cambodia pt5

this should be the final installment as i fly out tomorrow arvo but i just had to put down a couple of things that happened within a few minutes of each other today. i was sitting up at wat phnom watching the world go by when an american couple walked behind me. as usual there were kids asking for money but his response was anything but usual. the exchange went as follows:

kids: mister, give one dollar
american: you should study hard and become a successful executive... don't beg

bearing in mind the kids were no older than 5, i found his response very comical.

i then bought a can of sprite off a seller and put it down after drinking a bit. a monkey, seeing that i'd put the can down, walked up and took it. instinctively i reached out to get my can back and the monkey attacked me. it grabbed my arm and bit me on the hand and then ran off with the can before turning around and getting ready to attack again. another monkey saw what was going on and started running up the hill with teeth bared clearly ready to attack as well. fortunately a policeman came running and scared them off but i was a little bit shaken and will now have to see a doctor about getting rabies shots when i get home.

tonight i had a really good green curry from a small roadside restaurant. i picked it as it was full of locals which usually indicates good food. the excited shout of 'barang' from the staff when i asked for a table makes me think they probably don't get an awful lot of foreigners dining there. none of the staff spoke english and they did seem to see me as a bit of a novelty. again, the value is stunning. i had a huge green curry and a bowl of rice and a coke for the princely sum of around $2.50. dining out in overpriced perth will never be the same again.