Prey Veng… Monkey Island

Me sitting with my hipster Khmer shirt. The front says "SAME SAME" and the back "BUT DIFFERENT." It's what the cool kids where so I pretty much wear it by default.

It’s been a little while since my last update but do not fear my dear blog followers, for I have plenty to write about today. Last weekend the three other SALTers and I took a trip east to the city of Prey Veng (to be later thought of as the land of adventure and home to the monkeys).

This is where we stayed.

After work on Friday the gang took a 3-hour bus ride with fellow MCCers Ryan and Daphne Fowler to Prey Veng (where the Fowlers work.). Not knowing what to expect and planning on under-packing, I threw two t-shirts and some shorts into a backpack and said, “I’m ready.” PV (short for Prey Veng) is a small city full of life and surrounded by rice paddies. It was exactly what I had been looking for: a chance to breathe some open air, see some greenery, and find some adventure.

After the bus ride, we hiked on down to Ryan and Daphne’s house where we would be settlin’ down for the next few days. The house had a large living room, both a front yard AND backyard (unheard of in Phnom Penh), acoustic guitar, and a hammock – at this point I was thinking, “the only thing missing here is an island full of monkeys (as I often do).” But Ryan reassured me that Prey Veng had that too, so I was happy. The rest of the even was spent biking throughout the town and peering across the beautiful riverside – also known as a bunch of flooded rice paddies.

Look kids! A white person parade!

The next morning we got up bright and early and toured the countryside on our motos. Riding over bumpy bridges and through muddy dirt roads was a lot of fun, I even think I got some pretty good air and often thought about poppin’ sweet wheelies, but decided not too since I don’t know how and motos are pretty heavy. After a great day of exploration and a visit to the local market we all sat down back at the Fowler’s crib and ate tacos – pure delight for me since I haven’t had anything remotely close to a taco since landing in Cambodia. Will someone please mail me a Cheesy Double Beef from Taco Bell? That’d be nice.

Rice Paddies glow a green you wouldn't believe

The next morning was upon my lovely face and I was so ready for the road ahead – the road to MONKEY ISLAND!!! But first thing’s first! Remember those tacos last night? I put the butt hose to good use once again! Ok so after we attended yet another church service in which I had no idea what was being said – the pastor could have been talking about SpaghettiO’s for all I know – it was Lewis and Clark time (safely assuming the Lewis and Clark expedition was created to search for primates).

The "road" to Monkey Island

After biking a ways out of the city we soon realized the rest of the journey was going to have to be on foot due to a flooded road. 1 minute into the walk we decided it would be more of a “swim” since the water was already above our waist – it was fun. With a hand full of bananas, the time was finally here. All kinds of monkeys came out of who-knows-where and had their fill. I still don’t understand why it’s so much fun to watch a monkey eat a banana but it just is. I could have stayed their all day; however I had no more bananas and the monkeys started looking at us in a way that said, “You look like a banana.” After some locals laughed at us for swimming to the island instead of taking the boat, we swam back to our bicycles and went back home.

Wake up you monkeys!

I managed to join a game of soccer before the day ended and found myself realizing that cleats might not be a bad investment. I spent about as much time on my ass as on my feet, the field was full of mud patches and I’m glad to have been able to entertain the local kids by showing them how to properly fall into a pile of mud every 23 seconds. Anyways, It was great to get some exercise again and play with Cambodians. At the end of the day I wasn’t quite ready to go back to Phnom Penh, but I’ll have another chance to visit Prey Veng again and soak in all its beauty.

That sums up the trip pretty well even though more can be said. Other than that things have been going great. My host family is going very well and I’m starting to find my mold in the city. Hope all is going well back home. God bless you all.

Peace yo,

Michael