Hello blog-readers. :)
Banana pancake and coffee for breakfast at the guesthouse this morning. Do I write about food too much?? I can't leave it out - it's one of the best things about traveling..!
This morning I took the bus to Phnom Penh (the local 6-hr bus, NOT the 4-hr "VIP' bus!). There was an adorabl little 1-year old on his Daddy's lap in the seat next to me. He kept giggling at me and trying to shove his chunk of bread into his Dad's mouth. I divided the travel time between lookng out the window (at fields, houses on stilts, cattle, temples, shops, huts, people) and reading the book I picked up in the market, "First They Killed My Father", the story of a girl and her family during the Khmer Rouge period. At one of the two rest-stops, I bought a sour mango, which came with a packet of crushed chili pepper and salt to sprinkle on top - quite an interesting and powerful combination of flavors! :-o
I studied my map and guidebook on the bus too, so I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go and how to get there when we pulled in to the terminal. I had to walk about a block away from the buses and hoards of tuk-tuk and moto drivers to find a driver who gave me a decent fare. I was looking for a popular backpackers' guesthouse called "TAT", but mistakenly walked into the nearby guesthouse "TAT-TOO". However, the guy showed me a nice room and said he'd give me a discount if I stayed there instead, and it's a nice place so I took it. I haven't paid more than $5 a night on this trip yet!
I dumped my heavy bag in my room, then walked to the Toul Sleng Museum - an old school building that the Khmer Rouge regime turned into a prison for interrogation and torture. Such a horrible and disturbingly moving place. I was literally nauseous walking through the rooms with the bedframes and shackles still left nearly as the Vietnamese soldiers found them, and seeing photographs of the bodies that occupied them hanging on the walls. The documentary that they showed was equally moving; it tied together everything that I've been reading in Loung Ung's book. I had to just sit and be still for a few moments after it ended.
After a couple hours there, I walked across the street to the veranda of the Boddhi Tree Cafe (which supports and trains local street kids) for a coconut rice and curry dinner. Then I wandered down to the Russian Market, but the stalls were closing up for the day. I took a rambling walk back to my guesthouse, where I finally cooled off, updated this blog, and will now curl up with my book.
Banana pancake and coffee for breakfast at the guesthouse this morning. Do I write about food too much?? I can't leave it out - it's one of the best things about traveling..!
This morning I took the bus to Phnom Penh (the local 6-hr bus, NOT the 4-hr "VIP' bus!). There was an adorabl little 1-year old on his Daddy's lap in the seat next to me. He kept giggling at me and trying to shove his chunk of bread into his Dad's mouth. I divided the travel time between lookng out the window (at fields, houses on stilts, cattle, temples, shops, huts, people) and reading the book I picked up in the market, "First They Killed My Father", the story of a girl and her family during the Khmer Rouge period. At one of the two rest-stops, I bought a sour mango, which came with a packet of crushed chili pepper and salt to sprinkle on top - quite an interesting and powerful combination of flavors! :-o
I studied my map and guidebook on the bus too, so I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go and how to get there when we pulled in to the terminal. I had to walk about a block away from the buses and hoards of tuk-tuk and moto drivers to find a driver who gave me a decent fare. I was looking for a popular backpackers' guesthouse called "TAT", but mistakenly walked into the nearby guesthouse "TAT-TOO". However, the guy showed me a nice room and said he'd give me a discount if I stayed there instead, and it's a nice place so I took it. I haven't paid more than $5 a night on this trip yet!
I dumped my heavy bag in my room, then walked to the Toul Sleng Museum - an old school building that the Khmer Rouge regime turned into a prison for interrogation and torture. Such a horrible and disturbingly moving place. I was literally nauseous walking through the rooms with the bedframes and shackles still left nearly as the Vietnamese soldiers found them, and seeing photographs of the bodies that occupied them hanging on the walls. The documentary that they showed was equally moving; it tied together everything that I've been reading in Loung Ung's book. I had to just sit and be still for a few moments after it ended.
After a couple hours there, I walked across the street to the veranda of the Boddhi Tree Cafe (which supports and trains local street kids) for a coconut rice and curry dinner. Then I wandered down to the Russian Market, but the stalls were closing up for the day. I took a rambling walk back to my guesthouse, where I finally cooled off, updated this blog, and will now curl up with my book.
Banana pancakes are my favorite!
ReplyDeleteAwww... did you get a picture of the little 1 year old? Was he Cambodian? I bet he was beautiful. What a heart-wrenching experience you had at the Toul Sleng Museum. I can't bear to think of people being tortured. And, to be in the very place that it happened... I understand taking it so to heart and being sick over it, April.
On a lighter note, that's pretty funny - looking for "TAT" and finding "TAT-TOO," but it worked out well! Wow, wish we could find places around here to stay in for $5/night. And, you must have had A.C. if you were able to cool down? Or, does it get cool at night? That angel I asked God to assign to you is doing a wonderful job! I wonder what his name is... and, I believe with all my heart that he is with you.
p.s. I LOVE "traveling" with you like this...you're one of the most interesting, intriguing, and enchanting people I know.
(Don't worry... I won't be so long-winded next time!!)
I've been thinking how incredibly brave you are... and only today realized that you are being led (and following wonderfully)!
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