Phnom Pehn (2) & Kratie (05.05.22 - 14.05.22)
Monday 7th March 2022
Having arrived safely in Phnom Penh on the 5th I got a tuk-tuk to Scodo hostel, as we were nearing I recognized the street we were on and then to my surprise the driver stopped outside the hostel I stayed in last time I was here. Scodo is the exact same hostel as RSII – so here I am again back in the same place but in a different room. This one is much better, a bigger bathroom with a proper walk-in shower instead of one placed randomly over the toilet and there is also a front room / kitchenette area and balcony. Perfect for finishing my TEFL 
That evening I was sitting outside the bar next door when this guy walked past and gave me a huge smile so, as you do, I smiled back, then before I knew it, he (Paul from Manchester / Stoke) was sitting with me drinking beer. LOL – he actually reminds me of my brother, he’s not as big as T and is certainly taller but has a similar personality i.e. he doesn’t stop talking – ha ha – sorry T. I’m not sure how much we drank but I know we were out until about 3am and I felt like shit all day yesterday, but we did have a good laugh and being only 4 years younger than me we have a lot in common, especially the rave scene. We also met up last night but didn’t stay out so late – thank god – Paul is great company and we laugh a lot which is good for the mind body and soul. I was due to leave Phnom Penh today but have extended my stay until the 11th – I do not want to spend my birthday on my own. However, when I went to extend the room I was told that the someone else had booked it but I could move into another one. So, this morning I packed up and took all my stuff to reception only to be told that I could stay in my room – so back I went and unpacked again. And although I am happy to be in the same room I am really struggling today – basically Kampot and far too much alcohol, followed by 2 nights of Paul’s company and even more alcohol has caught up with me. I have black bags under my eyes from being dehydrated and am so exhausted I could sleep standing up. Oh, for an early night and some decent unadulterated sleep but it won’t be tonight as Paul wants to take me to get pizza, but not just any old pizza, a happy pizza! Why do I get the feeling that sleep won’t happen until I get to Kratie? And to top it all I still haven’t finished my TEFL assignment. I’m halfway through the last one and only need a day to finish it – finding that day is the problem right now. Perhaps the happy pizza will lead to a good night’s sleep and high levels of motivation (excuse the pun). On a final note, before I head out for the evening, I went to do a FB update and am very disappointed in the lack of photos I have taken since leaving Koh Ta Kiev, but then thinking about it, bar Bokor and Kep, all I did was get totally pissed every day, swim, eat and complete half of my last assignment. Anyway, I’m not gonna beat myself up over any of this as it’s all part of my awesomely epic and mainly spontaneous adventure, which I am sure will have many more twists and turns before it comes to an end
Tuesday 8th March 2022
Last night I tried baby duck eggs. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I ordered but I certainly was not expecting a baby fetus and didn’t believe that was what it was until Paul cut one in half and showed me the head and body. I must have been feeling brave because I closed my eyes and took a bite – it wasn’t particularly good and I had to make myself swallow it, one bite was more than enough and I certainly won’t be buying them again.
Today I spent all morning and half the afternoon in tears due to a WhatsApp joke that was taken the wrong way! So, on a mission to cheer myself up, I went for a walk along the river front and found an empty bar. I sat and watched the traffic and started to drown my miseries when this couple turned up, he is from America and she is from Mozambique, they ask me to join them – it’s not good to refuse the offer of company when you are a solo traveler. What a lovely couple, he’s just got a job here teaching, and she is doing the same TEFL as me. She is also a Pisces, so we got on like a house on fire. We drank, we chatted and then they had to go. I strolled back through the red-light area only to find two guys from Liberia, Pablo and Eric, sitting outside my hostel, they made it quite obvious they wanted to chat so I bought a beer and joined them. They are both very handsome and very nice people; the funny thing is when they chatted in Liberian I could almost understand what they were saying – it was like a mix of African and English. Anyway, Eric has my number and said he will call at 11am tomorrow and we will go out for my birthday – what a buzz. What a difference a few hours can make – from tears and depression to a big fat grin that I am finding hard to get rid of. Belakins, you were so right, when the world feels like it’s crumbling, go and sit in the crumble and embrace whatever comes your way – I knew this anyway, but needed my beautiful friend to give me the boost that I needed all those weeks ago – miss you – but having the time of my life – ups and downs included. But best of all, I’m beginning to feel like that strong independent person that everyone says I am but I have never felt I am – fuck me – I am really and truly finding myself, finding the person others have seen for years, the person I never knew I was but must have been – for the first time I am seeing what others see in me and you know I love this person I see.
Kratie
Sunday 13th March 2022
Catch-up time!
