Between Trip Funk

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I ended up getting a bad cold, or perhaps a flu on our last day at Siem Reap and was miserable on the six hours bus ride back to Phnom Penh. I was happy to be going back to the comfort of Anisa's apartment though, and she took very good care of me. We were planning on turning right back around and leaving for the northeast, Krachie or Ratnakiri, but my cold got in the way. We decided to rest in town for a couple days and decide later. I just wasn't up for the twelve hour bus ride and I doubt Anisa was looking forward to it either. Hanging out in town included multiple trips to Psar Toul Tom Pong to buy kramas and other gifts. I also accompanied Anisa to the Intercontinental Hotel where she is a member so she can use the gym for her ACL rehabilitation. I didn't go to the gym, but laid out under the frangipani trees by the pool and thought about rehab for my cold. It was a day of funk and I was feeling sorry for myself for being sick and started to get homesick.
I was feeling better a couple days later and before we left town on our last trip we went up to the north side of town and had dinner in the backpacker neighborhood. It was completely different from the backpacker neighborhood I had experienced in Saigon. This was almost out of town, on the edge of a big lake. The streets were narrow and twisted, like an old French village. On our way Jim warned us to be careful. I wasn't sure if the area had a reputation for being dangerous because of the stereotypes of foreigners, or because of the stereotypes of Cambodians who hang out with foreigners. Anisa told me it's mostly because of the amount of drugs that are consumed by the backpackers. Fortunately we didn't run into any of that but found that our usual beer - Anchor - is cheaper there than in most other areas of town. We happened to be there on a night that a Cambodian family was celebrating their son's 4th birthday, so they brought little grills and platters of vegetables and meats out to the tables so all the assembled backpackers got a free dinner. We ended up at a table with a British woman and her two daughters and a couple guys from California. It was good food, and we weren't about to turn down a free meal. The next day we packed our bags and got back on the bus.

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Photos

Sunset at the Lake
We both needed to get out of the apartment after being there for a couple days, so I took a pile of kleenex and we went out to the lake where restaurants are on docks out over the water.

Anchor
Since the other popular beer in Cambodia is Angkor, Anchor is pronounced with the ch, just like it's spelled. Not the gold painted alter behind Anisa with offerings to Buddha.