Cambodia: Wrap Up

Quoting my newfound friend Trent from San Francisco, “Cambodia was a shitshow.”

Angkor Wat and the nearby temples were astonishing. The rest, the little bit that I saw, they can keep.

I had some fun here, don’t misunderstand. I shot a rocket launcher. I learned some new recipes. I even met some marvelous people from other countries. When all was said and done, though, I was happy to leave.

Some quick and lasting memories?

Visual:

The sight of so much trash piled up everywhere. The streets were kept somewhat debris-free. That is not to say that they were clean, but when you looked behind any of the houses, it was like a garbage dump.

Auditory:

The sound of the M40 exploding next to my head. Unbelievable.

Tactile:

The feeling of aged belief. Touching the thousands of carvings all over the temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, and the surrounding areas. The reliefs carved into the rock and the cold stone coupled with tree roots as we climbed from one ruined chamber to another. The detail and devotion etched into those millions of pounds of stone one scratch at a time. That stuff sticks with you.

Olfactory:

Kefir Limes. Kefir is a terrible milk drink that my darling friend Eda loves! In Cambodia, there are some bumpy ridged limes called kefir limes that spray this mist of lime into the air when you squeeze them. It’s delicious!

Gustatory:

Tarantula. More than any of the good food I ate at Frizz (which was really the only good food I ate in Cambodia), I will remember the crunch of the tarantulas and the slight raw feeling in my mouth and throat from all the coarse hairs covering the exoskeleton of these critters.

I am glad I came to Cambodia. Angkor Wat and the other temples are the stuff of legends. The country has soooo much more to offer than I had time or inclination to sample, so please don’t my limited time there discourage you from going. Maybe one day, someone’s stories from Cambodia will be positive enough to encourage me to return there. For now, though, I’m not making any return plans.

Added Bonus: most comic thing I have done in Asia: Traded my shoes for a tour.

This crazy sonofagun was our tuk-tuk driver to the floating forest. He was our translator all day and a complete and total 3-wheeled nutjob. At the end of a full day of his madness, I traded him my 2-sizes-too-small shoes to him for the cost of his tour guide services (such as they were). The shoes were still at least 4 sizes too big for him, but he was the happiest Cambodian I have ever seen.