Being a Tourist

The Pchum Ben holiday is upon us for the next 3 days so the city of Phnom Penh is very quiet as Cambodians head to their provinces to spend time with their family over the weekend. Yesterday as I was coming back into the city from church, the traffic heading in the opposite direction was backed up with cars forming 2 and almost 3 lanes on National Highway 5. It never ceases to amaze me how many cars can fit on a road that was designed as a one lane highway.

 I took the opportunity to be a bit of a tourist and took Ken and Joan who are potential board members for Ratanak Australia on a 1 hour boat trip on the Tonle Sap river. We rented an entire boat for $30.00 and had our own private boat tour around the surrounding area.

One of the people groups that live along the Tonle Sap river is the Cham People. They are fishermen who live off the sea and we passed by several of their boat homes as we went along the river.

So today I myself have headed out in a two day break with one of my friends. We were planning initially to go and visit another friend in Neak Loeung -- a province that is near the Vietnam border, but with all the rain, there has been flood warnings as the Mekong river is quite high and some areas are flooded. So we opted to stay close to Phnom Penh and are now at a local resort just 30 minutes outside the city. It is a great place to to have some rest given its peaceful surroundings. With breakfast included and a local restaurant on site, it provides the perfect weekend getaway to just chill and relax.

The White Elephant Resort

So for the next couple days, I will refrain from blogging any further and use the time to work on my flash cards for my language memorization and spend time enjoying the pool and ambiance of my quiet surroundings.