Saturday in Phenom Penh

 Like all the places we’ve stayed so far, the Penh House was classified as a boutique hotel.  It was of a more modern architecture, but was nicely appointed and definitely had a local feel to it.  I awoke and enjoyed a great local meal at the rooftop restaurant. 

Skyline from the Penh House Rooftop

We had decided the night before that while nice, the Penh House was too far from the hospital, so I checked out and the travel agency assured they’d find me a closer place.  My guide for the day, Nara, and driver, Lee, were waiting for me in the lobby.  They gave me a ride to hospital and kept all our bags since I was temporarily “homeless.”  On my way, we stopped at a cell phone store, and I was able to purchase some additional charging cords so our power crisis could end.

The ICU has strict visiting hours of from 10 am to 2 pm and 6-10 pm.  I spent the early shift with Shirley.  She was alert and bored out of her mind.  Her isolation room had no TV and her only entertainment was a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the busy boulevard outside.  She was delighted to see the charging cord, as the cheap one we had picked up in Vietnam didn’t work on her phone.  During the visit we picked out a few audiobooks to download so she would have something to occupy her time when I wasn’t there. 

She was on a variety of IV meds:  antivirals, antibiotics, something for her blood pressure and heart.  She was also getting supplemental oxygen.  The medical staff here is great.  Friendly and competent.  It’s an international crowd.  One of her doctors is from China, her cardiologist is from India.  One of the Physical Therapists is from The Philippines. 

When visiting hours were over, I discovered my driver and guide were waiting for me in the hospital lobby.  Nara suggested I might like lunch before going to the new hotel and recommended a river-front place.  I gladly took her suggestion.  I had traditional Khmer chicken and eggplant dish over rice and washed it down with an Angkor beer. 

The muddy waters of the Tonle Sap River.
The floating vegetation is water hyacinth.

I was seated along the bank of the Tonle Sap river, which is the exit point of Lake Tonle Sap, the largest lake in SE Asia.   The river has a very interesting characteristic of flowing different directions based on time of year.  Just downriver a quarter mile, the river merges with the Mekong.  During the rainy season, the massive drainage basin of the Mekong is so large that water backs up the Tonle Sap and helps fill the 300-mile lake.  Once the rainy season stops, around the beginning of November, pressure from the Mekong subsides and the lake begins to drain and the Tonle Sap river changes from flowing south to north to flowing north to south.  As this change has just happened, the river color was a muddy brown for the lake sediment and the surface of the water was dotted with water hyacinths pulled loose from the lakebed.  I also got to watch four local fisherman toss nets from a small bridge and pull in their catch while I ate.

On the way from the restaurant to the new hotel, Nara did her best to play tour guide.  We stopped briefly at the Royal palace for some photos and she pointed out the many government buildings, temples, hospitals and universities in the district.

Royal Palace

My new hotel was the Fairfield by Marriott.  When I first heard this, I thought of the rather cookie cutter hotels under this brand back home.  My experience here was something quite different.  We pulled up in front of a massive skyscraper.  The lobby attendant pointed us to an elevator – the hotel lobby was on the 27th floor.  The hotel occupies the upper 20 floors (25-44).  My room was ultra-modern – the antithesis of our Seam Reap hotel.  But the view from the 30th floor is amazing. 

After unpacking and taking a brief nap, I headed back to the hospital (only to discover that my driver and guide had again spent the time waiting for me in the lobby.  When we reached the hospital, I told them to go home and said I would catch a Grab (Asia’s Uber) to go back later.  I couldn’t deal with thinking two people were going to spend more time just waiting on me.

Shirley was glad to see me again and we hung out for the evening.  I read the blog to her, which to this point she hadn’t read. 

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