The Journey to South East Asia

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We headed to the airport looking like refugeees in MN. Our clothes layered to brace us against the -10 degree F weather of the winter, yet flexible enough to accomodate the changing temperatures as we moved through the next 30+ hours. Our route-Minneapolis to Chicago to Seoul to Phenom Phen, Cambodia. Starting at 5 am on Friday Jan 2 and arriving on Saturday at 11pm. The planes were timely and Eric and I actually cheered to see that our 1 checked bag arrived safely at our destination. For those that know our typical travel woes, you know that this, in itself, was a miracle. As we made our way from the airport through the city in Phenom Phen, it was hard to imagine that this quiet town was actually the capital. We checked into our hotel and toasted eachother to the success of the long trip with a variety of beers(Tiger beer(Vietnamese), Ankor beer(Cambodian), and beer Lao(Laotian of course)). Happy New Years and welcome to 2009!

The jet lag during the next few days was brutal. Phenom Phen is 13 hrs ahead of Minneapolis. Not sure if it is our age, the extreme time change, or combination there of, but the first days were slow. We just worked on acclimating to the heat and the time zone. Luckily we had booked a series of hotels that had pools and were truly oasises in the big city.

We spent the majority of our time walking around the city. It feels great to be back in Asia. During the day, Phenom Phen definitely speeded up. The streets are full of motos, cars, and tons of people. Eric and I both love the busy streets, the markets, and the general chaos. There are a variety of markets selling everything you can imagine. The Russian Market was fascinating, complete with a section selling power tools that had met their timely death in other countries, but were sent to Cambodia for a final resurrection. A little light streamed in from a broken patch in the roof, to illuminate the steamy and dark food stalls.

Our first hotel was on the river and there was a nightly parade of mopeds with 2, 3, 4, 5 people per cycle cruising the river road. We were also next to a large hotel and were able to witness several huge Cambodian weddings--500-800 people, it reminded me of stories of Polish wainashas. These weddings were multi-course both in food and entertainment acts. The venues would have several large screen TV's to capture and display the action and fountains with laser light shows for additional entertainment. You could hear the music and crowd from several blocks away. We hear many go into bankruptcy to pay for these giant celebrations.

Finally, we spent a lot of time exploring the food. Fish Amok--fish steamed in coconut milk in banana leafs, curries, and fusion food were all delicious. We also got a hot tip that there was a authentic Chinese noodle making restaurant. It gave me a great opportunity to used my rusty Chinese and the pulled by hand noodles were a delicious reminder of past travels. If nothing else, Eric and I look forward to exploring the food and cultures as we make our way through SEA countries.

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