It's a Man's World

From the Rainbow Lodge in the Cardamom Mountains we took the bus northeast to Phnom Penh, and from there made our way to Battambang. The distances are not great, but the roads are slow going so each leg was a full day of travel. Battambang is where we ended up in the humble Rotenak "resort" with the broken coffee machine, taunted by the new and luxurious Bambou resort, just half a block down and only $5 a night more.

The only saving grace of the Rotenak was its greater proximity from a local wedding site. Apparently, this is wedding season. The rice harvest is done and farming families have a few months before the next cycle begins. Now is when they rest up a bit and spend some of their hard earned money, and when they get married. Weddings last 3 days by tradition and a good PA system is apparently essential to broadcasting the happy news all over the neighborhood. Music begins at 4:00 in the morning and continues until late at night. Guests dance round and round in something approaching a conga line while others take turns at the microphone... the Rotenak was within earshot of this but Bambou was right next door so its poor guests had a couple of very sleepless nights.

From Battambang we made our final leg up to Siem Reap, where we would visit Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the world. We decided to splurge a bit and ended up at a lovely, comfortable place called Siddharta, just opened in October and everything still has that new resort feel to it. We invested in a guide for the temple visits, which was well worth the price. Angkor Wat was impressive, but the Bayon faces and Angkor Thom complex even more so.

One thing I noticed everywhere we went in the South and pretty much until we got here to Siem Reap, was a dsitinct role reversal. Porters would walk out to meet Patrick and me, each carrying a heavy pack, and they would invariably grab his... "Let me help you, sir." So Patrick would stroll into the hotel with just his small bag while I struggled on with my whole pack and our daybag full of water, deet, guidebook, etc. To his credit, he sometimes noticed and helped me. This deference to men extended to restaurant service too... in fact, when the coffee machine broke down at the Rotenak, they had just made one of our two cups of coffee. The waiter put it in front of Patrick. No more coffee - this is it. Here you go sir. Whatever happened to ladies first?!?

Well, once we got to Siem Reap things were back to normal from my western point of view. The porter carried my bag as well as Patrick's, and when they gave us our orientation briefing the guy looked at me as well as Patrick. Finally, I felt acknowledged again!

Anyway, now here we are packing up again, for just about the last time. Siem Reap to Saigon today, one night at Vong and Huong's place in Saigon and then tomorrow we return to the Bay Area. It will be very strange to walk down the street without being asked if we want a tuk tuk ride.