9 Hour bus trip to PhnomPenh

The food at Sonalong village was really exceptional. For dinner I had fish amok. Fish amok is a fish mousse with fresh coconut milk and a khmer curry paste made from lemongrass, tumeric root, garlic, shallots and ginger and served in a bowl made from palm leaves. It was super delicious.

I talked with the girl who works there. Her husband works there too and they have 2 children. Her mother in law looks after the children and they all live together in a small house with her sister also. They have a stall at the market.

They work very hard but she said it makes her sad that the mother-in-law has to work so hard looking after everyone. I told her that the mother-in-law works so hard because she wants to help them all because she wants them to be happy. So the best way to repay her is to be happy. If she feels sad then the mother-in-law is failing at what she is trying to do.

I told her that the best thing she can do is to show her gratitude so she knows she is appreciated. I suggested buying a washing machine, but that would take them a long time to save up for.  So little things, like taking her flowers or a plant or giving her a hug.

I wish I had realized that I had worked out my dates wrong. I could have stayed another night and spent the day relaxing by the pool. I really regretted it.

Anyway. I couldn't sleep so I got up early and packed and was ready to go bright and early the next morning.


The trip was very interesting, except when we got caught up in the election traffic. And even that was exciting, though we were stuck on the bus for nearly two hours watching the people drive around the round-about on their motor-bikes.

Not many people in Cambodia have cars, but they all have motor-bikes. And they mostly live in simple wooden houses up on stilts either in the jungle or agricultural land. I suspect the stilts are to help keep the houses cool as much as keep them out of floods.

The bus trip was very enjoyable. I nearly botched the lunch stop. I thought it was just a toilet break and stayed on the bus. When I realized I just had time to get a take-away pad thai, which was great, because I couldn't eat it all and had some left for when we were stuck in the parade of people.

The election was obviously extremely important to the people. They have had a terrible past with civil war and genocide.

It was difficult to speak to the people, partly because only some speak English but also because if I made any movement towards them they wanted to sell me something. Usually a tuk-tuk ride. I felt like saying that I have legs and can walk. They wouldn't have understood why I would walk I think. No one walks. They ride their motor-bikes, same as in Thailand.

The hotel was a tea house.

It had a pool and spa but as they couldn't give me an appointment for a massage that night, the reception recommended a place called Bodiea and I got a tuk-tuk there.

Travelling in the tuktuk in the traffic made the city seem squalid, dirty, frantic, and unpleasant.

The spa was serene and gorgeous; curved wooden walls and delicious fragrance with a warm greeting. My masseuse washed my feet with sea salt and limes. I stepped into my massage room across stepping stones over a pond. It was a good massage.

The tuktuk driver was my ill-fortune. I had told him I was going to dinner after the massage but he spotted me when I came out and took me to a place to eat. It was a bar. It had a view of the river but I felt really out of place. I didn't want a drink, the food wasn't nice and I paid too much. I would have been happier walking in the opposite direction and finding a cheap Kymer place that suited me rather than one he thought tourists would like. I did exactly that another night and paid $2 instead of $7.

He was only young but he kind of ruined my time in Phnom Penh.  He told me I would be able to go to see the traditional dancing and the palace on Sunday but they were closed because of the election. I could have gone on Saturday but he wanted to make money by taking me on a tour.

We went to silk island.

It was so poor.

I didn't really have a nice time but the photos make it look awesome!

The tuk tuk came on the ferry to drive me around. A woman accosted me on the ferry.  She is exactly why I couldn't trust these people, but a review on TripAdvisor had warned me. I knew she as just pretending to be interested in making conversation. She said she would tell my driver to follow her to her house where they do silk weaving.

I knew there is a community silk place. I told my driver I did not want to follow her. I asked did he understand I did not want to go to her house. He said yes but he followed her and made me get out at her house to see a girl working at a silk loom. They tried to make me to buy a scarf, they pulled them out of a black plastic bag. They had not been made there.

I said "thank you for showing me that" and got back in the tuk tuk.
I said "I don't want to buy one. I don't have to buy the first thing I see."
I was not going to let them shaft me.

Then we went for a ride around the hot and steamy island. Lots of greenery and some agriculture, a few cattle.

He took me to a few temples, they weren't kept very clean and they weren't open. But I liked them. One was in a brightly painted complex with statues of hindu gods around                                                                   the courtyards and a replica of a long long canoe.

Another one was very old and being repaired. It was open and no one was there so I sneakily took some photos of me being a Buddha again. I left a small offering. The ceiling was painted with a mural, I hadn't seen that before. It was really cool with a giant gold Buddha statue behind a big chair with some mats on the stone floor. The floor felt clean. I'm sure I was very naughty to sit in the big chair, but I am a Buddha after all.





The community silk farm was a great experience. It was in a lovely setting under cool palm trees with the people working on shaded platforms. There wasn't a guide to show me around but I knew a lot from when I had silk worms when I was growing up.

The silk before it has been spun feels like rough old woman's hair. after it has been spun it feels like fine princess's hair.

Then it is dyed and spun from the spools onto a bobbin which is put inside a bob-kin to be used at the loom.

It was facinating to see the process. I bought a skarf as fine as silk

Working at the loom must be mind numbingly boring. to keep track of the pattern must be so hard.

There is a park with shady huts where you can rest and have a picnic



On the way back across on the ferry I was pounced on again by women wanting to sell me scarves. They wanted $8. I said $5 and wouldn't budge, especially when the pushiest punched one of them in the chest. I said I didn't want it and sat back in the tuktuk. Then the one who got punched said ok, $5 so I bought it so they would go away. It is pink and blue with elephants.

My room at the hotel was quite dull so I hung all by scarves and and sarongs around the room to brighten it up.