Tag 35 - shabby

04.06.2019

Once again, we get up at 6:30 am because we are supposed to be picked up by a tuk-tuk at (presumably) 7:00 am. Surprisingly, the driver is 45 minutes late, something that never happens here.....

...

The nice older gentleman drops us off at a meeting point, we wait for fifteen minutes for the bus and during that time we are questioned by a very good English-speaking Khmer (Where are you going, where are you from? etc.)
The bus arrives and we sit in our assigned seats. Just a few seconds after the bus starts moving, the driver turns on the Khmer music at festival volume. There is a TV hanging from the ceiling with the appropriate music videos and lyrics for singing along. As tolerant and enthusiastic as we are, we exchange annoyed looks and put earplugs in our ears.

After two hours, we take a break and on the side of the road we see several people snacking on small black chunks. We see a woman with a whole mountain of this snack in front of her. It's fried and seasoned cockroaches (refer to the title of the post). This is the first time we have seen insects as a relevant food for the population. In Thailand, not even the most primitive markets had any 6 or 8-legged creatures in the pans and pots. The journey continues and is only interrupted once when a couple has to change their child's diaper (standing up and with a water bottle), which is then wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown into the roadside ditch.

At our destination, we are also picked up by a tuk-tuk driver who takes us to the hostel and then explains to us that the ride was free, but he doesn't receive any money from the hostel and relies on us buying a tour from him now. He is very nice and unobtrusive. The prices are also reasonable, but we have to put him off and tell him that we have to think about it - he is very understanding. We check in, and see the tuk-tuk driver getting money from the receptionist... hmm....

We go to our room: very large, very clean, and relax there for a while until our hunger drives us outside again. It feels much warmer than in Siem Reap; The heat and the fact that we can't find a suitable restaurant affect our mood, which is ultimately improved by an Iced Tea-Lemon. After a short shopping trip to the supermarket, we return to the hostel.

Evening comes and this time we have put more thought into where we want to eat. We go to the much busier city center but still can't find anything to eat (although Jonna eats chicken soup, 5/10, €0.65), which leads us to cross the river, which divides the city in half. Less than a minute on the other side and we find a great local restaurant where I order noodles with beef (9/10, €1.80). Both of us satisfied, we walk home and go to sleep.