Cambodia: The Wedding Party

We are led to our table

Why Not smiles across the table.

On my last day in Siem Reap the owner of Angkor Wonder Hostel, where I was staying, invited me to come to a wedding party which would be on later that night.  That evening I came down to the lobby to find nine other travelers that he had asked to come as well.  He (his name is pronounced and self-spelled "Why Not"--also his favorite English catch phrase) already had tuk-tuk drivers waiting and they sped us off into the night for a fifteen or twenty minute ride to a tented area on the outskirts of the city.

We didn't know at the time who was getting married exactly, nor do I think the other guests expected to see us show up.  However, when we did, we were immediately welcomed warmly and ushered to a table.  Why Not and a server brought us bottles of Angkor beer, and before we could even begin to say thank you, told us to drink lots and whenever we wanted more, just to ask.  "Please enjoy yourselves," he said.  "I want you to feel this is your home."  The first round of food soon came out, an assorted meat platter, salad, fish.  The bride and groom came over to meet us, looking lovely and flush.  I looked around at the people--men in their suits, women with their hair done up, make up and their best dresses, and it occurred to me how special it must be for them to have an opportunity to do themselves up like that.  Most people are just doing what they can to get by each day and don't have the time or necessarily a reason to do anything beyond the necessities.

Cambodia: The Road to Angkor

Journal excerpt, January 17th, 2012

I wake up to the gentle breeze of an air conditioner blowing over my shorts-clad legs.  What??  I left Korea in strict sub-zero temperatures yesterday afternoon, the han-cheon river running through Yecheon frozen solid enough to skate on--is this really possible?  I roll out of bed and trudge into the shared bathroom of the dorm style room I'm staying in at the Mad Monkey hostel.  I shower and go downstairs to the lobby, one side open to the street, and get my first glimpse of Cambodia in daylight.

Last night my plane got in late and after taxiing to drop of my bags at the hostel I went out in search of cheap eats.  I was immersed in humidity, recalling drenched memories of summer in Japan and Korea, except amazingly it's mid-January.  Definitely the furthest south I've ever been.

After eating my first Cambodian dish--a bunch of things I pointed to all placed on a plate, including curried stewed beef, eggs and rice--a hostel mate I had just met and I ordered a couple domestic beers for the road and then discovered we couldn't find our hostel again (later we'd discover that this was because they turned off the lights, took the signs in and closed the steel gates out front for security after a certain hour).  After wandering around a half-lit suburb of Phnom Penh, palm fronds and exotic plants looming lusciously in tropical shadows off and over the street, we finally gave up and paid a passing tuk-tuk (motorcycle pulling a small carriage) to find our hostel for us.  After even he circled through the area twice without finding it, he was successful and I crashed in my bed to wake up this morning.

I order some food for breakfast and sit down to wait, glad I got up early and have a full day ahead.  Outside I can see massive tropical plants fanning out greenly in front of buildings.  Green!  The air smells moist, fertile and decidedly wild, even here in the capital.

Today I head out to Siem Reap where I'll stay for the next four nights.  I've bought my bus ticket already, opting for the six hour bus (as opposed to the four hour option), intent on taking in lots of the countryside of this jungle rich land.  Ahead of me after that lay the temples of Angkor.