I just finished my first week of teaching and I think it went pretty well. I really enjoyed the work and I am looking forward to 9 more weeks of teaching with CWF. That said the best part of any work week is always the weekend. It has been raining a lot which has kept me indoors during my free tim instead of out at the VIP fitness club pool (where I spent much of my time the first week when it wasn’t raining), or exploring Phnom Penh on my bicycle.
I told myself if the weather was nice this weekend I would ride my bike out of the city and do a little exploring. When I woke up it was sunny and hot, I could see a bunch of clouds in the distance but I decided to ride and deal with the weather as it came.
I live near the boarder of Phnom Penh, so within two miles I was out the hectic traffic of the city. The air quality was also noticeably better. Don’t get me wrong. I love riding my bike in PP, but it can be a bit nerve racking at times. You really have to pay complete attention to the road because at any second a tuk-tuk could pull in front of you and stop, or a car could get in your lane driving towards you head on. So this ride out of the city was nice. It is something I want to try and do every weekend to build up my cycling endurance for the bicycle tour I have been planning.
Just over 5 miles out of the city I saw a really cool looking Wat (aka Pagada) and decided to check it out and snap a few photos. As I rode my bike into the area surrounding the temple I got a quick reaction, a bunch of people shouted “hello” and everyone gathered around to see the crazy Farang (aka foreigner) and his bike. I was really surprised to find that two of the monks Ratanak and Dar spoke really good English. Ratanak is the only monk that I have ever seen with tattoos. I stayed and chatted for a while and the next thing I knew the rain was pissing down. The weather changes so quickly here and I knew it would probably stop within an hour or two just as quickly as it began.
I hung out at the Wat for about 2 hours in total. Dar gave me a tour of the complex, I saw where the monks sleep (there was over 200 monks living at this Wat). Most of the monks were studying in their rooms and I think they were a little freaked at to see a giant Westerner walking around in their living quarters. They also had dorms for non monk students from the country side that came to Phnom Penh to study.
Ratanak gave me some really good spicy soup and rice. I made a small donation to the Wat as a token of my appreciation for their hospitality. Ratanak introduced me to one of the head monks and we chilled for a little bit. The was some guy there with a really nice dirt bike smoking cigarettes and hanging out with the monks, I wasn’t sure what his deal was but he seemed cool. I also met their English teacher (Cambodian guy, can’t remember his name) and we talked about politics for a little bit.
The rain cleared up and I decided to head out before it started up again. I exchanged email address’s and cell phone numbers with the monks. Dar made me a friendship bracelet.
It was my first time really going into a Wat and before that I never understood what the monks did, but now I know that most of them go to school and study in their free time.
When I left the Wat I decided I would keep going the direction I was heading before I went to the Wat. I went another 5 miles of so one the muddy wet road, it sprinkled a little, but it wasn’t too bad. I turned around and rode 10 miles straight back to Phnom Penh. When I got back my legs and the back of my shirt were covered in mud (not to mention my bike). Not to self, get some fenders.
It was a good day.
