Day 14, Summer in Asia ~ From Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
By taking the bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh we hoped to see some of the rural parts of Cambodia. We chose the Giant Ibis because it’s on-the-road amenities were listed as wifi, air con, comfortable reclining seats, gps (for the driver?), environment (picture of a leaf?!), and pastry (possible typo).
Giant Ibis sent a shuttle to pick us up at the hotel and drop us at the outdoor bus depot. Once on the bus there was assigned seating. We had the front two rows, which was both nice to see where we are going but also a little unnerving to see how many scooter people we almost flattened. You had to know when to open your eyes to look around, and when to close them. We had a bus hostess/attendant. We wondered if she was going to stand for the entire trip and felt better when she whipped out a folding chair and plunked it next to the driver.
Our trip was under 6 hours, we had 2 bathroom breaks, and a half an hour lunch break. Our attendant gave us each a bottle of water and a pastry–so, not a typo. My chocolate chip croissant was actually pretty yummy, even if my family says I have abnormally low food standards. I call it being flexible, grateful, and we know who would survive if we were all trapped in a White Castle.
At the snack stop I was so excited to find my favorite junk munch, Cheetos. But was sad when I found out they were steak flavored (?!) and wished my food standards were even lower so that I could have eaten more than one without gagging.
At the lunch break we had enough time for the entire bus to get a hot sit-down lunch, and when we got back on the bus we were given little towelettes. So very civilized is travel a la bus, in other parts of the world.
Along various stretches of road, we saw little stands with umbrellas, sometimes 50 in a row, selling tubes. Our bus attendant called these Kralan, sticky rice cooked in a bamboo tube with coconut milk, soybean, sugar, and salt. They are popular as a hot affordable lunch for workers.
Our bus also stopped for the attendant to buy some unidentified fruit that looked like a cross between a grape and a blueberry. In one stretch of the country were many houses on stilts. Beige cows consistently lined our entire route.
As we entered into the city of Phnom Penh, it started pouring. We pulled up to a teeny tiny office space. Turns out the Giant Ibis has the opposite of a giant terminal. So the luggage wouldn’t be swept away into the street torrent, the bus dudes put it into the tiny terminal, which we all appreciated, for sure. The luggage took up most of the available floor space while not one, but two bus loads of people disembarked and the one bus load of people tried to board. It was actually kinda comical, because it wasn’t physically possible. We were all politely jostling for some space like a bunch of human bumper cars, padded with our bags and backpacks. Humorous in its own weird way. I found a tiny hallway back by the restroom and we huddled back there until the crowd sorted itself out, cleared out, and we could catch a couple of tuks to hotel freedom.
Still pouring rain, I didn’t realize the tuk floor was made out of slats that had significant gaps between them. So every time we went through a huge puddle, the water would spurt into the tuks like long rows of fountains. That was worthy of another pretty hearty laugh. As soon as we were all in the hotel, the downpour stopped like you turned off a tap. Ya rain, you’re hilarious.
Another adorable hotel, with such friendly staff. When they saw the five of us walk into the lobby they asked, “Family Paul?” Then they offered us cold apple juice, marveled that we only had our small backpacks, and offered to take them to our room. They showed us how to make tea, super cute set-up. Very welcoming.
The room is spacious and has a Buddha over each person’s sleeping head. Once in our hotel room we put on dry clothes, made some tea, watched some Netflix, and took a nap, while the downpour continued without us in its crosshairs.
