August 14

Well we've made one conclusion from today! To truly enjoy khmer cooking, you must like garlic! We used garlic in every dish that we made in our cooking class this morning. For the most part they were pretty good and pretty clean. I just really don't like the smell of the market and I'm glad things come prepackaged back home!
This morning I woke up right around six and slipped out our balcony door to try to watch the sunrise. Sadly I needed to be one floor higher to get a good view. I mostly just sat and listened to the sounds of the morning in Battambang. A rooster crowing here and a few people moving around there. Fairly quiet. By 8 the streets are full and buzzing! And the sun is scorching by nine!
After walking around aimlessly looking for an atm, we found one and then picked up a quick but yummy breakfast at a bakery!!!! Mmmm! Homemade banana cake, a donut and a baquet! Fed both of us for $1.25. Sweet deal hey? It was a nice change from eggs.
We had a half an hour to kill so we booked our bus ticket from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville for tomorrow morning. That gave us some more exercise and a bit more change out of our pockets to get back to the "Smokin' Pot"Restaurant for our cooking class at 9:30. There was nine of us doing the cooking class and once everyone arrived we set out for the market. There I also learned and we decided, that this cooking course would not have been a good choice of activities for a vegetarian or an animal rights' activist! You want fresh meat? They'll kill it in front of your eyes! We saw a headless frog still trying to croak. They killed the fish and gut the scales and fins off all before we headed on for vegetables. I was relieved when we didn't have to clean the fish ourselves. Does that make me a wuss? Like I said before, I like pre-packaged food!
We made three dishes this morning. One called Fish Amok (a curried fish dish and the curry paste was made from scratch), another called Beef Lok Lak and the last was a soup that was much too spicy for me to eat it all. Thankfully we had to leave quickly to catch our bus on time. The cooking class was worth it and we might try a few recipes at home... maybe, if we're not sick of Khmer food by then. I guess I should say, if we're not STILL sick of khmer food by then. :)
Our bus left shortly after 1:30 and I thought it was going to be a long, long 4-5hour drive. The bus was hot and muggy. We were the only foreigners on the bus and it smelled like stinky feet! No windows opened and the air conditioning trickled out the vents. I guess I got used to it because after 2 hours it didn't seem so bad.
Once again the rain came down hard this afternoon. I was glad that we were in a covered bus that kept us dry. It's fun to watch the Cambodian life. I saw a little girl standing next to her bike holding a very large armful of sticks. Picture perfect but I was on a bus and flew past her. I also saw a woman getting on her pedal bike in the rain and she was holding a small infant in one arm and using the other to help herself onto her bike. Yikes! I'd be nervous, but I guess it's just part of life for them. It reminded me of a time when I saw a man in Ho Chi Minh. He rode by on his bike and had his child (young. Probably about 7months) on his one knee. The child was sleeping and had his head flopped forward onto his dad's hand. It was cute, but it's hard to describe. I hope it makes sense!
We arrived safe and sound in Phnom Penh. The hotel we wanted was full so now we're staying in some run down shack down who knows what ally! Hopefully we can find our bus station in the morning before the bus leaves at 7! Life is good. We're hungry and we're going to find some food for our bellies.