Leaving PP

We’re on our way to Siem Reap - the main attraction of Cambodia.  We were lounging in a bar along the Mekong drinking a ridiculously inexpensive glass of Glenfiddich wondering why the swarms of tourists were in Phnom Penh.  I’m sure many use PP as a start and stop place for their journey to the Angkor temples, and others, mainly of the middle aged male variety were there for other attractions (at least the obvious pairing seemed to suggest that).  But the place was crawling with tourists of all nationalities.  I’m not sure we would be here if it wasn’t for the draw of the world famous Angkor but I’m glad we’ve chosen to bike.  It gives us time with our incredibly insightful tour guide, Riff, who has given us an astounding amount of information about the politics and history of the country.  His parents were killed by the Pol Pot regime when he was seven and yet he doesn’t directly blame Pol Pot for their death. He blames the king at the time.  Riff also served in the army and worked for the UN so the amount of information he has shared makes your head spin.  It once again shows that as a bystander you can’t possibly weigh with a knowledgeable opinion on how a country should behave.  Sure you can have your ideals, but the reality is that the steps to get to those ideals can’t be imposed by another country.  It is just so complicated.

The road to Siem Reap is insane. As I type this our driver just hit the breaks to avoid a collision with a bus.  Dotted and solid lines have very little meaning and right of way goes to the biggest and most stubborn. We’ve just left a snack spot where Peter sampled this tasty morsel.

Yes, that is a tarantula - farmed tarantula. I can safely add that to the list of jobs I will never have. He claims it was crunchy and slightly smoky.  I moved on to the fresh cashew nuts as a more reasonable protein source.  You could also choose crickets or fried water beetles.

We visited the oldest uncovered ruins of the predecessors to the Khmer people.  Along with the tour came a handful of local children selling scarves.  Everywhere you go, the children follow. Some helpfully tell you random facts they remember about the tour.  Then we rode sown some dusty country roads to look at the very flat and dry scenery and take in the local rural sites.

 

Today we are off to Angkor Temples.  Yay! We made it.