Mikes Thoughts

Battambang by bus

Soon we will go toward and away. Toward our four days of being away. My wife is on the usual hunt for a purse she will change three more times. She has to have that amount of change. Likely instead she will buy another either before we go or there.

To get there is a bus or minivan ride. It takes about three hours and the main bus stop is a few blocks from our hotel. Riding there is nice. The road is a newer one fully paved. Yeah. Some roads aren’t. The kingdom has done good modernizing many but going to Phnom Penh still has some spots where things are not done.

The nicest thing going to Battambang is 4g cell service. Basically all the way. That means music for me. Perhaps I mentioned before but cell service is very reasonable here. I get 50g of data for $6 a month. To me, that’s unlimited. Also get calls and texts on the smart network. There are three different providers. So calling someone on the phone on another costs. It’s why everyone uses telegram or facebook messenger or WhatsApp. Not many signal users here. Anyways for the hours in the van I can sink away to oblivion thanks to Spotify. Spotify is officially supported here and the price per month is significantly lower than others. I pay $3 a month.

Then there’s being there

This time we have 4 days there. I don’t know why. So what to do? Here’s mikes concise list of daily stuff.

  1. Walk to the river and cross over one bridge. Visit the beautiful old temples on the other side of the river. Walk back to hotel along river. Maybe stop and get some fruit along the way.
  2. Colonial buildings are simply beautiful. They deserve a slow stroll one day and photos. I enjoy all the wonderful architecture and there are larger parks here and there. Kind of a rarity in Cambodian cities.
  3. Coffee is nice and finding new places or visiting favorites is always nice. I like Heart Coffee since it borders a busy street and I can watch people going by.
  4. Food seems to be a specialty. From Khmer soup in the mornings to some international fare for dinner. We enjoy the Indian food at Flavors of India a lot.

And there’s always more. More things that just pop up. Like a walk downtown and watching everyone doing what they do. Or sitting at the pool one day and finding absolutely nothing.

battambang

Today becomes a getting ready kind of day. Perhaps we will do breakfast out by the river. I will go downtown and visit Mr. Dasa. My wonderful barber who loves to just talk about life and living in Siem Reap. Probably a stop at Noi coffee for some of their goodness.

Then a little packing and some bus service that my wife arranges today. I can melt into oblivion on the bus and listen to her whir of conversation with whoever will listen. Responding not really needed when you have the gift of gab. I think she does not count on someone talking back.Its just the act and art of the talk. Khmer people are polite and will listen and mumble yes or nod. Some will take the bait and talk. Then it’s earbud time.

So there you have it. I will also write daily blurbs on our goings. All brought to you by another city by a river but so different than here. See you down our path.