So we set off, the 4 of us-
Ningyi a.k.a. Nings a.k.a. Calm Boy "Slowly, Steadily, but Surely." :) Ningyi was our resident Cambodian. Many a local remarked that he looked Cambodian, with his perpetual and natural Cambodian smile.,
Bing Zhu a.k.a. Bings a.k.a. Bingapore. He caused many a stitch in the stomach at dinnertime. His nickname comes about because he was so distracted by entertaining us that he wrote half his name and then continued with his country on his disembarkation card.
Adila a.k.a Adilamama (for the brief period that Marvin was in Cambodia ;) ) Many a tuk-tuk driver was mesmerized by her beauty. ;)
and me!
3rd June, 6am on our Jetstar Asia flight, on a very very budget trip au Camboge. (Yes they speak French apparently! But mainly Khymer.) The flight was uneventful (no food :( and very empty) till we touched down. The airport was really nice. And we got picked up- by Tuk-tuks!! Little were we expecting this..but it was an exciting experience this being out first Tuk-tuk ride. So we were laughing a lot, taking loads of photos and enjoying ourselves while Alvin and co got whisked off in an aircon van and left us miles behind. :p
The hostel was not too bad..minimalist but decent for the price we were paying. Plus most importantly, with private toilets. :p We were greeted by a bunch of Ang Mohs...i dunno why it didn't dawn on me that Michael Gutmeyr the owner of Queen Villa Angkor would be Ang Moh. He's Austrian to be exact. And his story goes a little like this. He visited Cambodia on holiday in March last year, fell in love with it, quit his job as a teacher and tied up his affairs, came over, set up a guesthouse, fell in love with a Cambodian woman (still can't belive it's not the younger and prettier one, ya Adila!) and had a very very very cuuuutttteeee mixed baby! (Yes, Ningyi went around collecting lots of life stories...so brace yourself for more!)
We then set off for the floating village of Chong Kneas and the flooded forest of Kompong Phluk. Was quite far off and needed a ride there so got fleeced by our tuk-tuk touts. (Should have realised there was a catch to free pick-ups. Tuk-tuk drivers liek to hold on to customers for their whole entire stay.) They basically told us that they were our only mode of transport and that we couldn't all sit in one tuk-tuk cos it was against the law and charged us US$20 in all, though lonely planet said it should cost no more than $5! I even started to doubt if it was 'cos the lonely planet was out of date! So we finally were happily satisfied with our bargain of $16 till we met up with the other 4 of em and realised they got their full-day ride in a single tuk-tuk for $5. *heartsink*
While we were driving along the dirt roads, sand behind trucks blowing into our eyes, mouth feeling all gritty.. as we passed the shacks and rudimentary huts along the roads, I couldn't help but be reminded of India. My first impression was definitely that this was just like India, except with different colour-skinned people.
Was really glad we got a combined ticket for the Flooded Forest as well as the Floating Village.. 'cos the floating village totally wasn't worth it. It was something you could probably see off Malaysia or on the way to Batam. Haha. The flooded dorest wasn't really flooded either cos it isn't in the peak of the rainy season yet. The water level was only 3m as opposed to the 30m it should have been. It looked really promising, esp if you could weave through the trees in a dugout in the rainy season. I can just imagine that it would be enchanting. Kompong Phluk saved the day. It was a village back in time. It was so cool to get so close to the locals..it was like we were invading their everyday lives. The children were so friendly and kept clinging on saying 'sombre'..we had no idea what that meant..we traipsed along till we found a monastery where there was this litlle kid who vould speak such good English it startled us. He pointed us to his 'teacher' who was a 23 year old chisseelled hunky monk with brown eyes *swoon*..who was so enthusiastic about practising his English, he kept us there for half an hour even when we had to go off..hehe. We stopped by a floating restaurant where the kiddies were starting to get to our nerves with their incessent nasal chant of 'banana one dolla'. Gosh. When we tried to take a pic it became 'photo one dolla'. Such entrepreneurs..
Our boatman was eager to get us back before 3pm when he predicted it would rain. And just as we reached back to shore and into the comfort of our tuk-tuks, it began to pour. The tuk-tuks were zipped up in canvas with little plastic windows at the sides and in front to see through. Bing zhu's and mine were in the shaped of hearts. Can imagine that being somewhat romantic if it were with someone else. :p Juz kidding. Got dropped off at a nice Khymer Restaurant for our first and only meal of the day. I discovered the amok fish which has remained my favourite dish since. It was served in a coconut with tonnes of coconut milk in the curry. But the fish was sooo soft, it tasted almost like crab meat.
It was an early night that night. Think I knocked off at 8pm..unknown to us, this holiday was gonna afford us lots and lots of sleep and yet, tonnes of fulfillment! :)
(P.S. Tonight was also the night that Nings met his 'mi yao mai shui ah?' aunty. It was fate. The guys decided to go out to buy water in the rain but did not have to walk more than a few metres.)