We have met and made friends with many Cambodians from all walks of life during our short stay here. They have made our life here a little easier and a lot more interesting and enabled us to get an insight into a culture through the eyes of locals!
Let me introduce you to Ravi, our tuk tuk driver. He splits his time between driving the tuk tuk and working at the guest house. He might brings us breakfast in the morning & then be driving us to dinner in the evening!
Having a local to you the ropes can be incredibly helpful as I found out when I tried unsuccessfully to buy a sim card. The shop assistants demanded to see a passport and were not prepared to part with a prepaid card till they had documented my details. This seemed a little bizarre to me, so I enlisted the help of Ravi. He sorted through the maze of various available networks and purchased the card for me on his ID.
It is great to be able to go out for dinner or meet a friend for drinks, knowing that Ravi is only a phone call away. No matter where I am, I just give him a buzz and he shows up within 10 minutes. If I need to rendezvous with a bus he makes sure I have made my connection before driving away. I will always be grateful for this attention to detail, given to me by a perfect stranger! Similar to many big cities, it is not easy to find a tuk tuk driver that knows the city inside out. In Sydney, we count it lucky if our cabbie speaks English and knows where he’s going! In Ravi we have found a “cabbie” that not only speaks our lingo but appears to know this city inside out, and has so far not been stumped by any of our request!
Then there’s Ravuth, our receptionist. Brought up by his grandparents as his parents were killed during the Khmer Rouge, he has obviously not had an easy life. And yet, he always greets me with a smile in the morning and is ever willing to lock up my stuff up in the safe, arrange to have my laundry taken care of order my dinner.
Both Ravi and Ravuth have made my stay here extremely pleasant and we have shared a few laughs over the last few weeks of our stay! I will miss them as I say goodbye next week to the Guest House that has truly been my home in Cambodia.
I raise my glass in a toast to the wonderful customer service of Ravi and Ravuth!
Ravi & Ravuth!
1 comment:
Nil, signed onto your blog today, and came across the Ravi and Ravuth entry, they were both here having a beer, so I showed them your page, they were most touched... and raised their cans in a toast to absent Nil. Emma
Post a Comment