This morning I read a fascinating story about Mansa Musa (Mansa means 'king'). He was King of an enormous empire based around Mali and Timbuktu. He was a Muslim and so he set off for Mecca with 60,000 men and 12,000 slaves all dressed in rich silks and brocades. The article said that it was impossible to calculate his wealth as it was so enormous. Augustus Caesar, the 2nd richest man with 3.5 trillion dollars, was far poorer than Mansa Musa. I bet that news made the likes of Bill Gates, the Amazon man etc feel a little bit smaller. Personally, I wouldn't want to travel anywhere with 72,000 men.
Today was another travel day. I was impressed with the efficiency of Boroith, Thornin and families. We agreed to leave at 8am and, when I went to the car, it had been cleaned out and all their bags were packed. They'd even arranged for our breakfast omelettes to be put into baguettes. It had been a good holiday but now we had to head back to Phon Penh; when we got there, Boroith and family had another four hour bus trip to their home. Distances aren't great by Canadian standards but, with the roads being only 2 lanes, and with so much traffic plus construction, one can't drive fast.
On the way we stopped at a famous mountain to show Boroith and family. In the distant past there must have been a torrent flowing under the mountain. It carved out a tunnel through the mountain and then the top of the mountain caved in and was washed away by the river. Now the river has disappeared, along with all the rubble, and we are left with a circular wall (i.e. the mountain side) with the open air; trees are growing inside the open space.
When we drove from the main road we saw a young boy following us on a bike - he would offer his services as a tour guide. We parked the car and instantly about six little kids arrived, all volunteering to do various things for us such as take care of the car. Thornin always has fun with the little kids and for a while they laughed and argued. We finally decided to hire all of them to take care of the car and to take the lad on the bike as our guide.
As we walked through the tunnel he showed us shapes such as a turtle, a crocodile and an eagle created from the rocks smoothed by the river flow. When we arrived in the centre of the mountain he took over Thornin's camera to take photos. He knew far more about what the camera could do than we did. He taught us how to take a photo with Serey standing on the right side of the group and then, when he said "Go!", she had to move to the left side. So now people are saying, "I didn't know Serey had a twin sister!"
Boroith, family and myself got out of the car on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and got a tuk tuk into the centre. I've got to used to calling a vehicle on my mobile app so I found it stressful listening to Boroith bargaining for the tuk tuk. It's quite a shock moving from a car with AC to an open vehicle, with all the traffic noise and heat.
I found my apartment still standing but weighed down with dust; as usual every flat surface was covered. I can't stand the stuff and so, before putting things away, I got the mop and bucket and tackled the floor. It always shocks me seeing the black water going down the toilet because, if visitors looked at the floor, they'd think it was perfectly clean. I didn't have to unpack much as I am leaving tomorrow with Thornin and family.
I ate too much on the trip so I couldn't be bothered having anything other than soup and a cheese sandwich. I was in bed by 9.30pm. The health people say I shouldn't look at a computer before going to bed but I should read a book instead. My problem is that my books are downloaded onto my iPad. For me, there's nothing nicer than curling up with a real book but, while I'm away, reading from the screen has to do.
