On Monday, August 24 we had a fairly quiet day that consisted of Saitha working at a restaurant, buying plane tickets and visiting Phnom Penh's highlight, the Silver Pagoda and the Royal Palace.
On Friday right after Max and Martha arrived we got to chatting with the South African cook/owner of a nearby restaurant called the Common Tiger. He was enthused by the boys' Cambodian heritage, Saitha's work as a cook and my Dutch heritage. He encourage Saitha to keep developing his cooking skills and to enjoy his passport: "no one wants South Africans". I hope Saitha listened as he is eyeing work as a Papa Gino's manager.
We agreed that Saitha cook there one day as the owner had already hired untrained Cambodians off the street and the day was Monday from 11 - 2. Saitha peeled onions, shelled prawns and chopped stuff and chatted with everyone.
A dilemma of the trip is Phnom Penh's central location that I solved with a plane trip. North of it were the interesting towns of Battambang and Siem Reap and south of it the coast. Land travel between north and south would be at least ten hours and go through Phnom Penh. To resolve and to give us flexibility I decided to buy plane tickets to fly us from the north to the south. I checked online and found them for about $110 a piece, a little steep but I decided to go with it. I ran into some snags with the online payment, notably this VerifiedByVisa extra password thing, and called the airline directly. They said that I could get the tickets for $75 provided I come to the office, which I did in the pouring rain.
That provided an experience in Cambodian financial life. The total bill came to $302, which was $150 less than the online price. I gave $310, not wanting to give up my small bills. In this economy many people operate in single dollars and cannot make change from $10. Bank withdrawals have to be large, because the surcharges are $5 or so. And the machines happily give me $100 bills. To my surprise and embarrassment the lady had to ask her colleague to break the $10 from her own private funds.
The Pagoda and Palace were nice. We took some panorama pictures. It consists of some palace like buildings that we could not go into and the Silver Pagoda that contains a standing Buddha that has thousands of diamonds including a very large one. At the exit I was met by some beggars, of which I do not see many on Cambodia. I don't give the children money as those are controlled by pimps. I have found that giving fruit works, as one pointed at some once in my bag. They eat the fruit of course.
Dinner was obviously at the Common Tiger. Saitha had enjoyed himself and the meal was delicious. The restaurant has a sparse ten item menu that changes every week. I choose a bean paste dish with prawns as there was no 100% vegan dish available. My only photo of that day is of my plate.
The adventure of the day was Martha's ride home from the restaurant by Tuk Tuk. The boys and I elected to walk home as it was only three blocks and blocks are at most 100m in Phnom Penh. She offered a driver $1 and he said yes: more than enough for the short trip. He pointed the wrong way and I corrected him. Nevertheless, she did not arrive at the hotel until a half hour later. He had taken her for a ride all over town and even demanded she get out at some point. She refused and eventually demanded to talk to a policeman after which he took her to the right place. Two days earlier, a Tuk Tuk driver had taken her all over for a ride that was only one block from the hotel. He initially asked for $8 and they settled on $3. $0.50 would have been the correct price. Lesson: beware of Tuk Tuks and know your way around town. Also cultivate a few that want your continued business.
Here is a link to my pictures of that day:
Max's Photos of the Day
Saitha's Photos of the Day: 185 - 155
Max's Photos of the Day
Saitha's Photos of the Day: 185 - 155
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