August 19th, 2019
Today we had a very relaxed day. Our visa for Vietnam was not valid until tomorrow so it gave us an extra day to just chill in Phnom Penh. We slept in and then had the opportunity to go to our hostel’s sister hotel across the street and use their rooftop pool. It was super nice, and we were the only ones there. It was on the 14th floor and had great city views.
At one point during the day Brendan was just minding his own business playing a game on his phone while I was contemplating eating yet another cup of noodle. I turned to him and in a moment of weakness said (with a tone of frustration) “can you make yourself useful and lookup if there are any Taco Bells in Asia?”. I already knew there were not any Chipotles as I looked that up months ago. He started cracking up and said, “do you realize how ridiculous you sound?”. I started laughing too but in the moment I thought it was a totally reasonable request. Only a select few reading this know that I secretly love Taco Bell (@bro 😊 ). This is something I would absolutely deny most any other time. However, since I am so far away it somehow seems okay to let my secret out… and there are not any Taco Bells in Asia in case you were wondering. The American fast food chain that I have noticed to be the most prevalent EVERYWHERE we have gone has been a surprise. If a town is big enough to have fast food it will have one of these…Any guesses?? Kentucky Fried Chicken. Does anyone at home even go to KFC? I never hear about people going there and kind of thought they were on their way out of business. But no, they are alive and flourishing everywhere else in the world. I mean, I could understand if it was back in the day of Colonel Sanders where they had real mashed potatoes but nowadays?? I would have never thought of that being the fast food place I see the most.
In the evening we walked around the city exploring more. We found a nice little Indian food restaurant and had a great meal. During dinner it began pouring rain, so we called a Grab to take us back to our hostel. It is really cute because when you go on the app to call the Grab you have a choice to get a car, a tuk tuk, or a motor bike. We always choose the tuk tuk option, but I think it is so funny you can get a motor bike ride. Seems counter intuitive to just get on the back of a stranger’s motorcycle in a foreign country. Something I feel like my parents have told me not to do. A spoiler alert but when we got to Vietnam (the land of motorcycles) if Brendan was walking in front of me it was so funny because guys would just stop me and say, “you get on the back of my bike?” as they motion to the seat behind them. I would look and they would not have any “Grab” sticker or anything that would identify them as a legitimate transportation service nor was I asking to be taken anywhere. It made me laugh wondering if they thought I might just be like “Sure! That sounds like a great idea…”
We got back to the hostel and called it a night as we had an early wakeup the next morning to catch the bus to Vietnam. For anyone reading back home, you should give yourself a little treat for me… Next time you’re in the car make a quick stop at your local Taco Bell for a spicy potato soft taco. You don’t even have to be hungry to enjoy this little, easily accessible, cheap, and strangely delicious snack that will brighten your day.