Couper and I took the boat from Phnom Penh back to Siem Reap this weekend and while I generally think being 2-years-old looks frustrating, this was one time I was jealous of his time in life. We boarded the boat at 730am at the Phnom Penh Pier…for me this was ridiculously early, for my little friend who is up at 6am without fail, this was a fun outing. Walking down to the boat on the slippery steps my heart was in my mouth, Couper on the other hand reveled in his 2-year-old oblivion and enjoyed the extra squeeze I was giving him. Once on the boat my seat felt a bit cramped and I wasn’t convinced by the view. Couper had plenty of room and if he stood on the seat also had a great view out the window at the other boats and birds. For the first couple of hours of the trip this is what he amused himself with, bird watching and boat pointing. By the time we got the Tonle Sap Lake and the boring part of the ride commenced Couper made himself comfortable and fell fast asleep. I attempted to sleep, but the vibrations of the boat made any head-rest rather jarring!
Couper woke up as we started getting closer to Siem Reap and he and I ventured outside to watch the boats and birds in the fresh air. He loved this and, rather than worry about the harmful UV rays beating down onto his tiny, perfect nose, he waved to the birds and locals out fishing. At the dock on arrival the sea of tuk-tuk drivers that descended on us just amused Couper and, unlike me, he at no point thought we might end up in the lake…in retrospect he probably would have thought a swim was a lot of fun too.
We were running late so got to have lunch in town at a nice restaurant where the waitresses fussed over him. All in all, not a bad day of boating for a 2-year-old.
An adults perspective: When the words “death-trap” and “boring” enter your mind you know it isn’t the ideal form of transport. With that said, the views in the beginning and end are fun and the middle isn’t as bad as the bus. Most tourists sit on the roof thus arriving in Siem Reap looking like lobsters, those that stay down below suffer the consequences of mild claustrophobia and stuffiness. The ride takes about 5 hours and if you tap into your inner 2-year-old it ain’t so bad 🙂
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