Pagoda of Enlightenment (Wat Phnom)

This majestic Wat (pagoda) was one of the first landmarks we visited when we arrived in Phnom Penh. The weather was hot, humid and we had just settled in. Hardly a good start to our adventure.

Before visiting the temple, we each had a USD1 meal that included a plate of "nasi goreng" (Cambodian-style) and a huge fresh coconut. After lunch, we walked up the stairs to visit the temples that were built atop the same hill. Whilst taking pictures and enduring the warm afternoon, an english-speaking local guide walked over and offered to show us around. We knew what this meant: a huge tip was to follow.

Strangely, my worldly-wise friend decided to take up his offer and hence, we spent most of the afternoon walking around, appreciating the architecture and listening not so attentively to the stories the guide was sharing with us. I was preoccupied with snapping pictures and was hardly paying any attention to him. Although I did learnt that head of a Buddha statue was buried under the concrete dome. The statue head was recovered by Lady Penh who later erected the hilltop temple to house it. The capital city was also named in her honour.

After our mini-tour, he brought us to a nearby drink stall to cool down from the heat. There the killer question came - how much? It didn't turn out too expensive, only USD10. Seven dollars for his time, and 1 dollar for each can of coke we drank. I just didn't like the feeling of being suckered.

But while we were seated chatting with him. He suddenly told us about how he planned to live his life. It had all the hallmarks of a practising buddhist and I deeply admired his simplicity. He was a tourguide by profession. He had been doing outbound tours previously, be recently changed to inbound tours such as the one we just had. And when he has earned enough, he wanted to travel the world. After he is satisfied, he planned to return and settled down - wife, kids etc. Then he would school his kids and watch them grow up. Then when he's old, children are all grown up, he'll daily sit out in his backyard and await his death.

That short time we had conversing about his life made every cent count.