Well, my birthday didn’t go as planned – I spent all day working on my TEFL, umming and aaring over whether or not to cancel Paul. I am so glad I didn’t as the guys from Liberia didn’t contact (they took my English number not my Cambodian one!). Unfortunately, Paul finished work with a headache so he wasn’t up for happy pizza, instead we went for a meal and I got very drunk on vodka and had an early night. It was an uneventful birthday but at the same time it was a nice birthday. But what really made my day was the video call from Sarah and Sophie – OMG, how good was it to see their faces – it made me feel a little homesick, but not enough to want to go back.
On the 10th I finished and submitted my TEFL – it was a painful endeavor but, after returning from central market in the morning I decided that I was not going to leave my room until I had finished. I went to central market with Paul, OMG, the man began to jar me with his incessant talking, he literally didn’t shut up for the whole time, but I must not complain as he has really looked after me and his company every evening has been awesome. Central market was boring, the Russian market was much more interesting, far more random and interesting – I’m quite happy not to visit another market.
On the 11th I got a minivan to Kratie, it took 6 hours, with 2 stops, one for a quick pee and the other for lunch – lol. The food at café place looked disgusting so I had 2 vegetable spring rolls which reminded me of the ones Tash made at my 50th birthday – they were delicious. By the time we got to Kratie my shoulder and arm were killing me. I’m beginning to get a bit concerned about that arm, I’ve been in pain for a few weeks now and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better, if anything it feels worse. I think it may be down to the shoulder straps of my rucksack putting stress on the break area. The thought of going to hospital here is a daunting one and I am not sure how it all works with my insurance and what not. I will see how it goes for now, with any luck it will disappear as mysteriously as it appeared.
It is beautiful here in Kratie, it’s only a small town with three long main roads running though it, and obviously lots of roads running of off them. The market area is bustling but it looks just like all the other market areas I have been to. My hostel overlooks the Mekong River, which is very beautiful. The sandbank opposite is being dredged for sand, I presume to be used in the making of cement, and long boats occasionally drift up and down the river, I could watch it for hours. I got talking to a lovely lady, Robin, who although English has been living in France for over 30 years. She’s a retired university lecturer specializing in housing structure (I think), she told me how new everything here really is and that the tourist guides that talk about building from the French colonial period are bullshitting as most of them have been built in the last 30-40 years. She proved herself right yesterday afternoon as we took a tuk-tuk to the place where we could get a boat and go dolphin watching – most of the buildings we passed had plaques on them with the date they were built, I saw one from 1910 but the rest were from 2000 onward.
Dolphin watching was awesome, we got a yellow longboat and only went a little way out into the Mekong, you could hear the dolphins spurting their water before you saw them, there must have been a good dozen in the area, I managed to get a few, not very good, video clips, but it was a calm, holistic experience, especially with the music from the monks in the background. I so enjoyed it and the dolphins were beautiful, so majestic – such an enjoyable little trip – Thank you Robin for suggesting it. Today is my last day in Kratie, I am off to Siem Reap tomorrow, I will go for a last stroll when the sun gets a little less intense, otherwise I am more than content to continue sitting here for the afternoon watching the Mekong and mad Cambodians driving up and down the road. I say simply because anything goes, health and safety is even worse here than in Thailand, in fact I don’t think there is any and I’ve seen all sorts on the back of mopeds ranging from extremely large blocks of ice and precariously stacked crates of beer.
Monday 14th March 2022
What a fun evening that was. One of the guys from my dorm left yesterday (did I mention I was sleeping between two guys) and was replaced by Michaela from S. Africa. At first I thought she wasn’t going to be very friendly but she was and we went for a walk around the town and then sat on the bank of the Mekong and watched the sun set, which was the best one I’ve seen since being here. Michaela is a hippy chic, not a pretentious one, a proper one – out here trying to find herself – I do feel like telling her that she didn’t have to come all this way to find herself and that it would happen naturally but hey, who am I to ruin her buzz. While she was on her phone to her boyfriend this old guy, Yanis, from Austria asked if I wanted a beer. His English was not very good but we spent the whole evening laughing and joking, He has a wife and children but also told me about his girlfriends who are scattered here and there. He was so lovely and so complimentary, but I knew what he was after as he started touching my arm while chatting to me and then moved in a little closer. After the bar had shut and everyone else gone to bed he tried to kiss me – ugg – sorry, but as lovely as you are I have no interest in little old men. He took it really well and we continued to laugh and joke and I gave him a big hug before I went to bed whilst convincing him that I was not going to go to his room. I went to sleep and woke with a big smile on my face. It is only 6:30am! Too bloody early for my liking but my minibus to Siem Reap arrives at 7am so I had no choice, Michaela was up at 5am for her morning run and she is now doing yoga and meditating – I don’t have the dedication for all that – she was telling me yesterday how she went on a 10 day silent yoga and meditation retreat – 10 days of not talking 24 hours a day – she said it was really hard as she started to get gruesome thoughts, and was concerned that her dad was dying, and of course she was not allowed to share these thoughts, she was not even allowed to write them down!