Day 102 - 3rd October
So a slightly overcast start to the day meant I was expecting more rain when me and Mr Moeuth headed to the reservoir. I packed up my yellow poncho and hopped on the back of his motorbike to head out.
It's amazing what you find out about people when you travel with them, and Mr Moeuth was no different. He told me he used to be a motorbike driver, taking tourist to different places before he came to work with Globalteer. He sang to me and told me how happy he was I could join him for the morning.
And what a day it was. We headed for West Baray, the reservoir where many Khmer and their family visit for special occasions and have food and enjoy the water. A fair amount of tourists go there too to tube, sleep in water side hammocks and of course to enjoy a beer or two.
The trail along was a little bumpy so we had to stop half way. The rain had made it too uneven for us to make our way through.
When we reached as far as we could go, Mr Moeuth asked if I'd like to go to his brother's house who was actually his cousin. Sure, why not I thought, so we headed back east for ten minutes or so and drove through the jungle until we reached a modest hut in the heart. Unfortunately his brother cousin wasn't at home so we changed tact and headed for his brother's house (his real brother).
We arrived to find his brother and his family relaxing beneath their house. They were very happy to see me and wanted me to look around the farm nearby, the water pump and at the kids having a game of cards for a few hundred riel. It was such a great experience to see local Khmer's doing their thing - a far cry from the pub street carnival.
Moeuth dropped me off back at Bou Savy after I treated him to a fried chicken lunch and petrol money. Say treated, it was more a thank you for his awesome tour.
I bombed into the pool for a 40 lap extravaganza before heading out to post a few postcards, grab some Amok Fish in my eating spot and then some bananas and peanut butter for snack times. I also picked up some Colgate lemon toothpaste (it was yellow, I was a moth to the flame), some new wash stuff and arguably my worst purchase since being in Asia - Durian ice cream.
Believe me, this fruit kicks up a stink and the flavour wasn't much better either. Telling my brain it was just vanilla ice cream worked about as well as the time I tried to eat a tablespoon of cocoa powder in an attempt to prove it could be done without choking. It was for a bet!
The afternoon saw me Skyping home as the Bou Savy owner had a party behind me with his Khmer buddies (that guy is a legend).
Blocking out their cheers, it was time to see how the gang were doing. Again, all good, plodding along which is always great to hear. I called my Nanna up and she told me that her collection of fifteen or so postcards was like a book now and that I'd called her just as she was going upstairs for her morning wash. I knew I hadn't interrupted her porridge time at 9 am. I bloody love her and miss her so much! I miss them all.
As the rain fell down, so did my ambitions of going out for dinner. It's probably a good thing, saving money. It wasn't a total loss as I met Johannes from Germany and with all people you meet travelling, he had an interesting story. He told me he'd been married 17 years and was now moving to Melbourne with his wife to start a new life. He had been to University to study archeology, so shared my enthusiasm for ancient Egyptian history. It turns out we'd both done a hot air balloon trip over the Nile! He was travelling through for two weeks coming from Bangkok and then working his way around the Asia circuit, North to South.
We toasted our meet over an Angkor beer, my first in over a week before I returned to my room to crash out for the night.
Well what can I say (as if I haven't said enough already). What a day and with only three weeks left, I am already getting the strong feeling that I am going to miss this country. Long live Cambodia!
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