Deep in the belly of our Bangkok Air flight Wednesday was none other then the 20 pounder now into its third hour of roasting; also probably other (lesser) birds for the other 500+ US residents of Phnom Penh. Also attending tonight's feast: Stove Top, pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes - it's really not so very different. Save for the context. Outside, the typhoon that rattled Vietnam is expending its final wrath on Phnom Penh and the annual three day water festival is kicking off with boat races on the Mekong and Tônlé Sab rivers that edge the city. The city's in full bloom - its population near doubled with outliers pouring in for this hugely popular event when the Tonle Sap changes flow, the moon is full, and it's time to offer thanks for Cambodia's generous rivers. So - we've got our thanksgiving and one not so very different (except no corn, or indians) is happening all around. Karmic coincidence?
We (it's now a full 6+ group of we) are being hosted in a newly built mansion on the far west of the city. Palational proportions, two of everything (fridges, luggage rooms, couches in triplicate) and kitchen (inevitable for New Yorkers) bigger than my apartment...Table decked royally in Cambodian silk and green orchids, less royally attended by fan tail turkeys (bought at a party shop on Broadway).
But backwards working - to the point when the we of me and R became the now substantial we of Dad, Sarah, Linds, Chad and our hosts here Mark and Anne and their two sons (renters of this amazing house, PP residents, good friends, stupendous hosts).
I'd been vague on the after-Bangkok of this trip. Micro-managed just up to the flight here but all else then a blank - not sure where to go/how to get there on landing but had traveler's faith that all would come together. Which it did, even more perfectly - Dad met, driver nearly at the ready (he had a wander but was found) and we were whisked through the city - first to this palace and then settled into our own at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal hotel.
Hello colonial splendor and all its trappings. There's the Elephant Bar with billiard table, long pristine hallways of black and white tile, white ceramic doorknobs and old fashioned light switches, towering ceilings and french doors out to our juliet balcony, ladies twittering over a game of bridge in the veranda and the Somerset Maugham suite just down the hall.Yes, they are working it. Each night a Travelers Tale (from the Raffles archive) is left on your pillow, their now-defunct magazines features longing articles on Cairo's Shephard Hotel, Colombo's Galle Face and the other great of the Orient. Message? The not-so-very subtle notion that "the great days of travel, of steamer trunks and open borders and able porters and whiskey in the morning" are as good as over, but there is Raffles, so have a gin & tonic and let's talk empires past. Or something like that.
But there are odd modern touches too - WiFi in the lobby, unnecessarily electronic Do Not Disturbs outside each room and a complicated check in procedure that seems to be computerized but which actually was completely wrong.
Dad on hand to greet us at the swanky new airport, Linds and Chad winging in from Hanoi to arrive at the hotel pool a few hours later - we'd reconnected on the other side. And we met up with Sarah and Ann in the National museum courtyard after a poolside lunch so there you go. From the vague "Thanksgiving in Cambodia" to the reality of the pieces coming together. Magic.
Phnom Penh looking fantastic. Hadn't been here since early '98 and it's been spiffed much since then. Bustling, everyone seems jolly (smiles, waves, giggles), markets piled with goods, roads and walks pristine, riverside cafes and hotels positively jumping. Parts of the city still a little rough - roads unpaved and still dark bits around the lake (I'm told) - but for the most part it's had a hugely successful makeover and seems pleased with its own results. Wild west days well over.
Did the Russian Market this morning - teeming with tourists and seems to be used to them - almost every actual antique from years back now perfectly replicated for sale (a good sign in some ways),
current CDs and DVDs (The Incredibles, new U2) being brusquely traded and Cambodia t-shirts stacked high. More upper-end tourists than backpackers spotted so far but have been (in our colonial splendor) largely removed from that scene.Tomorrow is early to Siem Reap so reporting from there next.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, everywhere
Peace.
C
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