And on to Thailand
Feb 20-21
Even though we only spent a week in Cambodia, we were incredibly affected by its poignant history and remarkable people, not to mention the incredible temples of Angkor. In retrospect, we should have planned to spend more time exploring Cambodia and, perhaps even its neighbours Laos and Vietnam. When we were planning our itinerary we were a little nervous about our ability to travel with the kids in a developing country and had decided to keep our initial visit short. Now that we are “seasoned” travelers, we know that we can handle just about anything and will definitely make our next visit a longer one.
After our return to Phnom Penh (by bus this time), we checked into the Okay Guesthouse (Hello Paradise’s sister guesthouse) for our last few days in Cambodia. While there, we met Nick, a Dutch backpacker who was doing a stint as a volunteer at a local orphanage. Alexa and I had a talk and she decided that, since she was now almost eight years old, she no longer needed to carry around a stuffed animal. As much as she loved her Bunny, she knew that she had several more waiting for her at home and the kids at the orphanage had no toys of their own. So just before we left, with tears in her eyes, Alexa approached Nick and asked him if he would give her Bunny to one of the little girls at the orphanage who had no toy to cuddle with at night.
He solemnly accepted her gift and promised to find Bunny an excellent new owner who would love him as much as Alexa. I gave him our email address and he promised to send us a photo of Bunny with his new owner (which he did).
On our last night in Cambodia, we took the kids for a walk and discovered that there was a fair being held nearby in celebration of the Lunar New Year. I looked dubiously at the children’s rides which were rocketing around at high speed and threatening to catapult their riders off at any moment. The kids, however, thought it looked like great fun and begged to go on the merry-go-round whose horses were suspended on chains instead on being bolted on a platform. The result was that, as the ride picked up speed, the riders swung outward until they were almost horizontal. Finally, I conceded and spent five agonizing minutes watching my kids whirl around while praying they wouldn’t go flying into the crowd.
Claude didn’t help by speculating on how long it had been since the safety inspector had been around. To end the night, we went for a ride on the rickety Ferris wheel and got a unique view of Phnom Penh at night. As we packed our bags that night, Claude complained of feeling a bit “fluish” and slept fitfully all night.
The next morning, Claude was white as a sheet and feverish and I forced him to take some Tylenol and Motrin before our flight to Bangkok. I sat with the kids on the plane so he could sleep and we went straight to our room at Discovery Lodge when we landed. During the taxi ride, I marveled at how modern Bangkok seemed after Phnom Penh (and how sane the traffic was). I had booked our room online and was dismayed to discover that Discovery Lodge was located in a converted parking garage (luckily our room faced out). We had a “suite” which consisted of two rooms with bunk beds in one room and an odd round bed with mirrors on the ceiling in the other. I felt like we were staying in an old brothel. Claude didn’t care, though and collapsed onto the bed and slept for three hours. While he slept, I surfed the internet to find a way to get to Chiang Mai and a place to stay there. After Claude woke up, he declared that he felt a bit better and wanted to get some fresh air (good luck in Bangkok). We took the subway to Lumphini Park and went the Suan Lom Night Market which has a large “food court” of street vendors. Anxious to try some Thai food, I went to the vendor with the longest line-up and bought some pork balls on sticks which they cooked on the barbeque while I waited. When I got back to our table and bit into one, I knew instantly that something wasn’t right – it tasted undercooked. Unfortunately I didn’t follow my instincts and swallowed it – I would regret it later. Claude was starting to feel rotten again, so we headed back to our room where he spent another long miserable night tossing and turning and running to the bathroom. Not a great introduction to Thailand.
Tags: Bangkok, Cambodia, South East Asia, Thailand, Travel
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