Lem has given us directions to the laundry, so we pack-up our stuff and take-off before breakfast. It is at the first corner, turn left and on the right - but there is one on the left first, and this lady nabs us. I have bleach-white, don’t-bleach light, and coloured washing. It all weighs-in at slightly over 4 kilos. The cost is $2/k, so Peter pays the money and receives a receipt plus a bonus of two small bottles of water! It will be ready at 6 p.m. Trust is necessary when traveling in foreign countries! They have all but one pair of my underwear!
After the same marvellous breakfast, we walk to the downtown - about 20 minutes. It is fun to watch the locals going about everyday life. Saturday, I saw a lady riding a bike and her about two-year-old was bare-footed and standing on the slanted-bar and holding onto the handlebar. Many times, the scooter has Mom and Dad with a child holding on in-between or one on the back and the youngest sitting at the front looking like the driver. Welcome to the real world!
We walk to the newer market and find it less crowded and the prices the same or better than the old market. We purchase a few things including a new carry-bag to actually pack the stuff we are buying. I ask the lady in the luggage stall if there is a place to get my hair cut. She points-out the direction we should go. I see that there is a teenage-looking guy who is probably the cutter. Everyone else looks younger and he turns out to be 30! With hands and pointing, I explain the mix of colours I need (I get to squeeze it into the bowl) and the fact I need H2O2 for the mixture. Once this is settled, he begins the cut. He clips and clips and clips until it is very short, but the shape is perfect. Then a girl applies the colour. We wait twenty-five minutes and a different girl does the wash and gives me a head massage. The young man then does the blow-dry and the final clips. All this for $10! I have noticed the older lady who appears to be the owner, so I know the others will get a small fee while she gets most of the money - so we tip the cutter $5 and give the girls $5 to share. Such a bargain!
Recycling.
Hotel breakfast buffet, plus more on the other side.
That's a baby sleeping on the ride!
That's a baby sleeping on the ride!
We bump into a girl from Holland who shared our tour for a while yesterday. She also left the top of the sunset viewing spot as the hoards arrived. She is going to the sunrise tomorrow. We wish her well.
On the walk home, we stop into the Wat Prom Roth, a Buddhist Temple along the main road by the river. It has been in use for 500 years, but obviously, constantly updated. As I take some pictures, a young, rather poor looking boy says hello. By the questions he asks, I deduce that he is practising is English. Turns out, he is attending the English school which is beside the temple. We exchange e-mail addresses, and I hope I hear for him as his doesn’t compute. He does not have a computer, but they give them
access at the school so they can practise. He is twenty-three years old.
After a quick pit-stop at our room to drop-off our purchases, we head to the laundry. As we arrive, the lady phones to retrieve our washing from wherever they do it. A boy arrives on a bicycle with a package with my three groups of washing and another for somebody else. Everything is folded nicely and turned the right-way-out as it was all inside-out when they received it. We are amused as we wait, as the police are across the street (this is a main cross-road), and are stopping motor cycle and scooter-drivers who are not wearing the mandatory helmets. They stop one boy and there is a discussion. He comes across the road and purchases two bottles of cold bottled-water from the laundry lady, walks back across the street, and the police seem happy with this payment! The boy climbs back on his motorcycle and drives away, still not wearing a helmet.
We have a quick splash before dinner and once again eat in the courtyard of the hotel. I try a different Cambodian dish each night. Tonight my meat dish and ginger ice-tea come to a whopping $8.50. We could eat cheaper in town, but it is nice to dress for a change and have nice, attentive service.
What we have experienced of the Cambodians is that they are gentle, with a quiet manner of speaking and an easy, relaxed way of smiling. Tomorrow, we will see if it is any different outside the tourist area.
The beautiful Buddhist temple in town.
On the walk home, we stop into the Wat Prom Roth, a Buddhist Temple along the main road by the river. It has been in use for 500 years, but obviously, constantly updated. As I take some pictures, a young, rather poor looking boy says hello. By the questions he asks, I deduce that he is practising is English. Turns out, he is attending the English school which is beside the temple. We exchange e-mail addresses, and I hope I hear for him as his doesn’t compute. He does not have a computer, but they give them
access at the school so they can practise. He is twenty-three years old.
After a quick pit-stop at our room to drop-off our purchases, we head to the laundry. As we arrive, the lady phones to retrieve our washing from wherever they do it. A boy arrives on a bicycle with a package with my three groups of washing and another for somebody else. Everything is folded nicely and turned the right-way-out as it was all inside-out when they received it. We are amused as we wait, as the police are across the street (this is a main cross-road), and are stopping motor cycle and scooter-drivers who are not wearing the mandatory helmets. They stop one boy and there is a discussion. He comes across the road and purchases two bottles of cold bottled-water from the laundry lady, walks back across the street, and the police seem happy with this payment! The boy climbs back on his motorcycle and drives away, still not wearing a helmet.
We have a quick splash before dinner and once again eat in the courtyard of the hotel. I try a different Cambodian dish each night. Tonight my meat dish and ginger ice-tea come to a whopping $8.50. We could eat cheaper in town, but it is nice to dress for a change and have nice, attentive service.
What we have experienced of the Cambodians is that they are gentle, with a quiet manner of speaking and an easy, relaxed way of smiling. Tomorrow, we will see if it is any different outside the tourist area.
The beautiful Buddhist temple in town.
I like the peachcocks and Peter likes the lamp pole.
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