Dream
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2008
1
75
93
Trip End
Jan 31, 2009
Kompong Cham,
Cambodia
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The German Nuclear Physicist: 55; big guy with long Grey hair.Works at a nuclear power plant in Germany. Loves his job. His best friends are his colleagues. However, he is looking forward to his fast approaching retirement. As a retired man, he thinks that he will be as free as a bird, just like he was in his youth. When that time comes, he is planning to spend a good part of each year in Cambodia teaching English and Nuclear Fusion for free. He has traveled to some of the most daring spots in the world, including quite a few African cities. Has been assaulted 3 times during his travels, but most were due to prostitutes and alcohol.
Cycled on the highway for 20 minutes, until I reached Wat Nokor
Hut on Stilts
. Wat Nokor was a Theravada Buddhist pagoda built inside an 11th Century Mahayana shrine. It was a curious mix of crumbling sandstone walls and a glittering new building embedded in them. This temple was a part of a larger complex, just like the one I had visited yesterday. There were another temples, a monastery where monks were surfing the internet and a graveyard all packed together.Once again, took the run-down ferry to the island of Koh Paen. Can't believe it didn't sink in midway. The island was an untouched place and there still were parts of the village that I hadn't cycled through. Just like a dream... Cycling on the palm lined dirt roads while the locals point at you and laugh...
As I said yesterday, life on the island was pretty close to tribal. Ironically, their temples were as impressive as anyone could imagine. So much money had been poured into these religious buildings while the villagers could not afford to build more than a hut on stilts for themselves. I am guessing that the temples have been built with donations from the locals. It is interesting how the poor empower religious institutions financially by sacrificing their individual welfare.
It was a physically challenging day and I was nearly dehydrated. Got a plastic bag of fresh sugar cane juice and some pineapple from a fruit stall. Heavenly...
Found an internet cafe on the street to the right of the Mekong Crossing. Their computers could not read my cameras. The connection was too slow anyways. Unfortunately, It has been quite a few entries without photos and due to the Cambodian infrastructure, this will be the case until I leave this country.
