So I met Mooni at 9 this morning and he proceeded to be my tour guide/translator and friend for the day. God remains faithful by bringing the right person along at the right time to combat the homesickness and keep me from feeling completely isolated and alone.
So we started the day by riding the bamboo train from one village to another. I dragged Mooni along with me so I wouldn't have to go alone. He's the one behind me on the right.
I'm actually pretty lucky to have experienced this because it will be stopped in June. They are going to build a new bridge and bring in a fast train. So the locals won't be able to run their bamboo trains any longer. The bamboo train is a flat little bamboo platform on some train axels with a motor and can quickly be assembled and disassembled when coming head on with another bamboo train.
Once we got to the village where they make the bricks, Mooni was showing me around the kiln and that's when it happened!
I turned around to step out of the kiln without looking or thinking and whacked my head on the support beam that I had to duck under to get into the kiln. I hit my head pretty damn hard... hard enough that i felt blood starting to trickle down my face and saw it dripping off my head. I'll be honest, i wanted to cry like a baby. Of all places for this to happen, why here!? But i sucked it up and handled it like a brave adult woman.
The villagers surrounded me and fussed over me and put their local remedies on it. Whatever potions and liquids and tobacco on my nose and head (in my hair) to help stop the bleeding, close the wounds and prevent swelling. It was actually pretty comedic at one point. I think half the village was there looking after me. After I felt ok and had a few moments to sit and collect my thoughts we rode the train back to the starting point.
Mooni decided to take me to the NGO hospital to make sure I wouldn't get infected before we continued our day of touring the countryside. After the doctors there confirmed i didn't need stitches and gave me some amoxocillin we were off. I saw all kinds of different things, people making things, kids playing, a couple weddings. At one point Mooni asked if i was ready for lunch and I told him yes and I wanted authentic Khmer food. So he took me to his regular lunch spot. I did as the locals do and it was delicious!
After today, I would count Mooni as a friend, not just a tuk tuk driver and tour guide. He took really good care of me and was genuinely concerned. But it's not really an adventure until you get hurt. If I learned anything during those years with Alex, it was how to take a blow to the head and keep on truckin. Today definitely proved I haven't lost that ability!
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