Cambodia... part 2

Saturday, December 15, 2012
Phnom Penh, Krŏng Phnum Pénh, Cambodia
It's amazing the difference a few days can make, and isn't it strange how the first weekof a holiday goes very slowly so that by the time you make it to the end of that time , it feels as if you've been gone from home much longer. Then the second week seems to fly by all too quickly.
I can't believe it hasn't even been a week yet for me! When I arrived last Monday , the flight came in quite early and so I got to my guesthouse just after 9am. It felt like lunchtime because of the 4hr time difference and there was some delay checking in. No wonder..if you turned up anywhere in Australia wanting to check in at 9am, you'd have no chance. They did however let me check in. I was given the choice of a window and no hot water ..or no window and hot water. I took the window and I'm very glad. It's hot day and night..no need for hot water.
But, that Monday went forever. The clinic wasn't open due to it being a public holiday and so I was faced with the entire day ahead of me and no plans. This situation is somewhat easier when you are at a touristy hotel or near a beach but if you've ever found yourself as I was in the suburbs of a major third world Asian city , then venturing out the door to find something to do besides eating and drinking is challenging to say the least. This might have been easier if I.. a. had a map or. B. didn't have an aversion to wasting a day in my room. Anyway, I made little reconnaissance trips not venturing too far for fear of getting lost, and somehow the long day was put in. I felt neither confident, comfortableor brave, but rather lost as I aimlessly wandered around trying desperatley not to look too horrified at the mayhem and poverty all around.
I have been here before but somehow time had cast a veil over the harsh reality of Cambodia and ;sifted the memories, so tha the wonder I felt here and happy times with my kids were at the forefront of my mind, combined with a strong desire to come back in a more meanigful capacity. I guess I had forgotten just how confronting the poverty is here. >Now today only 4 days later, I found myself again with a day to spend alone in this enormous city.. but it might as well be 4 weeks later. I've had a great day. A leisurely breakfast, a trip to a market up town for a spot of shopping, then a walk to the waterfront to have lunch. I actually got a bit lost on the walk but it didn't seem to matter.
There is no public transport system here. People get around in tuktuks (small carriages pulled by old motorbikes). They can fit 4 westerners but I've seen one with twice that many locals in it. Then there are the "motos". these are just random guys on motorbikes (just 50-100cc) who will take you wherever for a dollar. Now I must admit, I have been advised not to use these specially at night. Not because the riders are untrustworthy , but this is a busy city with hellish traffic and also the riders usually don't know the their way around, dont speak English and have been know to drive drunk. I've been taking tuktuks but today there didnt seem to be any just when I was ready for home so I chanced my luck. There's nothing like being on the back of a bike in Asia to make you feel really alive. That could also be adrenaline mind you! I thought I was in luck as I asked the rider to go to Russian market (a very well know landmark beside my lodgings) and he said yes ..1 dollar was agreed and on I got..shopping and all. We were underway all of a minute when he turned to me and asked to repeat where I wanted to go and then proceeded to say he didn't know where that was! It was right then I knew I had changed in 4 days because I saw the funny side of this right away. I pointed him in the general direction and thankfully the notion that men don't ask for directions never made it to Cambodia, or he was worried he'd just agreed to take me somewhere very far away for $1, eitherway, he asked he next tuktuk driver he saw and we were on our way. There were a couple of sharp intakes of breath from me on the 15minute trip but I arrived unscathed. It really is quite an experience to pull up at an intersection which is so congested that my knees were touching other bike riders legs. But my absolute favourite bit (and this happens with tuktuks as well) is when there's a petrol service station at a major intersection..instead of waiting at the lights, they just zip right through between the bowsers and out the other side.. it's hilarious.
I love how being here affects me, how I slow down physically and mentally. It's like being shaken up and then allowed to settle so that only that which is important remains on the top.
Tomorrow I will go to Choeng Ek and the very touching memorial to the Killing Fields. Yes, it will be moving and upsetting but I think it's important to remember what these people have endured in my life time. Everyone in Cambodia over the age of 35 was alive during the horror and attrocities of the Pol Pot regime. For this to have happened to such a gentle people as these is he hardest part to take in. I'll write more about that after tomorrow
All for now..till next time
:)















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