get up to the sound of my monotone alarmclock-handphone
head to the breakfast area, i think it was 5USD for some crummy eggs and toast, but the coffee was satisfying,
the view was elevated, and this was probably the high-life for people around here.
WE head off to see the city, on our trusty toyota van
went to a couple of markets, squatter areas, riverside, all for the same purpose
to shoot all the poor naked children selling just about anything from birds to drinks
the most enterprising were the kids near the riverside
they would sell birds to be freed, and some flowers and fruits
they even jumped into the dirty river,
actually they somersaulted
they would carry each other and keep jumping in and coming out and jumping in
so we could get our shots, but i guess they were obviously showing for tips
mike gave them something for their efforts, like a couple of bucks
and 1USD goes a long way over here,
maybe the world should follow their model
a buck for all ur needs, food,clothes,entertainment
so after seeing the capital, we start our 7 hour journey to a town call Snoul
our base to head out to the schools in the outskirts.
the roads are single-laned, dusty, packed, kinda like Malaysia in the 80s
not roads, my mistake, their highway
and they have 2 major ones flanking the Tonle Sap, and i'd be travellin both at the end of the experience.
back to the journey,
it kinda starts when we pass the 1st bridge outta Phnom Penh, dunno what its called
straight away u see hordes of cars,vans,motorcycles,bicycles on both lanes
the vans take the cake stacking ppl up the roof, sometimes even motorcycles
hell even the motors could squeezr about 4-5 ppl, all sitting sideways like the Vietnamese
many restaurants on the road, even stalls selling tons of french loafs, really good stuff
with all the good food,we decided to stop where they sold spiders,frogs among other stuff
and me of course devouring a huge spider and half a mini-frog......once you've had an insect the rest are pretty much the same
the frog wasnt too bad, only later on i would realise where they'd collect them from....
after that we kept driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving
the whole place is flat, the tallest thing were sea coconut trees
kampung houses all around, paddy fields, buffalos actually resting int the water hiding under giant lotus leaves.
cows,cows,cows, lotsa dogs, naked kids, poor kids, everybody is filled with the dirt of the road
every driver has a surgical mask on
and they happily sell corn amongst other stuff hanging of the racks exposed to the laterite
just slap on some hot butter and it pretty much solves everything, I should know.
so we keep driving and driving and driving......and damn thats only like the first 2 hours
cant sleep, the road is too bumpy, make KL roads feel like a formula 1 track
we drive till the sun goes down, and u cant really see it happening coz of thick overcasts all around
its night, there are no street lights, you just hope that the driver doesnt kill us all, as everyone drives in the middle of the road until uncoming traffic beckons
and WE dont get any more comfortable as our guide Mendy informs us that road accidents has just overtook AIDS as the number one killa in cambodia
i shut my eyes and ask god to forgive all my sins
so after seven hours we finally arrive to this dark town, and we get set up in the best place around
Lyna's guesthouse, equipped with a 14 inch tele, cable, air-con, cold cold cold showers, and a decent bed
everyone else seems to be living in some wooden house that is red from the surrounding mud and dust.
we grab a late bite, good sour fish soups, interesting deer bones (the meat had finsihed) veggies and durian (really tasty ones)
back at the room i doze off watching assault on precint 13th on HBO as i decide not to off the TV to ward of all the surrounding insects.
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