We have finally made our way out of Phnom Penh and landed in Pramaoy, a destination conceived browsing Google Maps streetview while stranded in Suriname for the last 3 years.
Wait, Rewind ⏪
A lot happened between Phnom Penh and Pramaoy, and I was able to document some of it even though I've been a busy pilot. We briefly relocated to Ta Khmau on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, where @sreypov's sister lives, and I was able to hang out with her and catch up on lost time.
Well, after preaching the gospel of Hive, I am proud to say we onboarded @ahleap, her daughter @mich.brmey, and her son @seyha.mich. Both Sreypov's sister @ahleap and her daughter @mich.brmey have already made their first posts, and I must say I'm very proud of them. In the above and below photos we were shopping for vegan munchies like fried breads and homemade mungbean milk.
After stocking up on munchies, we headed to the city to do some computer shopping and other random errands. I particularly like the "num chak kvay," which are basically the Chinese answer to Mexican churros, although these things are softer and savory.
Repairing A Botched Job 🤦
One of the errands consisted of going back to the tuk-tuk upholsterer to gladly pay them to repair and reinforce the holes they made while reinforcing our nylon canvas shell. The original folks refused the job and recommended their competitors across the street, whom turned out to be competent and much more friendly.
It took a few years, but they took the top off for the second time and added some extra layers of fabric over the holes the team across the street made. Monkey-B spent those hours laying in the back of the owner's tuk-tuk and reading her new book.
Her reading ability is impressive, and I would say she's on par with American children of her age as far as English literacy goes. She's practically a native English speaker, and I always underestimate her reading abilities. I need to challenge her with reading material intended for 10-year-olds so she won't finish the book in half a day.
I told the upholsterers I used to work on a used car lot for many years and have some basica upholstery knowledge. He wasn't shy to take my help, and I became the fabric stretcher, something the shop across the didn't do when reapplying the canvas shell after their mods, thus resulting in new holes being made.
Surprise Vegan Chinese Meal 🍲
Although I'm not the biggest fan of Chinese food, my family likes mock meat, and there are actually quite a few Khmer-Chinese vegetarian restaurants in Phnom Penh serving these mock meats. I secretly did some googling and took them to such a place before an hour before they thought we were going to have lunch, a very welcome surprise.
A Hot-Pot Challenge 🔥
I was thinking the family would each order a dish they like and we'd share as usual, but instead they were drawn to the hot-pot offering at the back of the menu, something I've never seen a vegan version of in Cambodia. The minimum serving size was for 4 adults, but we decided we'd take it on since we were about to hit the road soon.
On The Road 🛣️
We knew there'd be little vegan fare on the roadtrip to Pramaoy, and we knew the roadtrip would take at least 2 days with our 600kg+ payload. Look at the above photo and you can see how loaded we were. We had to jettison the jump seats in the back, knowing we'll collect them from @ahleap's house on our next trip to Phnom Penh.
Monkey-B posed for one last selfie before we hit the road, and as I left town I played the theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies on our bluetooth speaker. I felt it was very appropriate for the journey we were setting off on, and here is the song for you ASEAN Hivers who may not be familiar with this old American TV show.
Life On The Road 🐓
On the road I did little more than drive, shower, eat, and sleep, so I only have two photos from the nearly 300km in between Ta Khmau and Pramaoy. Traveling with an obscene amount of heavy luggage is hardly the way to have fun adventures, and it was very nerve-racking on the rough sections of road, draining my mental energy.
We stayed at a $5 per night guesthouse on the side of the highway one night, and that awkward night of sleep was followed by one of the worst fried rices I have ever had in my life. I am thankful for the free Wi.Wi offered while waiting for our food though. I was too angry to take a picture of the meal, which was actually ice cold carrots and unfried cold leftover rice.
Life In Pramaoy ⛰️
We arrived too late at night to hunt for a monthly rental room on our first day in Pramaoy, but we scored the only free room in the highest grade block of rooms in town, quite a welcome to the tiny town. We immediately got a basic stove, I seasoned the cast-iron, and made my legendary wax pepper curry, which starts by dry-roasting all the ingredients.
We're quite the talk of the town in our abnormally large and and loud tuk-tuk, and I am the only white guy around apparently. I let the ladies at the market make fun of me and comment on me the first two days before letting them know I speak fluent Khmer, then I roasted them back with a few playful comments of my own, and now we're all friends.
Never Without Snacks 🌶️
A common request made by Cambodians when someone is running into town is to grab some "sour," which basically means a variety of unripe fruits cut and served with chili-salt. We all love it, and I am particularly fond of jicama served with green chilies and salt.
Operation Cargo Net 🥅
Some of the luggage kept sliding forward on trip from the capital even though it was well strapped down. The surface of the floor of the cargo area gets pretty hot too since the engine is located directly underneath. For these two reasons I decided to create a cargo net to divide and secure the cargo area from the passenger area. This will prevent any large items from causing injury in the future.
I like weaving cargo nets because I get into a meditative state, and I also like the challenge of guessing how much rope I need to cut without making excessive waste. It is kind of hard to guesstimate how much you'll need, but I find about 35% longer than the intended distance covered is about the right length to cut.
This isn't really a DIY post, but I wanted to show you the finished product. It will also make a convenient place attach small items with carabiners that we use on the road, like water bottles and small bags, etc. In the background you can see @sreypov and our block of rental rooms. It's nothing special, just a one-room apartment that will serve as our basecamp while we get on our feet.
Sorry I haven't been very engaged or active with my posting lately, but I hope you all understand. Thanks for reading, and I hope we are all soon back into our normal posting routine. We hope to sort out the wi-fi situation here in the next few days.
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Return from From Ta Khmau To Pramaoy In Our Ape 🛺 Finally We Are Reclaiming Our Former Lifestyle 👨👩👧👧 to Justin Parke's Web3 Blog
