Cambodia: Day 76

Saturday, July 23rd, 2011

Phnom Penh

Lauren and I wanted to hit up the recreation scene this morning, requiring us to wake up at 5:20 AM so that we could be up at the Riverfront by 5:45 AM. We woke up, changed, and groggily pedaled our bikes up to the Royal Palace. The sun was coming up over the river, painting a beautiful orange and red sky. I had to stop to take a few pictures while Lauren rode onward, trying to get to her aerobics class on time. The sun continued to rise, it's gold reflection gleaming off the river. I snuck into an open gate and made my way behind a building where I was able to find a place to stand and take pictures of the ascending ball of fire. A family of three floated in a large canoe, pulling in their catch for the day.

I got my fill of photos and rode onward up the street toward the palace. I stopped to observe the activity: people playing badminton and soccer, people practicing tai chi, jogging, etc. A large group of people gathered near a small indoor shrine, giving their offerings. I pedaled onward up the street, trying to take in all of the action.

I finished my bike ride and met Lauren. We began our ride home, stopping at a small mart to buy some shampoo and conditioner. We were about one minute away from our house when a gang of bikers rode up next to us. One man looked over at us and asked us if we'd like to join them for a ride. "Uhh, sure! Why not?"

These guys were legitimate. They had bikes with the all-terrain tires, helmets, and gloves. A couple of them were wearing matching jerseys. "Where are we going?"

"Up over the bridge."

We rode south on Norodom until we came to the bridge that crosses the river. We climbed up the slope and descended into Kandal province. Another twenty or thirty minutes of riding and chatting passed and we were well out into the villages. The team stopped before they rode on into another village; Lauren and I decided it was time for us to turn around and head back. We snapped a few photos with our fellow bikers, not wanting to forget the experience.

We got back to the house and ate breakfast. I was sweating like a sinner in church and decided it was high time to take a cold shower. I let Lauren go first and read while I patiently waited for her to finish.

"Andee!" Om yelled from just outside the door. "Lauren!"

I jumped off the bed and opened the door, wondering what she wanted. Om was standing on the stairs, watching a mini waterfall descend from under the bathroom door, all over the upper floor and off the landing to the stairs below.

"Uhh, Lauren?" I said in a semi-shocked voice.

"Oh no, is there water all over the floor out there?"

I glanced down the stairs to the floor below, trying to estimate the size of the lake that was forming. "Yeah, just a little bit …"

I walked down the stairs, being careful to not slip and break my neck. The kitchen floor was covered in water. Om promptly handed me a dustpan and hand brush, a silent gesture of "get to work". Twenty minutes later the mess was cleaned up.

This afternoon Mike, Lauren, and I made a pilgrimage to find somewhere to get a massage. The "Seeing Hands" massage place was booked for the next few hours, so we decided to head to the pool a little early. We biked over to the Olympic Complex and, after a little searching, found somewhere to park our bikes and made our way to the pool.

The locker rooms, maybe not surprisingly, were meant for everyone to use. I walked in hesitantly, keeping my eyes on the floor just in case there was a chance of seeing something I didn't want to see. We walked into the changing area, nothing more than stalls with wood swinging doors on each side of each cell. I hurried into one of them, my eyes going in constant circular motions from one door, to the ceiling where spiders the size of Texas dangled, to the other door, and back again. The stalls were obviously made for the short stature of Cambodians; my eyes were almost able to peek over the top of the doors.

Finally I was changed and I made my way out to the pool area, completely avoiding the sign commanding us to shower before we got into the pool. Pff, I don't even do that in the United States. There's no chance that they're going to regulate that here.

"Go shower." I was rejected thirty seconds into being in the pool area by a Cambodian employee. Seriously? As annoyed as I am that I have to walk back into that dungeon of a locker room, props to Cambodia. Way to succeed in something that America sucks at!

Lauren and I scuttled back to the locker room, rinsed off, and then booked our way over to the area with the diving boards. We took a couple of hops off the lowest boards, got bored, and made our way up to the 10-meter platform.

I eyed the water. It sure is a lot higher from up here. I glanced at the "lifeguard" sitting underneath a weathered umbrella by the pool. Would he even be able to get me out of the water, let alone save my life, if something went terribly wrong? A few minutes passed until finally we took the plunge.

We went on swimming and jumping off the lower platform. Lauren did a lot of the diving that she had been trained to do in high school, so I sat and watched on the side in awe. A Cambodian boy of probably 13 or 14 years of age needed help getting out of the pool, so we lent him a hand. He kind of stuck with us the rest of the afternoon, dragging me to go with him off the first platform a few times. At one point he disappeared and came back a few minutes later.

"Madame!" He called to me. "Cigarette?" he said smilingly, holding up a fresh new pack.

Umm, did I just get offered a cigarette by a pubescent boy? All those times I learned in school to "just say no", I thought for sure I would be getting offered narcotics by someone much older than me. Now look at where I am.

I kindly declined as Tuni added, "And you shouldn't either!" The boy went and sat on a bench, going at the pack like Puff the Magic Dragon.

My mind immediately flashed back to the conversation I had with Sareth:

"No, no regulations. Anybody can buy alcohol or cigarettes, it doesn't matter what age you are. The people who sell only care about the money, they don't care about health … Many children drink and smoke …"

I watched him as he dragged on the cigarette. Who knows if he was even aware that smoking was bad for him. Is this type of thing looked down upon in Cambodian culture? I know that people will sell cigarettes and alcohol to anyone because all they care about is money, but what about other people? Surely there has to be someone out there who thinks this isn't a good idea...

[Sunrise.]

[Lauren and me with our awesome biker gang.]

[The pool with diving boards and platforms.]