Amazingly, the Khmers and my g/f were able to nap while riding over heavily potholed roads in a shockless pickup truck. For me, it was one hour of gritting my teeth and trying to think of my happy place. Which was basically anywhere besides the road to Sisophon. Thankfully, the road dramatically improves from Sisophon to Battambang. I am finally able to get some sleep and wake up in a rundown French colonial outpost.
I didn't bring a guidebook, so I'll give you my impression of what Battambang is famous for. Goofy statues depicting Ramayana scenes. And flies. Many flies. Flies everywhere. My two day challenge in Battambang was to find a restaurant where only five flies would surround my food.
The Thai g/f is still trying to process everything. She can't believe I brought her to this filthy country with these strange people who try to constantly cheat you. Needless to say, Poipet is a terrible introduction to Cambodia. There is one thing, however, that will make everything alright. And that is Thai food. So I ask a moto-op to take me to a Thai restaurant. He says there is one place that makes Thai food called Smokin Pot, but it is closed for the day. I figure Khmer food is similar so we'll give that a go.
So we enter a Khmer Restaurant and the g/f sees a Khmer girl and says "Sawatdee Kha." The Khmer girl looks frightened and runs away. Eventually a man appears and says to my g/f, " Do you speak English?" The g/f really confused at this point. How come these Thai looking people don't speak Thai. So we eventually sit down and they hand us menus. The English speaking man says,"Would you like something to drink?"
The g/f replies,"Ow Nam Plao kha. Nam keng duay kha." I explain to her again that no one speaks Thai here. I order in English and the g/f falls silent. All the Khmer girls at the restaurant are in the corner looking at us and talking about my g/f in Khmer. Being farangs, we are used to this and never think twice about being outsiders. In fact, I think some of us are more comfortable being outsiders in a foreign country. This, however, was her first experience feeling like she didn't belong to the group. Being treated like a farang came as quite a shock to her. The Khmer girls bring the food out and the g/f reflexively says "Khop khun kha." The Khmer girls leave the table as fast as possible. I order sweet and sour chicken and fried rice. Two dishes that are similar everywhere. Of course, they aren't exactly like Thailand, so the g/f barely eats.
Walking out of the restaurant to get a moto, some Khmer men start saying "hey sexy lady" to my g/f. She seems to shutdown at this point. We return to the hotel and she takes a shower, puts on Thai TV, tucks herself in, and glares at me when I try to speak. I know when to leave her alone, so I am off to do some exploring. Next part, Losing a debate on the effectiveness of supply side vs Keynesian economics with my moto-op...
The road to Sisophon.
Battambang
Goofy Statue