Cambodia - We're in the country now

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As previously stated, we headed out of Phnom Penh on bike and that was a bit daunting with all the morning traffic ready to take you out at any moment. We had warned our new tour guide, Sna, about how our group functioned but I don't think he really understood. On day 1, we/he lost half of our group for about 30 minutes (I actually enjoyed hanging out in the shade and not being a member of the lost group). We are riding to a town between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap (I forgot the piece of paper with the name of it) and along the way we stop at a temple. We are hit hard buy the children offering to cool us down with their fans or to sell us flowers. One of the boys is just too sweet and not only speaks English but French as well. He has offered to be our translator so that we could speak to the other children. I decide to give some money to the children but don't have small change so I ask our driver to divide it up for me - I had no idea that this would start a fight amongst them all for just a few cents each. We are told that we should try and refrain from giving money to the children or asking them to share the money. The guys who are not much into temples decide to continue riding until lunch and the girls decide to climb up to the temple. 600 steps to the top. hmmmm. I think it’s at least 94 degrees today. Margaret has a little girl that has attached herself to Margaret and won’t leave her side. This little girl will climb all of the steps with us and is offering her encouragement to keep climbing. 500 steps. 400 steps. 300 steps…. She calls them off trying to help Margaret - it's just sooo funny. When I get to the top the view is breathtaking. The Cambodia landscape is so different than Vietnam - it reminds me of pictures I have seen of Africa. Up at the temple I have also made some little friends. Two young girls - ages 11 and 12. Each time I took a picture, they would want to see it in my camera. They would smile after each review and would also point out sights to be. We take it for granted all the technology that we are exposed to and these children have never seen a digital camera before. When we all get down to the bottom of the hill, I give each of the girls a tip and a hug. Hugs are not done very often by strangers so I was honored that they would let me hug them.
When we all get to our hotel, we each decide to get messages. The girls come to your room and I have to say this was interesting. I was to keep my clothing on and she rubbed, pulled, kicked, and punched me all over - without any lotion. I think at one point she gave me an Indian burn. Teetsie said that his girl (in this really weird move) tried to take his manhood away. I decided in the middle of the massage that this was my last massage during this bike trip. I can't take the pain any longer.
We all decide to take a walk through the market before dinner but I think that might have been a mistake. You really shouldn't see what your food looks like before you eat it. They eat everything here - including snakes. That just grossed me out and made me a bit queasy. No big surprise there. At dinner we all start off with our large bottles of beer. We have an appetizer that looks like cucumber with a vinegar / red sauce. Mama mia it's spicy. I end up teaching the Italians a new American phrase - shit fire. Yes - that's the first comment out of my mouth when I ate it - that stuff will make you shit fire. Now just imagine hearing that repeated in an Italian accent. :-) The next dish arrives on our table. (Flash back - two days earlier while eating lunch I ate something that I thought was a mushroom ... it was a pig's kidney). I try and taste everything and not ask what it is too often but this just looked strange. Sna tries to explain what it is ... beef and then points to his arm. We begin the guessing game. It's the leg? No. It’s the skin? No - it's under the skin. If it's not the meat and it's not the skin - what the hell is it? Veins. We are being served COW VEINS. Meanwhile, Margaret is eating it and doesn't mind and Teetsie is going to town as well. Please note that it was Teetsie that made it clear on the first day that he likes rice, noodles, beef, pork or chicken - nothing crazy. We ask Teetsie if he knows what he's eating and he says yes but something just isn't right. Ricardo then tells him again what it is in Italian. All we hear next are his chop sticks hitting the plate and a very strong Italian accent yelling "Why you tell me this?!?" As this is going on the next plate arrives on our table. Pig privates. Teetsie is now laughing and asking why is he being given cow’s veins and pork balls ... where is the rest of the merchandise? The table is in hysterics. My sides hurt from so much laughter. This was a true bonding dinner for our team. While the food may have not been our favorite, it will go down as one of the best dinners on this trip.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and just hung out outside and chatted with the hotel workers. They were so nice and just loved talking and hanging out with us. They wanted to see the pictures that we took on our trip and we ended up teaching them how to play poker.
Overall, our second day in Cambodia was pretty good and I don't think we could have had better memories if we had stayed in a big city.

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