Oops - went drinking with Joe and Matthius!
Trip Start
Nov 01, 2007
1
5
26
Trip End
Nov 20, 2007
Siem Reap,
Cambodia
Monday, November 5, 2007
I went to dinner with the friends with whom I'm travelling and had an excellent meal. We went to a place called Khmer Kitchen, a place that's highly recommended by travellers and guide books alike. It serves lots of traditional Khmer dishes, specialties including pumpkin and coconut soup, and dishes cooked in the oven with lots of cheese melting everywhere, though that's not my thing at all. I had a spicy Khmer soup with vegetables and tofu, and boiled rice to add to it. Oh my God! I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven; the blend of spices was to die for, hot and sour but fragrant at the same time. I'm going to try to find out the blend so I can make it when I get back to England.
After dinner, half of the group wandered off back to the hotel, and the rest of us went to a bar for a drink. Now I must say that at this point I'd had one beer so what happened next was not because I was drunk. We took a short cut, through the kitchen of the restaurant and into Bar Street. We had to go through a dark and narrow passage and as I was going along, I put my foot on a board that was covering a hole. None of us knew it was there until I fell down it. God, it was stinky and disgusting and my leg really hurt. Lovely Cambodian guy to the rescue - he leaned out of the window of his restaurant kitchen and gave me some Tiger Balm to rub on to my cut and bruised shin. I soon got over the shock and burst out laughing. Even though it happened to me, it was a real comedy moment and I could just imagine how funny it must have looked. Apparently my scream was something else!
My injury didn't stop me drinking. Joe and I ordered a couple of jugs of beer which we happily consumed, then Matthias gave up on the Singapore Slings and joined in with the beer. Matthias lovely girlfriend Andrea and Kat (our trip leader) decided to go home, leaving me and the boys to our own devices. Boy, did we go for it. We had so much fun, chatting to everyone and anyone. We did a bit of bar hopping and ended up chatting with a lovely Cambodian lady. Joe asked her to join us and I think she had ideas he was trying to pick her up. She was OK when I assured her that he wasn't and we had a great time teaching each other a couple of words from our languages. Eventually we got kicked out around 12:30. It was a Sunday night, though, so I guess it was fair enough. Looking back it was probably the best thing for us.
We took a tuk tuk back to the hotel, carrying our large bottles of beer with us which we continued drinking as we drove. Now, don't know if you've ever used a tuk tuk; they're precarious at the best of times when you're sober. Drunk, they seem entirely normal and are an excellent way to travel. We went back to Joe's room to finish our beers but I was a wuss and left the boys to it around 1am.
A good time was had by all, although I think Matthias may get a telling off for waking Andrea up when he went back to his room. Not seen anyone yet this morning so no idea how they're feeling. I'm feeling fine, on top of the world this morning. I've had a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit (the papaya was exquisite) and although I'm still tired from lack of sleep, I'm ready for the day. We're all going off as a group again to Tonle Sap, one of the unique geographical wonders of the world. It offers visitors insights into the centuries-old traditions of riparian life and the natural splendor of the country. We're getting a bus out there and then will cruise up and down and see the floating markets and learn more about how Tonle Sap is a lifeline for the largely agrarian and fishing society of Cambodia. Anyway, I'll probably write more about it after the trip when I've learned a little for myself.
