To the North of Cambodia

Tuesday, June 23, 2009--Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

Instead of the bus coming to pick me up at my guest house, there was a tuk tuk driver asking if I was the one taking the 7:30 bus to Siem Reap. He then took me to the bus station. I wish the ticket seller had told me it would be that way so I could have been assured that it was included in the price of the ticket. I tried talking to the tuk tuk driver, but his English was limited. Anyway, at the station I got out and did not pay him. He did not protest, but I could tell he was hoping I would pay more.

The bus had mostly local people on it. There were a few foreign women, an Australian man, and an Indian man I had seen at the Genocide Museum the day before. I sat beside him. What a surprise I had! He is American and is on an around-the-world trip. In all these years I have never met an American who was traveling on an around-the-world ticket, but he was! He had bought his through airtrek.com, a website that I've often recommended that people use to see what they could plan and how much it would cost. His name is Nirav, and not only is he American, he is from Houton and used to come to San Antonio on vacations with his family.

We were on the bus together for about 5 hours, and we talked the whole time. He had been a bond trader in New York and lost his job with the economic crisis. He is now working with some friends to create a website that will make them money. They have a contract with one of the big companies (Facebook?) in Palo Alto to complete the site and sell it to them. Anyway, we have many common interests and talked about so many of them--good novels, education and educational reforms, travel, cultural differences, India, etc. I had a GREAT time traveling with him, and the 5 hours passed so fast because of our visit.

I did look outside the bus as we traveled. Rural Cambodia seems very nice. To some extent it gives the impression of what Southeast Asia was like in most countries 35-45 years ago. That's mainly because of the houses. They are small wooden ones on stilts. They are nicer than the houses that existed in most of the other countries, however, because of the beautiful tile roofs that they have. Few original houses remain in most of Southeast Asia, because they were more flimsy than those here and have been replaced with "modern" concrete versions. It's nice to see these beautiful, small homes still existing here in Cambodia.

The man who sold me my bus ticket had a man meet me in his tuk tuk at the bus station in Siem Reap. The station is about 4 km outside of town. As expected, he had a "preferred" guest house that he drove me to. Every westerner but Nirav (who had a reservation at a hostel) came via other drivers to the same rest house. It was nice with a river view, refrigerator, etc. But I knew it was overpriced. I explained that I would look at 2-3 other places before I decided, and I went off on my own. I walked not far to my first choice place from my guidebook. It was very similar except for a view over roofs and across treetops and no refrigerator for only $10 per night. Otherwise, it was clean and bright and had cable TV, A/C, and hot water. I took it without looking further.

After resting in the room, I went out exploring around 16:00. It's a nice town. And it is much easier to explore than Phnom Penh because of its smaller size. I walked up and down streets. I went into two supermarkets that obviously sell to the foreigners and ex-pats who live here. I was surprised by the low cost of some alcohol here--Jose Cuervo Gold, 750 ml, $12; Baily's Irish Cream, 700 ml, $14; and Bombay Gin, 750 ml, $13--are a few examples.

There was an article in a local guidebook about inexpensive places to eat in town, so I went to one of the restaurants it suggested. It is still over-priced in terms of what the same food would cost elsewhere in SE Asia, but it was nice to eat a good meal. Roasted peanuts with slices of roasted garlic among them (like a snack I remember enjoying once on the square in Oaxaca) were served immediately. For my dinner, I had Cambodian curry in coconut. It tasted very similar to Thai green curry and included Asian eggplant, green beans, carrots, slices of chicken, etc., in a coconut sauce. The unusual ingredient was several chunks of potato. The potato did not taste good with the sauce. Instead, however, the sauce was perfect with the rice that came with the dish.

Before returning to my hotel, I wandered through the night market. I was surprised by the quality of the goods on sale and the fact that most of them seemed to be true local products.