Breakfasted across the street again, only this time, we asked for bigger bowl (tolal RM17). The guesthouse keeper kept asking us where we were going today but having promised Mr. Ram, we said we will just walk around town. We then walked to the junction of the street hidden from the sight of the guesthouse. There Mr. Ram and his tuk tuk driver friend were already waiting.

Today the weather was fine and all was afresh again after a good night sleep. This morning, we were brought to a boat ride through the Tonle Sap lake, 12km away. The ticket cost RM20 each. The boat ferried just the five of us and as usual Mr. Ram explained things to us.

There were many boat houses along the bank, lake side. Speeding was not allowed because the water way was narrowed, so we cruised at quite a low speed. There were also school, volleyball court and more houses. In those houses, drinking water was accessible in tongs, bought from seller who came regularly. Bathing were often done in the lake. Wastes go straight into the lake as well. One can see canoe where people ply their trade, ferry goods and sometimes selling things to visitors like us. At one point, a girl from such boat jumped into ours. We bought one sprite from her out of courtesy, costing us $1. Most people living there were Vietnamese instead of Cambodian, said Mr. Ram. They lived by the waters rather than on land because they need to pay staying on the land. It’s cheaper that way. We went all the way to the wide open lake. It was really big. The horizon stretched hundreds of kilometres and fishing is the main activities here. Cambodian economy is based on rice, fisheries and tourism, in this order. There were as many as 200 different types of fish in this lake.

We stopped by at one of the place designated for tourists. Took some photos there and look around the shop where variety of things were displayed and sold. About 3 hours later, we departed back. It was a unique experience to observe people living on the lake. One wonder how they manage but of course they live their life simple and within means. The trip back was also slow. We tipped the boat driver and left for another place called Artisan Angkor where we witnessed the process of making sculptures, carvings, lacquer products and weaving. It was a short trip that took only about 20 minutes as we need to catch the bus for Phnom Penh at 1.30pm. We proceeded to an eatery shop for lunch. Bargained a little and chow-ed down our food quickly. We blessed the tuk tuk driver and Mr. Ram and thanked them for making our stay in Siem Reap an interesting one. Lunch cost RM48 for 6 people. We were sent back to the guesthouse, packed quickly and boarded the van that will take us to the bus station.

Other than the four of us, the van ferried a family from France. Both the parents fled to France when the kingdom was at war, and it was the first time for the twins, aged 24 (if not mistaken) to visit the land of their father’s. The van stopped for a drink as we had some time to spare. Everyone got down. Some drank coffee. Jesse and Chunaki joined the people there watching tv(s) on the wall – it looked like some sort of ‘cinema’ for them with many chairs lined up and few televisions with different films showing at once from which you are free to choose from. Kelvin and I on the other hand, chatted with one of the brothers and he showed us some picture taken from the silk farm where we did not have the time to visit. So that kind of made up for it.

Just like before, the bus left at 2pm sharp. This time, the bus was not pack at all, so we got a place each. The bus was moving faster than the one we took when we first came into Siem Reap which was also full. Here, we settled some money we owed each other up to this day and slept but poorly because of the bumpy journey and excessive honking.

Traffic was slow moving in the city. Among the traffic, you can see people taking a walk in the esplanade and parks. Some playing badminton, doing group aerobic and jogging. We finally arrived at Phnom Penh near 8pm. We waited at the bus company office (Malinh Group) for Chieat and his dorm friends to pick us up. Chieat was the eldest among them and the group leader in some ways.

The dorm stays mostly university students, some still schooling. This is a place of friendship and where brother and sister in Christ living together, caring and helping each other. It was a 3-storey building with 7 rooms shared by both guys and girls. We were fortunate to have received their hospitality and got to know them, despite only for one night. It was nice to mingle with the locals whenever you travel. All of them were very friendly.

Chieat brought us to a place he usually frequent for dinner after work. Needless to say, yes they were delicious. We also changed our remaining Riel back into dollar as we were leaving for Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) tomorrow. When we got back, we joined the group for some brief sharing and introduced ourselves. Coincidentally, they were celebrating birthday for June babies that night and I was one of them! They even had fireworks. It was so nice and the thought of getting to eat birthday cake soon evaporated as the celebration turned into a cake war. Everyone involved had got cake smeared on him/her in one way or another. The floor was oily and everyone was dirty at the end of the day but all was in done in the name of fun. After clean up, we grouped back for some photos and a simple game of big-fish-small-fish that was localised into ‘trai-tom-trai-tout’. Losers had to act monkey and piggy.

Everyone adjourned to bed at about midnight. We had a small room but grateful all the same for we not only get to stay the night for free but also made new friends. We learned the way of living from them. Some work to support themselves. They cook to save money. A third year student, Mom, have a dream of helping the children of her people. She wanted to do business and to apply what she will learn from other developed countries like Malaysia, Korea and USA to help her homeland. Such were the wonderful people we met and learned from through our trip. It’s difficult to not love the people of Cambodia.