Arrival.

Cambodia

11 days ago I boarded a narrow 12 seat wooden rail of a boat bound for the capitol of Cambodia. I, then, was in Chau Doc, Vietnam. The journey took me nine hours in total to accomplish comprising of three separate legs. The first segment, beginning at 7am, starts in one of the tiny sinuses of the delta heading toward the grand beauty herself. Mekong essentially means mother river and along that first leg I was privy to intimate evidence in rally of her life supporting ways. I was able to take in the rituals of daily delta life as the banks bustled with morning activity. The boat sputtered along at a wake less pace. Children waved, mothers washed, fathers bathed, nets were thrown, buffalo drank, fish jumped, and occasionally a larger more purposeful boat cruised by who's inhabitants seemingly made light of our curiosity. Took pictures of that too. As an added bonus, I was allowed to be an accessory to some sight seeing that a number of the other riders had to purchase in addition to their journey to Phnom Pehn. I was included on a tour of a delta fish farm and a stop at a traditional Cham village. The fish farm was set up underneath the floorboards of the houseboat of the farm's owner and the fish were held contained by nets underneath them. An owner of such an operation can make quite a profit selling his fish back at market. The other type of fish farm around are dugout pools on land that have thousands of fish and between the two, the houseboat farms incur less loss and produce healthier fish. Though, even these sustainable practices are subject to debate. After that we stopped off at one of the local Cham villages. The Cham people have been residents of the Mekong delta for hundreds of years and their empire, at its peak, included the whole of the delta south and as far north along Vietnam's coast as Da Nang. Initially Hindu, around the 16th century they converted to Islam. Today's population now exist in a squeezed region occupying southern Cambodia and Vietnam. The village was a quick stop and really simply our last opportunity to buy a scarf or sarong in Dong.
Eventually, as the red morning sun transitioned to high yellow midday heat, the small canals began to open up in anticipation of intersection with the Mekong. At around 11 I arrived at the border of Cambodia. The outpost situated on the north bank of the river. The waterway itself had opened into a massive expanse of constant flow. Innumerable tufts of green lillies floated past indicating direction. I finally had made it.
The next hour and a half of my life as spent waiting for the boat from Cambodia to arrive with its passengers heading to Vietnam. Leg two of my journey began when I boarded my second boat of the day from the border outpost. This boat was larger, with proper seating and had a deck from which I perched myself for the rest of the afternoon. The great river now made me feel quite small. I took this time to nap.
A few hours later as the sun was slipping back into its red pajamas we made landfall once more. This time to transition into a bus that would take us the final hour into the city of Phnom Pehn. I realized that the fleeting last rays of the sun were insufficient for the boat to continue down an unlit runway thus prompting the change. This was all fine by me and made for a continued interesting journey. Squeezed into a stuffy minibus and forced into conversation with a Swede drunk on ferry Angkor beer, I made my final approach. The road in was in terrible shape The dust made seeing and breathing difficult. The scenery, though, was beautiful and inspiring. Flat as a board just like they said, with palms on the far away distance dotting the horizon. After a full working day of travel, I arrived to a night fallen Phnom Pehn. My excitement spared me no moment and I just had to get out among the people. So as soon as I found a room, I was out pounding the muggy warm pavement. I didn't know where I was exactly, I only knew that I wasn't near the tourist area. I was deep in a Khmer area of town and I knew yet nothing of the language. So that first walk was simply a brain adjustment. The first dip into a new culture pool. It takes a little while to adjust to new surroundings and people. I knew the Cambodians were going to be just as different from the Vietnamese as the Laos from the Thai. Each region produces idiosyncrasies that my inquisitive mind loves to identify and observe. Its these subtle differences of human evolution that have entertained me to no end throughout this trip. I love trying to hide myself and observe daily life. It just makes me tick. So I spent a good two hours walking, not too far away from my home but far enough to feel the buzz. I concluded my evening with a well deserved pastry and strode back to the guesthouse. I was happy and I could sense that I was heading into a new adventure. The final chapter on this trip was upon.
I spent three nights at the guesthouse. I paid $6 a night. This was a good rate but I wanted/needed better. At this point in the journey the funds have gotten quite low and now every dollar must be accounted for and rationalized, pastries are reserved for special occasions. Over those few days I tried to take in as much Khmer life as I could without spending cash. I made friends with two boys back at the guesthouse. Thom, 22, recently hired making a salary of $40 a month trying to save money to continue his schooling which runs at $60 per month. He was short and I made a remark about this one day and he let me know that he could be tall like me but he couldn't afford the medicine which was $25. The other was Bpee who was 30 and an orphan. He earned the same wages and both boys lived in the guesthouse. Never once asked for charity and one night even invited me for beers. I was their guest and they were honored and insisted on paying the bill. I bought the last two rounds and we had a great time together. Thom has invited me to visit his village for New Year on the 14th, that would be nice.
