The last part of this Thailand road trip series picks up again back on the Cambodian side of the border, now with a new visa in-hand.
🔁 Back To Phsar Prum, Cambodia 🎰
We ran out things to do on the Thai side of the border pretty quickly, so we headed back to Phsar Prum on the Cambodian side where we had already rented our room for another night. The most important thing was that I have my new 30-day visa of which I can use to get to hopefully get a 6-month extension and keep precariously living here as I have for the last nearly 15 years.
Phsar Prum exists exclusively for Thai gamblers. It's a casino town on the border, and because casino gambling is illegal in Thailand, places like Poipet and Phsar Prum are well-known by Thai folks. Border towns are always a little shady and seedy, especially Cambodian casino border towns, but Phsar Prum is actually wholesome enough to spend a night or two. There's little to do outside of wandering around and eating snacks if you're not a gambler, but in neglected towns like this the locals make me feel like a celebrity because I speak Khmer fluently.
🍿 Vegan Snacks On The Road 🍩
Surprisingly, the prices of snacks and most things in Phsar Prum are not inflated as they normally would be in touristic areas. I assume this is because the gamblers are likely spending most of their money within the casino bars and restaurants, so that leaves the street stalls mostly for the locals, and therefore local prices. As always, it's nearly impossible to find vegan food while traveling, so we did our usual thing of living on street snacks until we arrived home.
We were able to find a cook that was willing to attempt a vegan "Loat Chaa," similar to noodles, simmered in a sweet sauce with lots of green onions. I'm not a fan of this dish and the cook said he didn't know how to make a vegetable fried rice without egg. I wasn't hungry enough to give a cooking lesson about how to fry things like onions, chilies, ginger, to create a tasty fried rice, so I went without food as I usually do while traveling in Cambodia.
I slept hungry out last night in Phsar Prum, so in the morning we purchased a few baked goods for the road to stave off hunger. Srey-Yuu immediately noted how terrible their raisin rolls were, and she was right, it was like the dough had been kneaded for a total of 20 seconds. Cambodia doesn't really have baking skills on the international level yet, but decent baguettes and hamburger buns can be found when needed.
🛺 Battambang Detour 🚧
As we headed east on the national highway towards our turn for Samloat and Pramaoy, Srey-Yuu began talking about going to Battambang and skipping school. We could've either turned right and drove 5 hours of backroads to get home or continue straight for another two hours to go to Battambang, a touristic town with two Indian restaurants and a vegetarian Chinese-styled mock meat cafe.
We stopped by the Piaggio tuk-tuk service center while we were in Battambang, easy to find because it's across from BBU, a well-known Cambodian university. I inquired about some replacement light bulbs, starter cable, speedo cable, and windshield wiper blade, and as usual they had none of the parts we needed. I asked to the meet the manager in order to see why they always ship us the wrong parts when we order things, but he was not there. Since we had driven so many kilometers already and were far from home, I settled for an oil change to make the trip not a total waste of time.
While waiting for our oil to be changed, we snacked on our baked goods and ordered some drinks from an adjacent kiosk. I got a coconut shelf for myself, and then we just chatted with the kiosk owners and waited for the not mechanics to change my oil. We stayed a night in Battambang and ate at the Chinese style mock meat cafe once, and then on the way out of town the following day, my wife had the idea to stop by an Indian restaurant and get some things for a picnic on the way home.
My wife still hasn't learned the name of many Indian dishes, so she delegated to me what to get for the road. I was craving protein after living on snacks for three days, so I ordered several chapatis and a channa masala for the road. The story ends with us back home safe and sound, but in just a few weeks I have another visa problem to solve all over again, so I'll be off to Phnom Penh for a 6-month extension and a total waste of time and money in order to please bureaucrats and the paper tiger.
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