How far would you go to eat pizza?
Yesterday started out as a typical Sunday morning. We ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, then had family worship. We sat around expecting to do what we do every Sunday, nothing. While Danny and I were trying to entertain the kids, playing David and Goliath, I mentioned that I could really go for some pizza. Danny perked up and asked, “Hey, you want to go to Kratie?”
Kratie is a town about 180 km from Kampong Cham up the Mekong River and is known for its river dolphins. But more importantly, we had heard that there’s a place there that makes pizza! We figured since it takes about an hour by boat, we could get there in about the same amount of time if we drove.
In about 10 minutes we had looked up the route on a map, packed some water, got the kids in the car and headed out in a quest for pizza. It was 9am and we figured once we arrived in Kratie we could take our time, see the river dolphins, eat lunch, take a leisurely walk around town, then head back before dark. Who knew we were going to end up doing a “Harold and Komar” just to get a pizza fix.
We drove about one hour before we realized that it was going to take a little longer than what we had thought. Fortunately the drive was beautiful. It’s the end of rainy season so the fields were brilliant green. Although the road had virtually no homes and no phone signal, it was paved almost the whole way. We passed through beautiful rubber plantations, pepper farms, and the biggest marijuana field I have ever seen. We saw hardly any people except for this sun-burnt white guy riding his bike with no less than four bags strapped on. At this sight we laughed out loud, “Is this guy totally cool or totally crazy or what?!” Danny commented, “It would really suck to get a flat out here in the middle of nowhere. Well, except for having a pretty nice bonfire”.
Anyway, we finally arrived in Kratie THREE hours later. Ok, so we had to forget about the dolphins but we were there just in time for lunch. After poking around the town (which is even smaller and sleepier than Kampong Cham) for about five minutes we found the pizza place. At this point, we were so hungry we asked the guy for five pizzas. He kept saying he didn’t feel like making pizza so could we please order from the Khmer menu. I was like, “We didn’t drive all the way from Kampong Cham for rice so could you please make us some pizza and french fries.”
While Silas and Danny went to take a walk along the river I stayed at the restaurant to feed Cassia. During this time I eavesdropped on a conversation of a tourist and the guy who took my order.
Tourist – When is my bus to Ratanakiri coming?
Guy – Not until tomorrow afternoon.
Tourist – What? So what can I do until then?
Guy – You can sit down and have a drink.
Tourist – No, I mean what is there to do here?
Guy - Um…walk along the river, see the dolphins…
Tourist – Well, I already did that. What else is there to do? Can someone at least take me on a moto ride?
Guy – Not right now. It’s too hot. No one wants to go out now.
Tourist – Well, I’ll pay them.
Guy – No, just sit down. Relax.
Tourist – I’ve been relaxing all morning. I want to go out and do something!
I was so frustrated just listening to the conversation that I wanted to turn to the lady and say, “Mame, you’re in Cambodia!”
When Danny and Silas came back from their walk they were surprised that we didn’t even get our drinks let alone our food yet. When they came back from washing their hands in the kitchen. Danny sat down and grumbled to me, “They just started pealing the potatoes”. We were the only customers at the place with four waiters hanging around the bar. I grumbled back to Danny, “Do you think that one of them could at least get us our drinks?” We couldn’t believe that there could be a place even more slow than Kampong Cham.
After more than an hour we finally got our food. They were more like matzo smeared with sweet ketchup, sprinkled with a few vegetables and a little cheese. Let’s just say, it wouldn’t pass in America. But at this point, we didn’t care. It was pizza!
{ 6 } Comments
that pizza looks tasty! great post on a uniquely cambodian day trip :)
Hi, I’d like to know the the exact date you had that pizza. You see, I was the owner of that place but sold it on November 10, 2007, and the cook left on the same day. Guess you visited just a few days later. I’d like to think that our pizza wasn’t bad…
Jack,
OMG! I am soooo embarrassed! How did you come across this site? Yes, we must have ate there as soon as you sold the place. It was a Sunday. Probably Nov. 18, maybe even the 11. How crazy is that! Too bad it wasn’t earlier when you were still there.
Are you still in Cambodia? What do you do now? How long did you live in Kratie? It’s a beautiful little town. Sleepy, but beautiful.
Hi. I’m now in Taiwan to visit some friends, then it’s back to the Canadian arctic. Yes, Kratie is very nice. I was there for about a year and a half. Too bad visitors don’t stay one or two more days…
I feel like I can really feel and see your experiences in these posts! The pizza actually looks really tasty–or maybe it’s just good photography. The pace of life also seems really nice and spontaneous–is that the norm? If so, I wonder how shocking it’ll be to be back in the states. This weekend P and I went away to Maine just to get bored. It was nice to have nothing to do in a town with nothing to see, and to just wander around the streets.
You want to get bored? Then come to Cambodia already! You’ll get bored REALLY fast. I would say the pace of life is really slow, not necessarily spontaneous. Most Cambodians never leave their village. It’s a really big deal to travel. They tend to pack up a ton of stuff for a 2 hour trip.
It will be hard in some ways to be back in the States. I’ll miss going to bed at 9 every night, not necessarily because I’m that tired but because there’s nothing to do.
Ah, Mike, you are making me miss New England in a big way. I remember those weekends where Danny and I would drive up to Maine or New Hampshire just to get away from Boston’s intensity. Looking forward to seeing you guys this summer.
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