Cambodia is a bit more wild west-ish (or is it east-ish?) than other SE Asian countries. I just took a 10 day trip there, anticipating Angkor Wat to be fairly devoid of tourists and it turned out to be a jackpot of emptiness. I’ve been there twice before, once in 1997 helping supervise a 6th grade class from an international school in Phnom Penh on a field trip to Angkor Wat. We ended up running into a group of Khmer Rouge on a trip to Banteay Srey, but that’s a story for another day. The next visit was in 2019 and Siem Reap had been transformed from a sleepy one road backwater town to a neon lit party town. Not my cup of tea. But this time? Siem Reap was empty, Pub Street was dead and it was fantastic to cycle around the complex because most of the time, I was by myself. 

     The rest of the time I spent getting lost on a rented mountain bike around Siem Reap. I was in a delightful hotel that had 170 rooms. 7 were occupied when I was there, which left the pool completely open for laps during the oppressively hot afternoons, which suited me just fine after a long, sweaty ride.

     I hired a driver to take me to Siem Reap, he managed to shorten a 5 -6 hour ride into a 4 hour every car he passed was nearly a head on collision trip. A little terrifying. But like I said, Cambodia is a little more wild east-ish. There is a definite flow to what seems like chaotic traffic - on the lowest rung of the totem pole is the pedestrian, then the cyclist, next is the moto (the very popular and ubiquitous 100cc scooter), tuk tuk’s, cars and finally, anything bigger than a car. Give way to the larger vehicle, they always have the right of way.

     The last few days in Phnom Penh were spent mostly dealing with, getting and picking up COVID tests. I knew this was going to be a hassle during this whole trip, but it is also what made it worthwhile - there weren’t many tourists around, which I was gambling on. When I got my negative test in PP, I fairly heard Charlie Bucket singing, “I’ve got a golden ticket!” And then I imagined the people at the test center looking at me as I smiled coming out singing, “He’s got a golden ticket!” It was just very relieving knowing the next leg of travel was a go.

     Because I love history, I also went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide museum, which was horrifying. Nobody knows exactly how many people were tortured and killed there, they estimate between 18 and 20,000 souls. But there are 12 known survivors. One of them was at the museum and I met him - his English seemed to be limited to “I sign for you, I sign for you,” as he sold the books. Just think about that - he sold books at the prison he was tortured at. I think the human capacity to adapt is nearly unlimited. 

Bou Meng, one of *12* survivors

     Unfortunately for me, I bought the French version of his book. My 7th and 8th grade French won’t get me very far, but being in Cambodia and the French book reminded me of the first time I was there. I ended up taking a motorcycle taxi to the Central Market and the driver said, “Parlez vous Francais?” This turned out to be an important life lesson. I said, relying on that 7th and 8th grade French, “Oui, je parle un peu de Francais.” The life lesson was: if you know a few phrases and words in another language, you don’t speak that language, so don’t say you do. Because if you do, you may end up on the backside of a motorcycle, going the wrong way on a one way street with some maniac nattering away in the language you said you spoke ‘a little’ of. 

     I also whiled away some time sitting on the banks of the mighty Mekong, watching the river life and enjoying the morning market.

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Keeping up with the news

Local fish monger

For those wondering, these are frogs.

     I managed to get out of Cambodia and back into Thailand, take another brain stab when I got the hotel and was put into COVID jail until the results came back. For the test and go program, you can’t leave your room until you get the results, and the call was not particularly welcome. I was tested around 1030 at night and the phone rang at 0937. “Sawadee Kaaaaaa, is this Kuhn Alan Taylor?” “Yes it is,” says I. “We are calling with the results of your COVID test from last night.” I know they’re calling with the results. There is no other reason for the phone to ring in my rather pleasant COVID cell. I prefer just sticking the knife in with no preliminaries. Mr. Taylor, you are negative, or tell me the opposite. Then she said, “The results are negative.”  Whew! I’m 21 days into this trip. The count is 8 PCR tests so far with one more to go. Hands down, worth it.