I like it here... even though the air is often filled with smoke, the streets are crowded, you have to run to cross the road, you sweat with the least bit of effort, I like it anyway. I like the fact that I've added to my list of 'world capitals visited', I like the guest house I'm staying at, the staff is friendly and the room is fine. I like the Cambodian people, even here in the busy busy capital. They smile easily, they are beautiful and friendly, the kids are studying English, the roads are numbered so it's easy to get around and know where you are.
Today I went walking to find the Russian Market, didn't really know what it was, only that it was worth a visit. Was it a Kremlin looking thing with onion spires? Was it filled with Russian vendors? I know none of these things. So I walked in that direction this morning, maybe 3 miles away, said no thanks to the tuktuk drivers...''I'd rather walk walk' is how I answered their 'tuk tuk, sir?' question. Clever huh?
I was close to it but couldn't find it, walked through a primitive market instead with tons of local food vendors, fish flopping in the aisles, buckets of livers, people hacking away at hunks of meat, and the sound was out of this world. They all shout, and it sounded like a henhouse on acid, at least that's how I described it on facebook. Grabbed a meal there, yet another variation on the 'noodles, greens, meat, liquid, mystery items' that is the norm in this part of the world. $.75 for my meal. It was OK, I haven't had to visit the doctor yet, though sometimes you wonder if it's a bit of Russian Food Roulette.
Oh yeah, Russian, as in the Russian Market. I couldn't find it and finally decided to ask a group of school girls in their blue skirted and white shirted uniforms where it was. I know the kids study English here so I figured they could at least understand the question. It was a group of 6 or 7 highschool aged kids and they were kind of shy about answering. I said, 'You study English, right?' They indicated, ýes. I said, '' OK, talk''. They laughed at that, repeating, 'OK talk'. though it was funny. One of them pointed me in the right direction and I finally made it there. It's a big, covered, teeming place with all kinds of jewelry, sculptures, woven stuff, scarves, brass items, silver goods, the kind of place that gift givers and junk collectors would absolutely love. I thought of Stan and Indi having a ball there. But that's not me, so I just walked around, tried to process what I was seeing, grabbed an iced coffee and chilled out after my walk. Russian Market...check.
Walked back in the heat of the day... noticed a locals internet place filled with rowdy 18 year old guys playing video games, yelling at the screens, music on loud, cheap prices... perfect, I hung out there for an hour and did a bit of writing, then continued home to the guest house. Rested in the afternoon as is my custom during the hot part of the day, then walked out around sundown to go visit Street 51 which is a happening evening scene. Ended up in a bar that had the Federer/Tsonga match on and I ordered a beer and enjoyed the tennis. Was it my imagination, or are a number of young and attractive women making eye contact with me and smiling? Oh, Ok, never mind, I get it. Not a bad way to enjoy the fifth set of a great tennis match, nursing a Tiger beer and fending off the invitations.
A visit with Kanika, my Cambodian professor friend tomorrow morning at 9am, assuming I can find the place, and then likely a trip to the Killing Fields Museum some 15 k to the south. Everyone says it's great, so I feel like I ought to go. I did visit the Tuol Seng Genocide Museum which is in the former high school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a torture and confession center. It was a hideous chapter in the local history and 20,000 entered the facility and 7 survived. I won't go into the details, it was horrendous. I noticed a group of older Israelis on a tour there and was struck with the cross genocidal irony. It was a tough couple of hours for me and then upon leaving, I was set upon by beggars, amputees, a guy with a horribly disfigured face all looking for handouts. I was so bummed at that point that I just kept my eyes down and said sorry as I walked through.
I'll close with an anecdote or two that I posted on Facebook... so those of you who aren't friends there will get a chance to have a look...'A little anecdote from Angkor Wat... I was
just leaving around sunset when I rounded a corner and saw this cute 6
year old boy hanging out happily with his mom. As soon as he saw me, he
went into an affected moan, made the sad face, eyes beseeching, looking
for a handout from the rich tourist. Trouble was, his timing was off
as I had come up kinda suddenly and saw the whole transition. Kinda r...eminded
me of the Iranian hostage crisis when the Iranians would be hanging
out, smoking cigarettes, then the camera rolls and they're standing up,
shouting Death to America, raising their fists in outrage. Camera goes
off... where's my cigarette?
Anyhow I felt like interacting
with him and I put my hand up to indicate 'wait a second' and then I did
a spot on imitation of his act. first just hanging out, then the
sudden sad face, the whine, the beseeching eyes. He totally got the
humor, started cracking up, as did his mom. We all laughed about it,
and it makes me smile to remember it' .
