"These are magical people"

The past day has been such a whirlwind, I don't even know where to start. At least this is what I thought to myself on the back of a moto watching the tai chi exercises at sunrise at 615am as I rode back to my guesthouse having spent the night on the other side of town. From the beginning...

I find the link to get my embassy appointment, which is now scheduled for Monday. I would then be able to get back into the United States without being tossed to rot in a brig somewhere. Or who knows what immigration would try to do, so that will be sorted out soon. Nevertheless, I still want to try and show up to see if I can snag an open appointment slot that day. To kill a bit of time, I head over to Wat Phnom, a very large and apparently active Buddhist temple where people come to pray and make offerings. It was amazing to see the ceremonies unfold across my eyes, pictures to come at another time. While walking around, I thought it was time for the shenanigans to begin. As I stepped up to a ledge, the white pants that I was wearing that are really on their last string ripped right in the groin. This would have been fine had it not been for two things, 1) the hole was right front and center and very large, and 2) I was going commando. I then look down to see something hanging out that shouldn't. Oh my god. My most immediate task was to make it back to the hotel without attracting undue attention to that hole lest I get cited for indecent exposure. Eventually I shimmy over carrying the city map partially unfolded over the front of my pants, and feel pretty good about that accomplishment. After changing I was off to get the pants repaired and squeeze into the embassy.

On the way, I see a group of people that had congregated across the US embassy and found some Americans mixed in. I strike up conversation and find out from Jessica Watson that they were seeking help from America, which has quite a bit of clout around here, because their homes had been razed the night before without so much as a warning or time to retrieve any possessions. If you have money and power, then anything is possible including taking land for your own personal gain. Where would those people go? Good question. Ultimately nothing happened, and so the group would later go off to the British and French embassies to try the same thing. I can only wish them luck and raise some awareness. I was not able to get an appointment, and continued on to find a tailor that could help repair my pants. I walk into the shop and find that they cannot, but I ask if I could try myself and they agreed! The entire place got a kick of this white American taking a seat at one of the dozen or so sewing machines and getting to work on his own pants. The son who was 10 years old came and started to speak to me in perfect English despite coming from a poor Vietnamese family while living or growing up in Cambodia, I was shocked. Well done, kid.

I made my way back to the hotel and sought out lunch and a new place to stay. While walking South into the center of the city, I passed by a shop that rented dirt bikes, woot! Picked up the card and noted the location. Eventually I find myself in the middle of the road looking at the two Velkommen signs posted on buildings directly opposite each other. I stand there looking back and forth, as Roy would later state, like someone at crossroads who was going to choose one or the other. I walk into the Velkommen Backpackers and grab a seat by him. Now starts script molded in the likeness of "The Beach"and "The Hangover". And Irishman who moved to England as a kid, he's been on the road for 18 months starting with "I quit my job" and plans to go back in April. We exchange stories and it's becoming clear that 1) I picked the right hostel, and 2) I've found one friend to travel with. He even pegged me as an Celtic man, carrying my Irish passport and all. Cue up the entry of Richard, a crazy Scotsman who somehow found his way back after a bar girl woke him up from his slumbed on a table in a club and told him to go home. His story is pieced together with the accounts of others, the missing money in his wallet, and pictures from the night. I would later see one photo on his camera in which he was wearing a backpack, sunglasses, and a hat covering his groin, butt naked otherwise. This would be passed around to everyone in the lounge area, without his approval of course. Then there was Meta, one of the Cambodian employees with, according to Roy, the biggest breasts in the country. He enjoyed flirting with her, but it was me who would later ask for her help in changing my pants upstairs. After signing up for the Mekong river cruise later that day, Roy and I wanted to head over to the Royal palace where one could only enter with pants or shorts covering the knees. Mine did not, and so Meta hooked me up which entertained everyone at the bar and in the common lounge.

More characters would be introduced later, but first Roy and I were off to explore the Royal Palace. True to new form, we never made it...