I had an interesting morning but I would have been happier without the experience. I went into the bathroom and I saw a number of bees. I thought they were going to start to make a nest so I decided to kill them. There was a huge spider hanging around but he did nothing to help. When I'd finished the slaughter I went into the bedroom to get dressed. I put on my pants and, seeing as I had a few minutes before breakfast, I decided to flop onto the bed. Suddenly, I felt a painful sting - I jumped off the bed, quickly removed my pants and out fell a bee. I will leave it to people's imagination to decide where I was stung. I told the family at breakfast, telling them as much as the readers of this know, and they broke into hysterical laughter. Nobody expressed sorrow for my pain and nobody said "Ouch!" The pain soon went but the damage has been done. They are such tiny bees too, but they do pack a punch.
I went with Thornin to the bus station and settled into seat 6C. It was a totally different experience to travelling in a Cambodian car. For a start, all the passengers were non-Khmer and so they didn't talk. There was no music, no laughter. I watched the others; they either used their mobile devices or they fell asleep as soon as the bus set off. It's almost as if they are interested in stop A and stop B but not what lies in between. We had one coffee break and I was happy the driver stopped to drop me off within a few metres of my guesthouse.
It's very cheap; a single room with a fan is only $8 and it includes breakfast. I upgraded myself to an AC room and am paying $15. It's so hot outside, and there's nothing for me to see or do, so I lay on the bed and read my latest book. I'm loving it. It's written by a Spaniard called Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The book's called, "The Shadow of the Wind." I'm enjoying the use of words and the flow of the sentence; the story is fascinating too.
I had lunch with Rina. I've known him since he was around 10 years old in 2002. Now he's the front desk manager at a boutique hotel. I always joke with him about when he's going to have a shave. Most Cambodians who have to shave, hate it and they wish they had no facial hair. Rina has to shave every day so he's not impressed. I talked to his brother and he and his family want me to join them to go to the brother's village. They have to pick up his mother to bring her to towns so she can catch a bus to another city to attend a wedding. The village is so poor and the roads, when it rains, are generally impassable. Syden, the oldest son, is a tour guide and he uses his tips to build things for the village. They now have a little school for evening classes, a large reservoir for water for gardens, cattle, washing vegetables etc. Now he's building a reservoir which will contain drinking water.
There are hundreds of coffee shops everywhere; some are international such as Starbucks while others come from Thailand, the UK, South Korea etc. If I can, I like to go to Brown Coffee, which was started by three young Khmer men. The places are very trendy and I'm sure they had family financial help, but it's nice to see them doing well. I had a flat latte, a sloppy Joe with French fries and a puff pastry with raisins for the princely sum of $6 so the bank hasn't been broken yet.
