Mar. 6 – Kvet & Kampong Cham, Pa’s birthplace

Staying at my step-uncle’s place in Phnom Penh, we do as the locals do: swing by a kyteow (noodle soup) diner for breakfast. Uncle Chok just lives down the street from one, so we walk over together and basically just sit down. The waitresses have become accustomed to our typical order: everyone pretty much takes all the fixings while Maly’s dish is as basic as possible due to my on-and-off stomach troubles. Aren’t I supposed to adjust at some point!?

After breakfast, we part ways with Uncle Chok. He heads out to work work; we head out to look for pa’s hometown, Kvet. “He was born on the land next to a temple, before a bridge, in a very small town that does not have a sign, outside of the city, Kampong Cham”, were our directions. Ok… There are only a zillion temples and bridges here! Checking in with what felt like 10 local residents later, we find it.

The current owners of the land welcome us. They remember my dad, because he came to visit a few years back. Plus it’s hard to forget my dad, because he’s so jovial. I walk the grounds and wonder what pa was like when he was young and imagine his life here. The driver asks me if my coming here is emotionally-overwhelming. I tell him it’s emotionally-fulfilling.

(Oh by the way, en route to Kvet there is a food stop where vendors sell snacks like salted tarantulas and spiced crickets. I am scared of both—dead or alive! Our driver eats one to prove it’s a local delicacy; ma pretends to nibble on one of the tarantula’s legs, before discreetly trying to toss it. I laugh).

After visiting pa’s birthplace, we climbed the steps of both Phnom Bros (the men’s mountain) and Phnom Srei (the women’s mountain). An ancient folklore says the men and women in the area competed to see who could build a higher mountain. The losing gender had to propose to the winning one. Unsurprisingly, Phnom Srei was a lot higher ;) I didn’t think Phnom Srei was that high, but ma was so tired she had to pull herself up using the banister. The driver copied ma. I, of course, sprinted up, panting when I got to the top. Phnom Bros was much easier to ascend, and was actually the prettier of the two. It had little wild monkeys running around its property, and I don’t mean me and ma! It also had a temple next to it that had the statue of four faces, which worships the god Brahma. I like this face as it reminds me of the people of Cambodia.