A Day in Cambodia
I’ve been here about 24 hours and already made it most of the way across the country. My plan is to race down to the coast for New Year’s and then work my way back to Bangkok right before Scott arrives, saving most of the cultural, historical, temple stuff for the end. I would hate to run out of time and still not have slain a water buffalo or rolled a go-kart. So tomorrow I’m having my driver pick me up at 9am to take me to the shooting range and the track, then pick up my bike and head to the southern beaches. It’s only 100 miles to Kampot, but with the roads as shitty as they are here it could take all day.
Cambodia, I can tell already, is not as dangerous as people think. The rumors do tend to scare off the riff-raff though. The travelers tend to be more interesting and stick together a little more than anywhere else I’ve been. I shared a taxi with three Aussies from the border town of Poipet, which appropriately rhymes with toilet since it is a dirty, scam-ridden place, but everybody says that it is the worst part of Cambodia, and I agree so far. I met one of the Aussies on the bus from Bangkok, and we teamed up with two more guys at the cab place. The other two Aussies resembled the “Flight of the Concords” guys, including a miniature guitar. That’s probably a huge insult to some Aussies since the Concords are from New Zealand, but I still kept waiting for them to break into “Business Time.” I got out of Poipet without falling for any of the scams, except the exchange. I only had Thai Baht after running all over Bangkok trying to get US Dollars. So they got a couple bucks off me using terrible rates that I knowingly paid just in case I couldn’t get into a bank, or use the baht. Of course I got to Siem Reap and the bank was still open, and they had an ATM that dispensed US Dollars. I knew beforehand that they used US currency in Cambodia, but to see $20s and $50s spitting out of an ATM was still bizarre.
I had dinner with a Danish male psychiatric nurse named Stig who was really friendly and drunk, but gave me a sweet book about Angkor Wat. In exchange, I bought him a beer and another pack of Marlboro Reds, which together set me back $2. At breakfast this morning my UVA hat red-flagged me to a hokie. This was the first hokie I have ever met that didn’t have anything smart to say about our recent loss to Tech, in fact he didn’t even know the game had been played. He had been traveling for over two years, including a teaching gig in Taiwan. He was from Virginia too, and headed back to States soon for his brother’s wedding, and not looking forward to it. We talked about his month in Burma, China and India taking over the world, and the culture shock waiting for us when we go back home. When the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh stopped this afternoon for lunch I was approached by a Californian guy who was currently living in the Phillipines. He was a huge, bald, tattooed fellow who was scary enough to keep the begging children at bay. So we talked about how many drugs are in Cambodia and I wasn’t bothered by any more 6-year-old pick-pockets. He invited me back to his guesthouse in Phnom Penh to smoke a joint, but I respectfully declined. Starting a drug habit in a foreign land with someone who looks like a criminal didn’t sound like the best idea. Weed is everywhere, they don’t even try to hide it. There are pizza places that’ll sprinkle it on your meat-lovers or Hawaiian, or put it in a happy shake for you. I’ve heard of them doing the same with mushrooms, and I’ve had a couple offers for opium too. Other than people on serious drugs with automatic weapons, this place is just as safe as Vietnam or Thailand. At least they are all friendly.
It is beautiful place with nice people, delicious food, and no rules. Whatever you require for your vacation they are more than willing to provide at economy prices. It is kind of like the wild west, except with British families running around, and children everywhere. The poorest, dirtiest children I’ve ever seen laughing and dancing in the street, probably because nobody is making them go to school.
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