Kampot region, Cambodia
April 2018
We hired a motorbike and Nico drove us through dirt roads surrounded by rice fields. The drive was a bit wild after it rained all night; there was mud everywhere and we had to go slowly. A truck overtook us and splashed us head to toe with mud down our left sides. We bought a few bottles of water and washed some of the mud off ourselves, and some friendly guys on the other side of the road washed our motorbike for 2,000 riel ($0.50). We stopped for lunch at a roadside stand next to Secret Lake and ate the spiciest green papaya salad that I have ever eaten. We ate with tears pouring down our faces, constantly sipping sugar cane juice and breathing heavily. We visited a cave with green moss-covered walls and stalactites hanging from the ceiling that surrounded a 1,300 year old temple. Our guides were two local kids (literally kids) who pointed out shapes in the cave that looked like a turtle, an elephant, an alligator and a pig. We drove home at dusk, the highway full of trucks and rickshaws.