Phnom Penh - Day # 2

I slept for 12 hours, wow!! Today I head to the riverfront to explore. Its a long walk although I am not heading in any particular direction - whenever I something cool I wander over to see it. The waterfront looks like a big ugly canal, both sides are super high and there is nothing along the banks. Maybe it floods during the rainy season. There are many clubs, cafes and boutique shops along the way. Many have nice items but are priced for wealthy tourists. During my walk I find a few old men on the side of the road sitting on blankets carving pieces of bone, or as they say elephant - maybe they are pieces of elephant tusks? There were making little pendants which looked nice but if I bought one and it was part of an elephant tusk I think US Customs may decide to detain me for quite a long while. Thus I declined to purchase the pendants.

I also stopped at a roadside stand for a soda. I wanted a lime flavored Miranda (Miranda is an Asian brand of soda - they have several flavors) and the woman checked the ice cooler and didn't find any. She took display can from the top of her cart and told me 2000 riel ($1 = 4000 riel). I reached into my pocket for the money and when I turned to hand it to her she was pouring my soda into a small plastic bag filled with ice. She then grabbed both handles of the bag, put a straw into the bag and handed it to me. She was smiling thinking she had done me a great favor by cooling off my warm drink. I paid for my bag of soda and walked around the corner and dumped it. Unfortunately most ice here is made with the highly polluted local water. So ice is a big no-no here in Cambodia unless you know the people or place uses bottled water.

At 5pm I meet Bunlee at the guesthouse. He is a Bunong student going to university here in Phnom Penh studying computers and IT services. His English is excellent and he has a great sense of humor. Around 6pm another Bunong student, names An, joins us and we head down the street for dinner. He is studying English at the university. We all joke around, talk about life in Cambodia and America, and share some dishes. Bunlee doesn't drink alcohol but An says he loves beer. I buy the two of us a round of Cambodia Beer (that's the actual name of a popular brand of beer). It tastes like a weak version of Miller or Budwiser. An will tell me within 30 minutes how he can feel the effects of the one beer! I'd call him a lightweight but he probably only weighs about 100 - 110 pounds so that expression fits in more ways than one. They ask me about foods and what I like. I tell them I'm willing to try anything and they look happy and say how about duck eggs. Ok that sounds fine...

We head across the street and sit at a table on another establishment. The waitress brings us each an egg. Bunlee and An each mix some spices and a few drops of lime juice into a tiny dish and I do the same. Then they put the eggs into tiny egg stands and tap the top with a spoon to crack them. Again I follow their lead with my egg. Slowly peeling away the top quarter of the shell, I realize it is not a hard boiled egg but an unhatched baby duck inside!!! They tell me to take a small spoonful of the lime juice and spice mix and drop it into the top of the egg then take a spoonful of the inside. I try it. Not bad but hard to describe - it was like a hard pudding or custard. On the third spoonful I feel a crunch in my mouth - I'm afraid to ask if it was a bone, beak or part of the shell. Maybe it's better that I don't know. These are eaten as treats or snacks and cost only $ .25 each or maybe $ .50 at fancy establishments.

By 830 we break up - An has to go to his job as a receptionist at a hotel near the airport. I must be ready by 7am for my trip to Sen Monorom.