This is the second post in celebration of my One Year Cambodian Anniversary. Ten simple pleasures of living the (wannabe) Khmer way.
General ease of existence
This is one of those wishy-washy loves, beacuse it could be (and most definately is) horribly taken advantage of at times. Camboozie has a lot of general freedoms. Like walking over to my neighbours house, buying an icy beer from his cooler box and going for an evening strole. I love that getting a visa extension is as easy (and legal) as walking into a travel agent with some cash and sending my passport for an update. There are very few enforced laws in the land of wonder, and I am kinda OK with that.
Everything will be alright
The culture here has it's highs and lows. I (mostly) love the pace at which everything flows and the general feeling that everything is going to turn out just fine.
Good and cheap
We are treated to amazing fruit and vegetables, bright and very very tasty. I often imagine my Granny Lyn saying something like: "Now when I was younger, this is what fruit tasted like." Fresh,unprocessed food is a so available and so cheap. Dave and I are spending roughly R60,00 on a fat basket of veggies every week.
Coco nut nut nut nutter butter sauce
On the subject of fresh produce, let's talk about my favourite in the world, coconuts. They are so delicious, refreshing and versatile. Living in the land of coconuts has really spoiled me. The winner fruit/nut has it's uses: water for drinking, milk for cooking, cream for baking, fruit/meat for salading, fuit/meat for oiling, husks for bowls/fire lighters.
Charcoal skies and wild winds
I love rainy season. I love it when it rains so hard and the wind blows so violently that I can't see five meters ahead. The only thing to do is hide indoors with my cats.
Monk hoo-ing and haa-ing
Sometimes, only sometimes, a monk who isn't completely tone-deaf will get on the loud speaker at an appropriate time of the morning and the sound becomes surreal.
Bidet Shower
(This is going to get nasty quickly.) This little spray, nozzle is seriously under-praised in the west. It feels a lot cleaner and is much better for the environment than the traditional toilet-paper roll. Never mind dirty hands and a half clean ass, Asia is doing it better. My pops would be so proud of how little TP I use these days.
..... friends!
I have made the loveliest friends here in Siem Reap, both local and international people from diverse cultures and religions. So much fun to negotiate and discuss our different world views and discover just how human we all are.
Eating out
One of my favuorite hobbies , which nearly bankrupted me in SA, is trying out new restaurants. Its wonderful being able to affordably restaurant-hop Siem Reap.
Slumming it together
This has to be my favourite element to Cambodia. The idea of a township (i.e. seperating the rich from the poor) doesn't exist here. There is an amazing mix of well-to-do, in between and poverty all in one street. You can't "forget" about the less fortunate too easily, and I love it. I mean, I live accross the road from people who hardly have a roof and around the corner from a mansion.
