In the end, it's always about the people you meet along the way.
And maybe also the food you eat...

Eitan and Tommy

Amazing Chinese dinner. Why we Americanized this already fabulous cuisine into the Kung Pao chicken and chop suey we consider Chinese food today is beyond me.

Inari and Malu

Zhengyu!

The lovely Jia Ling

Jia Ling and Tommy

Irina, my personal PP guru and guidance counselor

Craig and Amy...the very first friends

The Nerd Night crew

Helen enjoying coffee on the beach. Aimee negotiating a hammock. 

Always helpful, hilarious and with never ending supplies of food for me to try, my Khmer co workers at iDE made the stay here truly special. 

 Khmer New Year work party

A novel way of avoiding smoke from the grill

Ratana and Ravy enjoying the festivities

Always laughing!

Last but surely not least, lunch with these ladies. I've been sharing lunch with a group of my female co workers for at least half my trip here. The willingness to try their food, and the friendships that grew from that simple act, gave me more insight into the Khmer culture than any museum or visit to a Wat could have. These women made Cambodia feel like home. I hope very much that I can one day return the favor. 

Kampot and Kep Weekend Getaways

Kampot and Kep are pretty standard weekend getaways for PP folks. They're close by, relaxing and have that ever elusive feature Phnom Penh is lacking: nature. The air smells so good once you get out of the city. Kep especially, since the rains have finally decided to emerge from hiding.

Some dear friends of Sam and I, Lars and Kinsey, joined me in Kampot for what was the start of their own SE Asian adventure. They were exceptional travel buddies; adventurous, friendly and flexible. We spent 3 nights in Kampot along the river. We ate at the market, took a couple sunset boat cruises down the river and explored the salt flats at the mouth of the Kampot River.

 Breakfast in the market. Photo courtesy of Lars and Kinsey because I did a really bad job of remembering to take photos on this trip. 

 The salt fields at the mouth of the Kampot River. 

 Captain Chim. Motor looks like a very high powered lawn mower. 

 Fisherman finishing up his day. 

Sunset on the river.  

A pensive Lars. 

More fishermen 

Sunset dive 

RELAXING.

A few weekends later, a fabulous group of friends and I went to Kep. More delicious seafood, fun crab market and a semi-gnarly hike through the jungle made for a lovely getaway. 

One of the many fine views from the hike

Canopy

 So many foreign plants and large, large insects

 View from our hotel

 Two girls reading together

 Seen at a bar called The Democrat.

 Bringing in the catch

 Negotiations

 Sticky rice fruit and waffles, which are strangely popular here

 Lounging with the goods

 Stilted house on the shore

Jia Ling and Tommy examine some jellyfish underneath a bar

Write more soon!

Around Phnom Penh

Photo dump of things around PP.

 View from our rooftop

 An average PP backyard

 The neighbors are always chopping things for their restaurant. 

Local architecture

 Market at the end of our street. It was really busy today with people getting ready for Khmer New Year

 Bag and basket o' chicken

Drying out the fish

 Fruits, veg and fish at the market

 Standard chaos near Orussey Market

 How to properly pack a tuk tuk

 Wastewater treatment canal

 Wastewater treatment canal from the other direction

Awesome soviet-looking Mercedes

 Fresh squeezed pomello and orange juice in the morning

People wearing white shirts are just getting out of a Tai Chi class. 

 Breakfast. Amazing rice, soybean, sugar, coconut mixture in a crepe/tortilla thing. 

The finished product

Coffee in bags. Cambodians love to put food straight into bags without other containment- coffee, soup, juice, you name it. 

 Lizard on the stairs

That's all for now, I'll write more soon!