*knock knock knock*
Huh? What? "Ma'am?"
I open my door groggily and find one of the hostel workers there. "Yes?" He tells me my ride is waiting. "What? My tour doesn't start until 8am. There must be a mistake." He apologizes and giggles before leaving.
It's 5 something in the morning, and now my heart is racing from being woken up so rudely. But I can't hold it against the man, he's too sweet. So I slowly fall back asleep before beginning my day.
In my group of 8, one of who was the Italian man that has been on the past two trips with me as well, we make our way to one of the floating villages outside of town. Before making it to our boat though, first we walk through a typical Cambodian village. The people are friendly, smiling and laughing at us silly tourists, and going about their daily life. I felt a little bad about being one of "those" people, but I know it can't be helped. As we walk around, I see little kids, various fruits, eggs, fish, and even chicken. Flies swarm over everything, woman work to de-scale the fish, and there are even a few stations where the woman clean snakes. None of these things freaked me out until I walked past a pigs face. It was a little disconcerting honestly.
After our time here, we finally arrive at the tiny area where all the boats are. There were so many narrow boats in this tiny section, that it was a traffic jam, boat style. About 15 minutes later we finally were on our way.
We road out, making our way to the village slowly but surely. One by one, they began to appear. Homes, buildings, on stilts, in the middle of the river. Boats were everywhere, a dog swam by, and little children waved as they paddled along side us. Some of the buildings were gorgeous turquoise blue, or even sky blue. Others were the natural brown, or more hut like. Either way, they all were beautiful.
After riding up and down the river, we stopped at a small building were we changed to small canoes. A woman with her baby, and older woman took me and the Italian man on a peaceful and relaxing trip through the waters. The birds sang their songs, the trees granted us natural shade, and the only disturbance was when the baby began to cry.
Later we enjoyed sandwiches on a floating restaurant (I can now say I've eaten meals on a revolving restaurant and a floating one!), We talked with our guide, learned about what it was like during the reign of Poi Pot, and kicked back and relaxed. This was exactly what the doctor ordered after two days of temple explorations in the hot sun.
The final leg of our trip consisted of us walking through the actual village area. The people were amazingly friendly, and both children and woman smiled and waved at us. I have honestly never meet more friendly people anywhere else in the world yet, and I love them so much. Sorry Korea, but Cambodia beats you! I would take 3rd world country over 1st world Korea any day to be quite frank, I have never enjoyed my time around local people as much as I have here. And after exploring Angkor Wat and the floating villages, it only makes me want to travel to South America to visit Incan ruins, Mayan ruins, Machu Pichu and travel around Africa!!! I am already planning my next trip through South Asia: Start in Phonm Pen, go over to Laos, end in Thailand. :)
After returning to my hotel early, I enjoyed a cool shower, watched a little tv, and ventured out into to town on one of the hostels bikes for a nice dinner. To relax from my oh-so-stressful day, I biked up and down the river, hunting for good photo spots, before meandering a local market and buying small souvenirs for my two best friends. :)
I may not travel around to various countries as much as others, and move slower, but I love taking my time in places, and really getting to know the area. I also had never traveled solo before. Now that I know how easy it is to not only do so, but to travel solo between cities and countries as well, I plan to make good use of said knowledge! Ohhhh, I love traveling, and may end up having to take a few months off of work to do so!
The downfall I face: buying souvenirs.
I ended the night by writing this blog. I started with a kitten in my lap keeping me company, and the most content person you could find. I'm learning to stop comparing myself to others, and realizing it's okay that I take things slower. I may be the tortoise in this world of hares, but I'm learning that that's okay. I still get there, but I take my time doing so. And along the way, I get to enjoy just a few more subtle beauties that the hares may miss in their race to see it all.
Peaceful in Soul and Spirit,
Rita
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