7/21/10 (phnom penh)
Jon Carr
Phnom Penh - Bangkok
Before going to bed I had set the alarm for 5:15am. Paul’s place has a third story balcony facing due east and this was a perfect opportunity to capture a sunrise on our final day in Cambodia. The morning didn’t disappoint. The river bank was lined with Cambodians waking up with their morning exercise routine covered by clear skies. I spent the next hour recording what turned out to be a great time lapse. I then gathered my gear and headed for the market down the street. This market opens at 4:00am each day and is consistently busy. The light was golden and it was the perfect time to capture the scene in all of its glory.
I have to admit I am not the most comfortable dropping a camera with a rather large lens in front of unfamiliar people to get intimately tight shots. This is doubly difficult when language is a barrier as most of the people at the market didn’t speak English. Determined to stretch my comfort zone and armed with a now or never attitude I set up shop in front of two Cambodians running a Chinese donut stand. I used my best translation available which involved pointing at the camera, imitating a shutter push with my forefinger, and shaking my head yes. This was an effective technique and most quickly agreed. Over the next hour I worked very hard to get an up close and personal perspective of these “real Cambodians” and my camera generated a lot of interested from the curious locals. I was able to capture some really wonderful stuff.
I went back to Paul’s and worked on updating my essential gear blog for my business site. This was something I had been meaning to do for quite some time and it was nice to finally get it off my plate. It took most of the morning. Annie and I then lounged around a bit and watched a few episodes from the fourth season of Dexter while awaiting our departure for the airport at 5:30pm. Before leaving I wanted to hit Cafe Fresca one last time. Annie decided to hold off on food and so I was on my own. On my way back the afternoon rain set in but this wasn’t an ordinary rain, it was coming down in sheets and the streets were beginning to flood rather quickly. Unfortunately I didn’t bring the umbrella and was caught in the rainstorm and there was very little time before our driver was going to take us to the airport. I needed to make a run for it and deal with being drenched when I got to Paul’s. Traffic, as always, was crazy and as I got to the final intersection I was almost run over by a speeding tuk tuk when my flip flop suctioned to the ground as I ran through a giant puddle. I lost the flip flop and jumped out of the way.
After returning, I dried off and gathered our luggage in preparation for departure. I had a chance to briefly say goodbye to the staff at Cafe Metro and quickly loaded everything into the van as the rain continued to stream down. Traffic was heavy but our driver, On Prum, skillfully navigated the roads as we worked on drying off in the back seat. We got to the airport with plenty of time and easily made it through security. Annie had some dinner and I called home. The flight was very smooth and took roughly 45 minutes to get back to Bangkok. When we arrived we were greeted by a special immigration officer Chef McDang had arranged for us. The officer swiftly got us through customs and to the private limo back to Chef McDang’s house. Back to living the luxurious Thai lifestyle! We stayed up for the next few hours catching up with the chef before heading to bed for some much needed rest. A solid day all around.
Reader Comments (2)