Wow! I can’t believe we are here, 11 months after our arrival in Cambodia and starting the countdown to our departure. We’ve got exactly one month left. Where did that year go?
It’s mixed emotions from me, I can tell you. On the one hand, the dust and the smoke and the all-together craziness can be exhausting and it would be nice to take a break. On the other hand, I really feel part of a community here. I have a heap of new friends. Everyone in the street knows us — even the old codger across the road, who speaks no English, gives me a smile and says Suasdey (hallo). It’s taken a while to get to that point.
And the Joker is most definitely a popular personality in the street, although one of the tuk tuk drivers still only knows him as “beer o’clock”. Yes, it’s easy to guess the kind of impression he has had, isn’t it?
But further afield than our little street, it’s the people we have met and the friends we have made in different corners of the city. The lady near the pagoda, selling water knows me — I’ve stopped there often enough when I’ve forgotten my water bottle — she always smiles and we complete the transaction in very basic Khmer. Even the chemist down the road knows us. He calls the Joker “brother” and thanks us for helping Cambodia with our volunteer work. Then of course, there are friends from our various volunteer projects as well as the many barungs (foreigners) we have met and made friends with. Despite its transient population, Siem Reap is a city where you feel connected and that’s a really important thing in life. It’s also a city where you can do very little to make a big difference and that is also a wonderful feeling. Friends are trying to find ways for us to stay — or to return.
But with four weeks to go, I’m frantically listing all the things I haven’t done. Because, living in a city is so different to holidaying in a place and the sense of urgency to do everything and see everything just wasn’t there. Not that we haven’t packed a lot in but there are still things on the list. And now they’re urgent!
There are bars I’d like to try, a jazz night I’ve been wanting to go to and places we still haven’t eaten at (there are so many restaurants to choose from here it is impossible to get to them all). And can you believe I still haven’t visited many of the temples? I know everyone comes here to see Angkor Wat, but the thing is, Angkor Wat is just one of many ancient monuments and they are all so different.
There are art galleries to discover, people to interview, villages to explore and narrow dusty, bumpy roads to traverse. Let’s not forget the $3 foot massages and the manicures and pedicures. And most importantly there will be New Year celebrations, which we’ve purposely planned to stay for. Khmer New Year in mid April is a three day holiday — the biggest holiday of the year for Cambodians.
So the countdown is on. It’s going to be an action-packed fast-paced month and it’s going to go lightning fast.
We’ll keep you posted about our next adventures but they’re going to be a little bit cooler, at least to start with. In the meantime join us for the countdown and the last of our crazy ride in this awesome country.
RashmiChalukya says
Cambodia has always fascinated us and we do have plans to visit the beautiful country in future. Agree its becomes difficult to cut ties with all the people you have been smiling and spending time with. We will be moving out of Switzerland in near future and we can already feel your pain ?
Sam Walker says
It is part of the adventure. But saying goodbye is always hard. I hope you get to Cambodia. You will fall in love with the people. Such an incredibly place with a tragic history. Switzerland sounds awesome (but cold?).