the front gates. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant where they didn’t speak any English. Good thing Paul brought along a Cambodian friend who ordered for us. It was one of the more authentic Khmer restaurants we had been to in all of our time in Cambodia. Jon was a trooper and tried every dish. We later stopped at a café for some iced coffee and coke.
It was starting to get kind of late so we decided to turn around and head back to the ferry. As the ferry was taking off a huge storm came our way. Paul dropped us at our hotel. We relaxed a bit and grabbed at snack at the hotel café. The café served lots of fruit juices and had a lot of organic food for sale. I felt like we were back in San Francisco.
Over dinner Paul introduced us to a friend who works for a travel agency. Paul has been great introducing us to his friends and it has allowed us to talk to Cambodians and learn from them. His friend has done extensive traveling around the world but the US Embassy in Cambodia still refuses to give her a visa to visit the states. What is ironic is that the staff at the US Embassy seeks her out to make their travel arrangements. Their reason for denial is that she is single and they are concerned she will try to stay in the states rather than return home to Cambodia. I joked with her that she can come visit us after she's married.
We had to say our final good-byes to Paul as we were leaving for Sihanoukville the next day and he was leaving for the states and Vancouver on Friday. We had a great time with him and who would’ve guessed that two people who were born in Alpena, Michigan would meet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Paul…thank you for your generous hospitality. I know you don’t like big fusses but we just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our adventure with you. You have opened our eyes and mind to a beautiful country we otherwise knew very little about before coming. We hope to see you in Aspen or San Francisco.
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