Adventures with Mathieu

Mathieu, a lifelong friend, visited me in Siem Reap last month. We had a great although slightly chaotic time together. A lot was happening during this time workwise for both him and me. But it was such a relief to be able to talk about it to each other.

I met Mathieu, better known in Cambodia as Matthew, in Spain. He was a mutual friend of a friend I studied with in Ghent. Bert, our mutual friend, invited us both with another couple to a weeklong festival in Spain. The festival was very chaotic and magical. There the friendship sprouted and we saw each other quite often ever since. He often came to Ghent, we met to work out, hang out, and party.

A month before Kiki and I moved to Cambodia, Mathieu went to travel through South-East Asia. Cambodia wasn't on his radar, he went to Thailand, Lao, and the Philippines. When he heard that I was staying, working, and living in Cambodia, he had to come to visit us. He stayed three weeks in Siem Reap and he volunteered for one week in a school in Battambang.

Arrival

Mathieu's first day in Siem Reap, I took some time off work. We met up in the afternoon. Kiki was teaching at Kulen Outreach at that time. We tried to meet up at the old market in the middle of the city center. That was honestly easier said than done. Smart, my mobile data provider was really struggling at that time, and Mathieu didn't have any mobile data yet. He was just trying to get by with free wifi cafés at the time. After a lot of calling and searching, and me having a nice chat with a tuk-tuk driver, we finally found each other in the mass of people. It was in the middle of the tourist season mind you.

It's a strange feeling. We hadn't seen each other for almost a year by then. Still, when we saw each other and got talking, it felt like I just saw him the day before. Even though we met at the other side of the world, in a whole different country with a totally different culture and people, everything felt so normal. Nothing felt out of place, like we have always been here. The sign of a great friend if you ask me.

Catching up

We walked around the city center for a couple of hours and ended up at the N6 road for some delicious street food. Whilst we walked around, Mathieu told me all about his travels and adventures in South-East Asia, and what he was up to in the near future. He wants to travel and work online, just like me. We talked a bit about what I did, why I did it, and how I worked up to it. On our way to the N6 road, we passed by at least 10 cats chilling outside a shop. Mathieu was walking on clouds all of a sudden. He loves cats, so we hung around there for a while.

When we eventually arrived at the N6, Kiki just beat us to it, I blame the cats, we all enjoyed a local meal together. Mathieu ordered chicken expecting only chicken meat. He received a bony meal. The taste was delicious, I tried it before, but it was not really what he was expecting. Some kind of puzzle, if you'd put the bones back in the right order, I'm sure you could recreate the chicken!

A few days later, we met up in Madame Café, something we'd do regularly from then on, to share a meal together and work together. Surrounding you with like-minded people really gives a boost of inspiration, motivation, and gives you new ideas to work more efficient. This was what happened during our get togethers. We'd talk about creating and, or expanding online businesses, motivating each other.

Not for long Kiki and I went away for a weekend to Kratié. Mathieu was planning to explore the area a bit when we were away. We made plans for Monday, when we returned, to go to the temples together. Kiki woud have work in the afternoon and evening, so it would just be the two of us.

Exploring the Big Loop

Upon our arrival back in Siem Reap after our getaway to Kratié, Mathieu was already waiting for us with his bike. I dropped everything in our apartment, changed, and off we went to the temples.

We decided to do the 'Big Loop' in the Angkor Area. I usually ride my bicycle in the Angkor Area, which means that the Small Loop already takes a while to just ride through. Let alone visiting the temples on the Small Loop. These temples are the more famous ones and are usually bigger. In other words, it takes some time and energy to explore them in this mind-toggling heat. With a bike, it opened the possibility of doing the Big Loop, and the temples we would visit would be new for both of us.

We started by seeing Angkor Wat - from a distance and entering the Bayon area. Mathieu was very excited about the monkeys. We saw some sitting along the road. He pulled over to watch them from a distance for a few minutes before we continued. We drove around the Bayon temple, admiring the faces which the temple is known for. Near the temple, there usually are whole families of monkeys searching for food and playing around. Of course, we had to check them out! So, we pulled over, parked the bike, and walked around a bit to find a group of monkeys surrounded by dozens of photographers. It was a bit awkward to watch, the monkeys just existing, and people going out of their way to get 'the perfect shot'.

Prasat Preah Khan

After taking a wrong turn, oops my bad, we arrived at the first temple we actually visited: Prasat Preah Khan. It looked like one I had visited before, so I thought that it was a smaller temple with a maze-like feeling. I was so wrong! The temple was huge!

We explored the first section of the temple, which was quiet flat, and peaceful. It reminded me of the temples at the elephant terrace. There were Linga's, different rooms, and even a little pond.

When we entered the second section, it blew my mind a little bit. It was huge, multiple stories high, huge columns, and it looked very wide and open. Especially compared to the first section which felt a bit claustrophobic.

I found a pair of sunglasses on the stairs at this temple, whilst taking pictures of Mathieu. They were in great shape, not some trash. I tried them on and they were perfect! So from then on, I got my new pair of fancy sunglasses.

Next week I'll tell you more about the temples we've explored together, the interesting talks and revelations we had, and the changes that came up our path.