A little over a week ago, I left Cambodia and went into Thailand to take a bus to the airport. My friend and colleague Jill was going to be arriving Monday night, so I went to meet her and spend a few days in Bangkok taking care of medical things. The bus ride down was quite beautiful. I slept for part of it, and when I woke up, there were thunderclouds hanging over the landscape as we drove past bright green rice paddies and rows of tall, thin trees. I was reading a chapter about the Lua people of northern Thailand who are suffering from displacement due to environmental protection of their traditional farmland and forestland. These are complicated issues that require more thought and dialogue than they are now given, I think.
Bangkok was pretty interesting. I arrived at the airport and mailed off a letter, wrote in my journal, enjoyed an hour at Starbucks, and read a book a professor had given me years ago. It was about language learning, the need for which I am feeling increasingly aware. I actually enjoy being in airports and observing the people rushing by, some sitting and relaxing for hours like me, some tearfully parting or joyously greeting loved ones. It seems like nothing is unusual in an airport; people come from all over, carrying and wearing wildly divergent items and clothing, and no one blinks.
I waited in the "meeting point" area for a long time, reading my book standing up. Finally, I saw a redheaded girl wheeling a pile of bags in the distance. I had to wait behind the "no entry" sign for her, which felt silly because I wanted to run up and hug her. What a happy reunion! Jill was pretty tired after a conference and two long flights, so we headed to our guesthouse, which was quite comfortable compared to what I had been used to in Poipet.
The following day in the city was a bit strange. We spent the first part of the morning just talking and catching up over a very Western-style breakfast of eggs, toast, cornflakes, orange juice, and plenty of coffee. I didn't realize how much I had missed scrambled eggs and buttered toast! Coffee is abundant in most of Cambodia, and most of Thailand, too, I'm guessing, but they often add copious amounts of sugar, which makes it undrinkable. Not so with this coffee! After a very long time, we decided to venture out into the city to get our shots. We went to the place I had gone last month when I first arrived, but I still needed a rabies booster. Jill wanted to get the Japanese encephalitis vaccine, but we discovered they were out of those at the moment. But, they called other clinics and found that they did have a vaccine... at the Snake Farm. Jill and I thought it was just a little strange to be looking for medical care at a snake farm, but we didn't argue because we were running out of time. We navigated our way there using a combination of walking, mass transit, and taxi, and we arrived ten minutes after they closed. But we did find the snake farm! I think it took us hours.
By this point, we were pretty hungry but we were trying to figure out a place to get a decently priced but tasty meal. We wandered through town and wound up walking back north to the area where our guesthouse was. On the way I broke my flip-flop so it kept sliding off to the side... very annoying, but at least the streets were not that dirty. We walked into a place called Siam Paragon, and it was like the King of Prussia Mall. Stores everywhere, Gucci and American Eagle and a mall directory that helped us find what we really wanted: food! The lower level had a much fancier version of a food court, with more variety and better quality food. The problem was, there were so many options, and I knew it would be my only chance to have cheese, pizza, or Western food for awhile, so I was trying to make the most of it. Jill and I wound up wandering around looking at every menu for so long that when we finally settled on a place to eat I was shaking with hunger and anxiety. What a waste of time. I got Indian paneer (cheese) and Jill got Japanese. No pizza. After we finished, we walked the rest of the way to the guesthouse... and on the same street we found a place selling pizza. Of course. Next time we are in Bangkok we'll know where to go!
The following morning we had another enjoyable breakfast, Jill got her shot at the snake farm, and we grabbed some groceries before heading up to Mo Chit to catch the afternoon bus to Aranya Prathet. Much of the bus ride we spent sleeping and reading. I just love rainy drives. It took awhile to get to the border; it closed at 8, and our bus pulled in at 7:15, so we had to rush through and avoid the scams that plagued us all along the way. Thankfully, I knew where the legit buildings were so I could help Jill find where to go. We made it just in time, dropped our bags at the guesthouse, and had a nice dinner at Jon Ceena with Rebekah. I introduced Jill and Sophy, and we went to bed. Once I had Jill with me I was more conscious of my desires to live in a different, cleaner room, especially compared to what we are used to in North America.
The following morning, we hopped into a taxi and headed to Battambang Province with Sophy. Woohoo! The ride took about two hours, and the second half of it was on extremely bumpy dirt roads, rutted and uneven from the rain. We kept turning onto smaller and smaller roads, until we pulled up to a grassy walkway where the taxi driver let us out. Down the path was Sophy's family's house, a wooden structure on stilts. Within an hour of our arrival, Sophy's youngest brother, who has stayed home to farm and take care of his parents, decided to take us out to the family's rice paddies. We hopped onto the bed of the family farm vehicle, a sort of tractor with a large bed attached, and Sophy's mother sent us with a goody bag full of wafer snacks, bean and sticky rice desserts, and oranges. Her brother navigated the road so well, even though it was very bumpy and muddy in parts. He had to make several attempts to get us out of some of the muddiest parts, so we all cheered for him. Many families had their rice paddies alongside one another out in the flat, flooded field, and each one was separated by a foot-wide wall of grassy clumps. The ones belonging to Sophy's family were in a few different locations, each one belonging to a different child. Jill and I made our way out on this thin strip of bank to look at one of the fields, trying not to slip into the warm water! After a bit of this we went for a dip in a small pool where the family would catch fish. Riding back home, eating oranges and laughing hysterically at the jolts that threatened to knock hats, sunglasses, and bodies out of place, I felt very content and happy to be here, thankful to be a part of this picture.
Sister, brother, niece, wagon?
These did not stay on the whole ride, try as I might.
This is Sophy's adorable niece, Shiu Ping.
Cooling offI really loved this place. Her family was so friendly and hospitable, and even though they didn't all speak English, it is not hard to communicate kindness. They kept trying to make us comfortable and fed us so much. I think it's pretty telling that in several of the countries I've visited the phrases I've had to learn and employ most consistently are "thank you," "I'm full," and "This food is delicious." They cooked several traditional Khmer dishes for us, and everything we ate, except for our instant coffee a few snacks, was either grown on their property, or by one of their neighbors/relatives. On either side of the village are relatives from both sides of Sophy's family. Their house was raised up enough so that underneath they had several hammocks hanging, a table, a few bed-type structures to work, read, or make food on, and the family farm vehicle (it performed multiple functions I'm not sure how to explain). It was cooler down here during the day, but Jill and I loved being upstairs, too. The floors were clean, smooth wooden panels, and there was a large roofed balcony looking out over their yard and garden/orchard stretching back behind their house. We ate most of our meals together on this balcony floor. We did so much lounging, reading, talking, and tea and coffee drinking. I feel like we got a glimpse of the real Cambodia, and experienced legendary Khmer hospitality through this particular family.
