22nd of August, 2024.
I ask to visit Koh Ker for free but it doesn’t work. The man working at the ticket place, tells me I can try and talk with some other people in a building nearby. As it is lunch time (I believe), the people responsible for the place are not there, but a lovely and very caring young lady try really hard until she finally get hold of them on the phone. Unfortunately their answer is also no. So I walk away.
Two workers in their yellow van stop for me. They fix electronics so their van is full of tools. They drop me off half way to my next destination, another temple, called Boeng Maelae. It starts raining though, which sucks! And I’m starving. There’s a small kind of local restaurant right here but when I ask the lady if there’s still some food, she says no. Cry.
I keep hitchhiking under the rain, with my backpacks protected under some garage, and me with the rain cover. A small truck stops, and a lovely young lady who can speak English ask me where I am going. They are going in the same direction but they are full. Kind of. I say thank you and go back to my hitchhiking spot but they don’t leave. At some point, the young lady comes out and tells me I can come with them. For my surprise, the mother moved to the back, behind the driver seat, and my backpack could go there too, by her legs, while I would come in front with her daughter, while the father was driving. Wow! What an effort, just to help me! How wonderful! I’m feeling very sorry for the mother though, of course, and I apologize many times, but they all keep saying that it is all good. At least it is not a long drive, and soon enough we get to the highway. After all this immense kindness, they still try to give me some money, as I explained to them that, if I couldn’t visit the temple without a ticket, I would just leave and keep going. But they money they were trying to give me was for food. I kindly refuse and after insisting a lot, they finally accept my decision and leave.
I was mistaken by Bong Maelae and it is not an individual temple but simply another part of Angkot Temple. Merd! I still explain my travels and my request to the ladies at the ticket place, and even though they are very kind and solicit, they say I can’t go without a ticket.
Now I must go on the way to Phnom Penh, as my volunteer work is about one hour driving from there. Oh, yeah! I got a few answers from different schools, mostly accepting me, so I had to make a difficult decision, trying to filter what would be the best option, and that was mostly regarding location.
Two man in a pick-up stop for me. The guy in the passenger seat can speak a great English, so I tell him everything about my travels. He is much surprised about everything, mostly my volunteer work. They are going to a small town called Krong Stueng Saen, which is fine by me as it’s getting dark, so I ask then to drop me off in a pagoda. When I am already outside the pick-up, the man who can speak English tries to give me 100.000 Riel, which is roughly 25 USD. I insist I cannot accept, but he insists back. Knowing that in the pagoda there will not be food at this time, I tell him I can only accept half of that, so I can have food for the next few days. Reluctantly, he agrees.
The pagoda is a joke. There are lots of woman and young monks but none of them try to help me. By the opposite, they keep on laughing. What a hell? What are these people doing by calling themselves Buddhists? So I walk away.
I cross a very busy bridge and entered what seems like a good size town, quite modern for its real size. I ask to use the wi-fi at Kampong Thom Palace Hotel and a lovely lady at the reception is more than helpful and kind. After I message my host, I ask the lovely lady for a pagoda nearby and she immediately tell me where to go, to about 2 Km from the hotel.
The street to the pagoda is very local, quite small, and people ar all in their houses. Everybody seems so nice that I feel tempted to ask in all of them if I can stay with their families for tonight. I find the pagoda easily, and as it is a real pagoda, they let me stay without any issues, and are also very kind and solicit.
I start walking outside, towards some food stands, when I find a lovely area, by the river, where quite a few people are eating from the food stands there. They are all locals, as I don’t see any foreigners.
The food stand where I choose to eat had a young man who can speak English, and he is very nice too! I have rice, deep fried tofu (they don’t do grilled) and papaya salad. Everything is extremely delicious! Or I was just starving, as I have had nothing since early morning. And the place is also awesome, these cute little tables in a platform by the river. I am so excited that I even have a Coke! With lots of ice.
Back to the pagoda, a senior monk tells me that I can stay inside the temple, where a few other people are also sleeping. He says that outside it will be noisy early morning, besides, inside the temple I can stay under a fan. I do that!
After taking a bath and washing some clothes, I take my place under a fan and chat a little bit with one of the other guys sleeping there. He gives me a bottle of water and an incense against mosquito, which is lit already. It’s a very warm night again, indeed, and I’m glad for the fan.
10 Years Around the World 