Hello Cambodia!

Daron at the Cambodian border

Our last location in Laos (Four Thousand Islands) was only a few miles away from the border, so crossing into Cambodia was fairly quick.  We purchased a bus ticket that included help getting our 30-day visa at the border, so it was a painless and easy process.  The only strange part was the Cambodian official who boarded our bus to take all of our temperatures (by pointing a thermometer gun at our foreheads!).  I’m not sure what he would have done if one of us had had a fever!  Thankfully we were all healthy, and by the middle of the afternoon we had reached our first destination in Cambodia – the small town of Kratie.  As soon as we got off the bus we knew we weren’t in Laos anymore, as touts from the various guesthouses surrounded us, each trying to get us to go to their place.  To their credit, they were the nicest and most polite touts we've come across so far. As we walked away from the bus stop, we even had one persistent guy follow us on his bike (I can’t be too annoyed with him as he did warn me about an approaching car!).  We checked out each of their guesthouses, as Kratie is very small and there weren’t very many.  In the end we got a great deal for a modern room overlooking the Mekong for only $15. 

Our fancy shmancy VIP bus

Two of the touts complimented Daron on his teeth, most especially his “extra tooth” (Daron has a canine tooth overlapping his other teeth).  This wouldn’t seem too weird by itself, except that his tooth was much appreciated in Laos too.  I had to find out what all the fuss was about and so did a search on the internet only to discover a term called “yaeba,” which is all the rage in Japan.  Yaeba means “double tooth” and is exactly what Daron has.  It’s common in Japan where it is considered an attractive trait, as well as in some of the other Asian countries (like Laos and Cambodia!).  It also goes by the nickname “tiger tooth,” which is my new nickname for Daron!  Grrr! J  The Japanese also love buck teeth, as well as other teeth imperfections.  So if you’re teeth aren’t quite right, come to Asia and you will get compliments galore! 

Sipping coffee across from the market

We visited the local market in Kratie the next morning to discover another strange phenomenon:  almost all the women were wearing pajamas as clothes. They are similar to men’s pajamas, with the pants and matching button-down top, only these are in all the colors of the rainbow, complete with flowers and teddy bears. I've since noticed that it is the style here in Cambodia. You just never know what you’re going to see!

Next strange thing to happen to us was at the ATM – it spits out U.S. dollars!  We took out $500 and got a mix of $50’s, $20’s, and $10’s, all from the ATM machine. Cambodia uses the U.S. dollar as their main currency, with their national currency, the riel, used for smaller amounts.  No coins are used here at all.  $1 U.S. dollar is worth approximately 4,000 riel.  Cambodians will actually use the term “50 cents,” and mean 2,000 riel.  A tuk tuk ride may cost $2.50 and is paid with 2 U.S. dollars and 2,000 riel.  Riel comes in various denominations from 50r to 100,000r.  The two currencies are used interchangeably and at times we’ve received change, or even paid our bill, using both.  The cash registers in the more modern stores show the all amounst in both dollars and riel.  I can’t even imagine being a cashier and having to work with two different currencies, most of the time in the same transaction!

Food stalls set up along the Mekong

We spent our two days in Kratie mostly hibernating in our room, as there wasn’t too much to do in town.  We had a really cheap meal at one of the food stalls that were set up at night along the river, where we each paid $1 for a plateful of food.  The rest of the time we were enjoying the air conditioning in our room and watching American movies on the TV’s movie channel.  Our room had a hot shower and even a bathtub.  I can’t remember the last time I saw a bathtub!  After the last week or so of rustic conditions in Laos, it was nice to feel a little pampered and enjoy what felt like a luxurious room.

Here are the usual statistics on our home for the next month:  

-The population consists of just under 15 million people

-Life expectancy here is 62 years

-Over 40% of the population is under the age of 16

-Only 20% of the population lives in urban areas
-Over 90% of the people who live in Cambodia are ethnic Khmers, making it the most ethnically homogeneous country in Southeast Asia

-95% of the population is Buddhist

-The adult literacy rate is 76 %

-Cambodia rated a lowly 158 out of 180 countries for corruption

-The country is on an upswing after the dark days during the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979), when an estimated two million people were killed by Pol Pot and his regime. 

We’re looking forward to learning more about Cambodia, and can’t wait to visit Angkor Wat, considered by many to be the eighth wonder of the world.