March 17, 2011
Seven hours by bus between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, and Sander did it three times in 30 hours. Does he love riding the bus, you're asking? Perhaps the big smelly seat-mate turned out to have an enchanting personality?
The answer to both is 'No', but when you leave two passports, return plane tickets, $500 cash, and airport security tags in the old hotel, someone has to go back and get them. Since Sander had been in charge of the departing room inspection, he was charged with the more arduous task, while I stayed in Phnom Penh and had a miniature melt down. I drank several late night cocktails and fretted over the idea of having to pay full-fare airfare like a sucker as punishment for losing the standby tickets. Additionally, our Laos visas had been particularly sparkly and pretty - so that would have been a shame.
I woke up in the morning in search of breakfast and found a cafe called Oh My Buddha just around the corner. With Sander not due back until late in the afternoon, I settled in and devoured an English breakfast sized for two, all by myself, pretty much in a single gulp. Only when I'd curled back in the wicker chair for my second cup of oh-so-black-coffee did I notice a blue-eyed white guy watching me with amusement from the next table. Being the sexy creature I am, I vaguely recall saying something about being a Canadian girl, and patting my belly. None-the-less we got to chatting, and ended up regaling each other with travel stories and info for another five hours. Blog world, meet the wonderful Ben. He is an Englishman teaching in Phnom Penh, after giving up his white picket fence and two dogs back in the small town he'd grown up in. He had fallen in love with Cambodia on his travels and returned to revel in the joy that is cold bucket showers and screaming kindergarten kids. Who couldn't lovE that? In a single morning, Ben and I had mapped out a weeks worth of plans and activities for our time in Phnom Penh.
Sander returned triumphant and exhausted, with everything we had left behind. Even the wad if cash was still intact. Just one more reason to love Cambodia. He fell asleep while I sat beside him while I spelled out the plan for the week.
Slaughter.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tight shit, you don't get adventures like that sitting on a couch in Calgrey, glad to hear your doing it right, have fun in the world and don't stay out past your bed time.
ReplyDeleteCody M Southgate