In addition to living on the cheap, I was trying to contact my extended Cambodian family that lived in Phnom Pehn. First I got a hold of my dad who said his friend has a sister that lives in the capitol and I was told to call them when I got in. My father, born in Bat Dambang province, was an only child and his parents are no longer alive so I don't have any bloodline connections in Cambodia, but what I do have is the Cambodian extended family. The familial bond is strong in the culture here and you always have a cousin or nephew or uncle or aunt or sister willing to take you in, even if its only a symbolic relation. Older takes care of younger and younger takes care of very old and often large families live in one house. Its a tight fit but everyone is happy to be in each others lives. I was fortunate enough to come to understand these things first hand when I as invited to stay with the family in Phnom Pehn. For four days I ate, drank, and slept Cambodian. I was part of the family. I was given the key to an old motorbike for my trip up to Siem Reap 314 km away. It was their idea. Of course I was all for it as I had been hoping that an opportunity such as this would present itself at some point. I almost bought a motorbike in Hanoi for a ride through the mountains of northwestern Vietnam and into Laos. I wanted to buy one in Cambodia as well but the current level of funds forced me to decide against this, I thought I was going to be stuck to the bus for the rest of my trip. Then, without intervention from my inward desires, I was off tearing through the countryside aboard a Honda Dream 100. Without having to pay a cent no less.
I left Phnom Pehn at 7am on the morning of the 25th. I wanted to set out before the traffic became too bad. I probably should have left at midnight. The route was pretty straight forward. Ride along side the river on 6A for a bit, then change to 6 when river and road diverge. The morning ride was beautiful. The sun rising over the river and the gentle kick of dust from the other motorists made for gorgeous picture. The afternoon was hot. The sun was overhead and I knew my arms were going to be red the next day. But on I road. Around 12:30 I needed to take my first stop for fuel. I had made it nearly half way or around 150 km. I was impressed with the mileage and figured I would need only maybe one or two more stops before getting to Siem Reap. A quick bite of food from a little local noodle stall and I mounted back up and continued my journey. The ride was going well, though I had supreme confidence. I had been preparing for the trip for the past three months. Renting motos in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos I understood the bike and knew its place amongst the others on the road. Overachieving little cycles these things are. A brand new one runs about $1500 here but the real deal is to be had with a used one that sometimes only sets you back around $400. And it seems just about every kilometre there is a motorbike shop and/or it would not be hard to find someone with mechanical expertise for the ubiquitous transport. Around 4pm I made my final stop. The sun had beaten down on me all day and my ass way getting baboon red. I took a seat under some shade and took a much needed break. I had come from the center of the city out into the country side. The landscape changed from riverside lush into a flat arid expanse. The sun was hot and had bleached the cows white. I was happy to be almost there. I had only two hours left to go to get into Siem Reap and I could feel my second wind kicking in. I balled that jack and pushed the little moto up to what felt like maybe 65 or 70 mph. Of course I couldn't tell, the odometer was broke. What seemed like soon I arrived on the outskirts of the town and already saw entrances to temples just off the road. The sights around this area of Cambodia are scattered all around. The surrounding temples were built at different periods in history but have been erected in close proximity to the ancient Khmer capitol. As I approached the inner town, keeping an eye on the fuel gauge which portrayed a level just above the 'E' I kept the other eye out for cheap accommodation. And just as I got into the main concentration of things the bike gave a putter putter and stall. "Oh, out of gas I guess." Ok, so I would just push the thing across the street, no more than 20 feet, to that gas station over there. I filled it up and I tried to kick her back alive, but to no avail. After ten minutes I decided that something else was up and so took the bike back across the street to where I died in the first place, which coincidentally, happened to be right in front of a moto repair shop. After 10 minutes, one current check, and a $2 dollar coil change I was back off riding again. I found a guesthouse pretty quick too. So, I had made it to Siem Reap. I even had a break down, but as the fates have seemed to prefer it throughout my whole trip, I was left without undue difficulties. Time to hit the hay.
The next day I was called on the cell phone that I acquired back in Phnom Pehn, also from the family, by someone who was my uncle. He had someone else speaking for him for because he can't speak english and let me know that he was going to come and pick me up in a few minutes from my guesthouse. Ok, I'll go along with that. So a few minutes later I was swooped, still don't have his name, and we went to a muslim restaurant. I hadn't eaten yet so I was at least thankful for this much. Then his friend came to me and let me know that this was my dad's wife's brother. And he was going to let me stay with him during my time in Siem Reap. Deal I thought and I smiled with acceptance. So here I am now, in Siem Reap. I have been here for four days and I haven't made it to any of the temples yet. I was planning on staying here for around a month. I have time. I am just living with my uncle's family, trying to learn Khmer and planning my return to the states. It all falls into place when I finally buy my return ticket around the 10th. So until then, I will be reading and writing and seeing the occasional thing.

Take care everyone and thanks for reading, especially you Abe.

Ciao,

Denny