Red Pills, White Apples, and Blue Pumpkins

DAY 466: "I'm not going to be much fun tomorrow," Noelle said the night before when we checked into the New Millennium guesthouse in Siem Reap at 2:30 a.m. after a long grueling journey from Bangkok.

"Oh, we're not going to do anything," I said. With both of us exhausted, it called for a day of rest, relaxation, and writing. For Noelle, it would also be a day of recuperation, for she had developed a cough and cold from all the inhalation of dust on the ride over. I volunteered to be her caretaker -- her "canary" as she put it -- by running errands for both of us: look up another guesthouse in the book to see if it was any better (it wasn't), get us food, water, etc.

I mention this not only because it is what I did that day, but because most of Noelle's friends back in California were worried that she'd be meeting up with a questionable stranger off the internet. "He could be an axe murderer!" they said.

Ha ha! Ha ha ha! This is absolutely hilarious to me; I mean really, an axe murderer? C'mon now, if I was going to kill Noelle, I'd use an ice pick.

Ha, ha, that's a joke of course; I'm kidding. Really, I'd just poison her with pills or something. That is, if I wanted to kill her.

OUR LET'S GO BOOKS RECOMMENDED a bakery called The Blue Pumpkin in town, which has a name that for me, initially conjured up an image of an old colonial European grandma-type of bake house with a pumpkin painted blue in the window display. When I finally found its new location, I discovered it was the exact opposite of that as it was the sleekest, most cosmopolitan-looking bakery cafe I've seen. The brainchild of a Frenchman with a Thai wife and a staff of English-speaking Cambodians, The Blue Pumpkin had moved from more humble digs into its new location of just four months.

No blue pumpkins were seen at all; in fact, nothing was in blue. All the walls, lounge furniture and pillows were in Apple Computer white (picture above) -- the color of iPods, iBooks, and Mac Minis -- and while that's nice, the best part of it was that mounted on the wall was a matching Apple Airport Extreme wireless internet hub to provide free wi-fi internet access to anyone with a laptop, Apple or otherwise. Wow, this is Cambodia? I thought. Just down the block, Siem Reap was your normal southeast Asian town with market stalls.

Excited, I ran back to tell Noelle, who was just as much an internet addict as myself. After lunching on our tasty take-out spicy chicken pita bread sandwiches, water, and Orangina in our room with HBO on, Noelle was feeling a bit better and I took her to The Blue Pumpkin. We ended our day of relaxation with a night of healthy yogurt shakes, delicious baby lobster and pumpkin soup (still not blue), and of course, free internet access. With our stomachs full and Blog entries up, we went back to the guesthouse that night, so that I could execute my plan.

"Here, take one of these," I said to Noelle, handing her a bottle of red pills with the label scraped off. I told her it was "medicine" for her cold.

With my trust, she took the bottle and ingested one, chasing it down with some water. Excellent, I thought. Ex-cellent. After that, my plan of the night was finally in motion...

...to just work on my laptop and hope Noelle would get better.

SAVE THE DATE; DAY 503 IS COMING. MARCH 5, 2005, NYC.
DETAILS AND TRAILER COMING SOON...

If you enjoy this daily travel blog, please post a comment! Give me suggestions, send me on missions, let me know how things are going back home in the USA. Knowing that I have an audience will only force me to make this blog more entertaining as the days go by. Don´t forget to bookmark it and let a friend know!

Posted by Erik on January 31, 2005 07:52 PM
TrackBack | Category: Cambodia

It's so nice to see a Mac-friendly environment. Very non-Gatesian. I dig it. It's neat to see you so "prominently featured" on NOELLE's site.

Still can't believe it's Cambodia, I would never have guessed it. Once again Erik, you have opened my eyes and corrected miscomprehensions I had of the world. You ROCK.

BTW, with you coming home so soon, what's a gal gotta do to get one last postcard? Angor Wat would look awesome next to my other TGT2004 cards. (hint, hint)

Posted by: Christy on January 31, 2005 01:33 PM

Anthony - you and me both - it's the most hi-tech piece of equipment ever!

Christy - I'm not as skilled with the blog thing as E, so I can't hide as many entries as Erik does - but I'll get better...

Posted by: Noelle on January 31, 2005 10:28 PM

Re: The previous Nepal or no Nepal debate.
King Gyanendra has put the country on lockdown... good thing you went, made your mark, and left (with a mark) when you did...

Posted by: Ali on February 1, 2005 10:01 AM

Ugh, I'm behind again... Will catch up on a two-day journey of bus, ferry, and train travel... Stay tuned!

ALYSON: The clamp was in the picture of the day on Noelle's blog, linked above...

Posted by: Erik TGT on February 1, 2005 10:52 AM

Holy sh*t, I can't believe that's Cambodia!!! I never would have guessed!! I'll definitely have to check out the Blue Pumpkin (if it's still open) when I go to Cambodia in a few years!!

Posted by: Joyce on February 1, 2005 01:20 PM

Hey Erik,

I´m in Ecuador getting ready to leave for Peru. I check your blog archives for reccomendations, since we started on the same path.

I hope to find a free Apple Airport somewhere, that would kick ass, I have a PowerBook.

I´m ready for day 503, can´t wait to see what your creativity stirs up!!

Posted by: HeatherB on February 1, 2005 01:48 PM

Erik TGT: man, you little schemer....I never would have guessed.

And I've been wondering: does SE Asia have any kind of cheese related to cows that laugh? Support your hypothesis that this is univeral.

Posted by: sebastian on February 1, 2005 07:02 PM

you should have an auction of your things that you took on your trip when you get back. I want the clamp. and maybe the pen that hangs around your neck.

Posted by: Michelle on February 1, 2005 10:47 PM

Love that Blue pumkin! Usually placed with couches are o-tay in my book! Place looks like some sort of sterile environment, nice contrast from the outside. - k time to go ta bed for me, thanks for more great posts Erik!

Posted by: Harry on February 2, 2005 12:07 AM

Hey Erik!

Thought I'd see where you are now and was trying to do a little research on Rajasthan. I'm headed back to Chennai next Monday and plan to meet up with my boyfriend in March. Thought I'd check out your comments and photos. Good stuff! That bakery is definitely the most stylish one I've ever seen! My how things have changed since I was there four years ago!

Take care,

Amanda

Posted by: Amanda on February 2, 2005 04:08 AM

Posted by: Amanda on February 2, 2005 04:09 AM

SEBASTIAN: Funny, you should mention it... Yesterday, I was talking about you because I ate nothing all day but bread and laughing cow cheese sandwiches... (There were no olives around unfortunately.)

Posted by: Erik TGT on February 2, 2005 09:42 PM

MICHELLE: Sounds like an idea... But the pants, shirt, hat and boots are mine, to be put in a display case and hung on the wall... (Right next to my nutsack Halloween costume).

Posted by: Erik TGT on February 2, 2005 09:53 PM

My Spanish Blows! La cuenta por favor. Uno coke y hamburguesa solo queso. And my fav a sand"douche".

Been on the road for only a month, which pails in comparision to you, but having fun so far. We take things a little less extreme and slower then you do, we have a 6 year old after all.

Posted by: HeatherB on February 2, 2005 11:17 PM