My moto driver in Battambang took me to the bus station for my departure to Pursat. He didn't want any money but I made him take a few dollars. The bus was nice and the little old woman next to me switched seats so I could see out the window and shared her roasted peanuts with me. I was the only one that got off in Pursat. I could tell a huge storm was on the way, so I had a tuktuk driver drive me the two minutes to one of the only hotels in town (although they are building what looks to be a nice one across the street). Best dollar I have spent, as the skies opened up a few seconds after I arrived and there was a torrential downpour.
The room is pretty rustic, but clean and has a fan, ac, and tv for $13 ($6 without ac). And who needs hot water, any way (or apparently toilet paper, which I will have to go buy in the morning)?!? Waited a couple hours until the rain stopped and then went to explore and get my bearings. People just stare at me when I am walking which is a little disconcerting, but most eventually smile. Lots of people do double takes on their bikes or motorbikes or ox and cart. Battambang was pretty rural outside the town center, but this is even more so. And almost no one speaks English. At times, it reminds me a little of Africa.
Found a pool hall consisting of two tables covered in green felt, one without pockets. So if you hit the balls too hard, they rolled off the deck into the river! I decided I shouldn't play, with my poor pool skills. A woman pulled over on her motorbike as I was walking and she spoke a little English (I maybe understood a third of what she said, but nodded my head a lot). She told me to hop on and dropped me off at the bustling market. Walked around a bit and then headed off across the river to try and find dinner. Looked for a while and finally found a place with pots of food and rice. It had a fair amount of people, so pointed to some kind of meat and egg dish. A couple of older men motioned for me to sit at their table, so I joined them. They spoke very little English (knew "thank you very much" and "your name?" which is more than I know in Cambodian). The rest of the conversation consisted of smiles and hand gestures. When they got up to leave, they paid for my meal, much to my protest. But you pretty much always lose the protest when they speak the same language as the cashier and you don't. On my way back to the hotel, another woman (probably a few years younger than me) motioned me over and we sat by the side if the road. She spoke a little English as well, so we chatted for a bit and she made me eat half of her baguette sandwich she was eating. She give me tips on where to go and where to avoid and told me to "take good care". Probably still much safer than what I have heard about Phnom Penh. Watched the clouds turn colors as the sun set behind a temple (wanted to take a picture but thought it would be rude to interrupt our conversation) and then she drove me the rest of the short way back to the hotel on her motorbike.
Yesterday morning at breakfast, I met a couple from San Francisco that has been traveling for 14 months. They are super nice and may be the only other tourists in town. They were heading for Kompong Luong, a floating village of both Khmer and Vietnamese people that is about 60km out of town, so I joined them (boats only go with a minimum of 2-3 people). The tuktuk ride to the floating village goes along the main highway, past rice fields with the Cardamom Mountains in the distance. Then we get on a small boat and putter around the floating village. There is everything from a barber shop, petrol station, temple, church, lumber shop, gas station, and even a pool hall but they are all on separate floating boats! The kids all wave hello and blow kisses out their boat house windows as people go on about their daily lives, relaxing in hammocks, buying produce from floating vendors, or washing clothes off their boat deck. I love all the colors! Get back late afternoon and have a nice lunch of ginger chicken and rice and wander around town some more. Watched sunset again over the temple by the river and found some yummy steamed buns on the street near the hotel for dinner.
Today, I was going to catch the bus to Phnom Penh, but after the other tourists' story about someone trying to rob them and dragging her down to the street (she was still pretty shaken and jumpy whenever a motobike goes by), I decide to stay in this quiet little town one more night. It is probably cheaper here, since I will have to find a hotel in Phnom Penh with an in-room safe to lock up my passport, credit cards, and cash, just to be on the safe side. And I still feel like I need to get to know this little town better. So grabbed breakfast and had the best fresh squeezed orange juice (Pursat is known for their oranges) and head off for more exploring. Crossed the river and just walked as far as I could, watching women making fresh rice noodles by the road, townspeople moving their cows or water buffalo up and down the road, and looking in on some of the stone carving this town is known for. The heat of the day was too much, so bought some cold juice and water from a roadside stand outside a village. They invited me to sit down and I ended up hanging out there most of the afternoon. They give me fried treats from the house next door (thinly sliced potato or yam and bananas with sesame seed batter). Several ladies from the nearby village came by and we all sat giggling and pointing to stuff in the store (old bottles full of gasoline for passing motorbikes, live fish, chicken, vegetables, cleaning supplies, pharmacy items, and of course... lotto tickets). They gave the Cambodian word and I gave the English word. As I try to pronounce the Cambodian words, everyone laughs and I am told by Pech, the one that spoke the most English who calls herself my Cambodian sister, that I "have a big tongue" as my pronunciation is apparently bad. Ha!
Finally, I say my goodbyes and start walking back the few miles back to town, but only make it a few yards before one of the ladies had borrowed a motorbike and insists on giving me a ride back. Have I mentioned how much I love Cambodian people? Not that I don't love seeing new sights and hitting up recommended guidebook things, but some times, the most memorable travel days are spent doing nothing with complete strangers.
Tomorrow morning, I head for my 7:30am bus to Phnom Penh. Museums, Killing Fields, and maybe a day trip out of the city are the tentative plans. And just in case you catch wind of it over there... yes, I am aware of the political stuff going on here right now and should be out of Cambodia and into Borneo, lounging at a scuba diving island resort well before the planned September 7th Phnom Penh protest (leave for Borneo via Kuala Lumpur on September 4th.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,
Betsy
No comments:
Post a Comment