I was a fool to look for kindness in a friendly conversation with a Cambodian. The kindnesses are subtle and unspoken, but they are there. It is there when I sit down at a café and someone comes to set a fan next to my table. It is there when the fellow at the Angkor Wat checkpoint stops my bike to wrap the straps from my backpack around the handlebars of the bike (when it’s sitting in the basket). It’s there when I am sitting outside of a tour agency waiting for the bus and an old woman comes to lower the awning so that I can sit in the shade. It is there when a parent takes the hand of their small child and waves it in my direction while saying, “hello.” It is easy to get distracted by the sales pitches, touts and the pleas for small change. That is just something that I have to deal with as a tourist, but that does not represent the majority. I can see that now.
Even though the pick-up car delivered us at the bus station a little late, I managed to purchase one of my favorite morning snacks before I got on the bus. They take a banana surrounded by sticky rice, wrap it in a banana leaf and cook it over coals. The sticky rice creates this chewy shell around the banana which gets all warm and fragrant. Have that with a cold can of Nescafe Espresso Roast and it’s very good, only I didn’t have a Nescafe. I went to one of the drinks vendors and impatiently sorted through the coolers. “You want coke?” she asked. For some reason that made me think of my sister, but no, I wanted a cold Nescafe. I just asked, “Nescafe?” One of the girls understood immediately. She took off like a shot to one of the many makeshift storefronts and came back with the cold small can of coffee. She asked for a dollar, and normally I wouldn’t pay that much, but I liked how she ran and got exactly what I wanted. That’s hustle. That’s service. That’s well worth a dollar.
I booked with a different bus company to get back to Phnom Penh. This bus had more Asians on it than whites, but I found that to be a good thing. The food at the rest stops was so much more affordable. One of things that I appreciate most about Cambodia is that no one has charged me to use the toilet. It is so nice to be able to get to the ladies room without having to pull out your wallet. However, at the first rest stop there were some local children requesting donations for use of the privy. The Cambodian passengers on the bus were making donations, so I handed over 500 Riel (about 15 cents). The one that got me was the little boy in the dirty white teeshirt sitting at the bottom of the steps of the bus and holding is little hands out when the passengers passed. I had heard that it is better to buy these kids food than to just hand over money, so I did both. I bought two hard-boiled eggs and gave them to the little boy along with about 800 Riel. He gave me a confused look and tucked the eggs up under his shirt. If it was a scam and there was an adult nearby taking the money that he collected, then at least he got something to eat.
We approached Phnom Penh during rush hour. My right hip was bothering me (an old Nintendo injury), but I suffered through it quietly. As we inched through traffic, I shifted my sitting position a number of times hoping to get some relief. I knew that the young Japanese tourist sitting next to me was irritated, but he stayed quiet as well. I needed to walk. I needed to stretch my legs, even if it meant that I had to do so with an extra 40lbs strapped to me. The last ten minutes were a killer, but we finally arrived. The tuk-tuk drivers must have been stuck in rush-hour traffic or dozing under a shade tree because only one approached me and asked me if I wanted a ride. I politely declined, strapped my pack to me, and headed south. Back to the Spring Guest House. Back to my $6/night room. Back to the seventh floor.
