Day Twenty Seven: Jouney through Cambodia

Day Twenty Seven February 17th, 2009
Bangkok to Cambodia and Siem Reap

I couldn't sleep last night, perhaps due to anticipation to start moving again. I tossed and turned for hours and finally decided at 2am that I was hungry and needed a snack. I put on my clothes and walked out into the hot, still Bangkok night. Just outside the hotel is a canal lined with a night market. Food vendors that cater to the night owl crowd in the city. The people occupying these food stands all looked to be a bit shady. I imagined who they all were. Bar tenders off from a slow night at the bar, prostitutes deciding that the night of work for them was over or maybe they just had nothing better to do.

I walked the block checking out what each vendor had to offer. All kinds of grilled meats on skewers from land and the sea. There were fried foods of all kinds sizzling in the hot oil. I finally decide that a hot noodle soup would help put me to bed. I motion to the food vendor that I would like a bowl of soup and point to the kind of meat that I would like thrown into the bowl. He nods and quickly goes to work measuring out the noodles the meat and throws it into the boiling hot broth below. Pulling out the bulk of the soup he adds the colorful green herbs to the soup and a handful of sprouts. There is nothing better than street food. It is most often so simple yet served so quickly that it satisfies the impatient westerner. I sit at a grungy table next to the Canal and watch the sluggish night pass by. The use of florescent light by all of the stands adds an erry glow and hum to the night. Across the water I can see a group of old men sipping on Mekong Whiskey, watching late night tv. My vendor has quickly gone back to the small screen flashing with color and laughter. Finishing my soup I give the vendor a small handful of change that amounts to about a dollar and thank him for his culinary skills. Around the edge of the hotel there a a few unlucky people that are camped out on the sidewalk not having any other bed than the concrete. I walk up the winding staircase in the grandiose lobby and slip into my large, soft bed.

Today was a long day of driving. The journey from Bangkok through the border with Cambodia and to Siem Reap is about eight hours. The journey was pleasant, the roads are in better repair than in India however a times the asphalt did disappear and become rough. The Cambodian countryside is full of small villages lining the road. As we fly by in the van we get a glimpse of what life in these communities may be like. Some are carrying water. Others work on one of the hundred scooters lining the street. A few animals are present occasionally blocking our path. A few happy kids often smile and wave to the cars passing by. Further out into the country you see small farm houses often built on stilts to protect the family from the flooding that often occurs during the rainy season. As the people work in the field I think of how peaceful yet back breaking their lives are but am then reminded of the countries brutal history by the lack of legs on a man rolling down the road.

Siem Reap has a very small town atmosphere combined with the buzz of busy restaurants, bars and markets all fueled by the foreigners here to explore the neighboring ancient city of Angkor.