Coffee Angkor has spent a week haunting my mind in my determination to find a local coffee house that immerses myself into the culture while giving me a caffeine fix. On the way to and from Old Market, Kristy and I point out Coffee Angkor's lackluster sign above motorbikes parked in from of the three walled, open-air structure each time. Not knowing anything about the coffee house and not caring to ask the people at our front desk, the discovery was left up to Kristy, Kaitlyn and I. Heading out on our free Saturday, the walk was longer than expected down the busiest road we have seen. Road 6 resembles a mixture of highway and street, and three American girls walking in the heat of day down the sidewalk was foreign to say the least. Numerous tuk tuk drivers yelled prices and places to us, unsure of where we were heading on foot, but each time we waved them on. The determination of these tuk tuk drivers have started to irk me. If I want a ride, I will walk up to you; if I want to walk, I am doing it for a reason; and when I say no, stop trying to sell me tourist sites to visit with you as my driver. Despite the bombardment of offers, the three of us finally reached the sign of Coffee Angkor, which was probably about a mile from our hotel.
Cambodia apparently has chocolate infused coffee beans, which I still haven't found and its description has made my taste buds curious. Not knowing what type of coffee or how to order it, we walked into the most interesting place yet with high hopes. Rainbow colored beach chairs lined the room and were separated by wooden coffee tables surrounded by two or three clustered chairs. The walls and roof were tightly thatched, making me happy for the dry, sunny day during our visit, and the walls had glued gum and drink advertisements. Each chair faced towards the direction of four TVs. This mini movie theatre type coffee house had all your viewing needs. One TV played American wrestling (always a necessity for a culturally American experience), another had Cambodia news, another played some scary black and white Frankenstein-type movie that was just plain old weird, and the fourth (and best) was a viewing of a pirated version of "The Tourist" that had not been released yet. The Tourist was my favorite of the four programs because I couldn't help but laugh at the abruptly translated English subtitles and Khmer playing over the speakers with an awkward high-pitched voice over for Angelina Jolie that was so farfetched that any American would probably roll around laughing. With minor communication issues about ordering, we finally conveyed "3 hot coffee" and our waitress quickly shuffled away.
At some point we realized there were no other women sitting down at the restaurant. Was this a man only hangout or was it coincidence? Seeing that we weren't turned away, I hoped that we weren't tip toeing on some Cambodian gender lines and stayed anyway. Now, the coffee. This is what we had all been searching for. As my hand raised the cup to my mouth, the aroma hit me before I even took a sip. Chocolate! A chocolate infused cup of coffee was cupped in my hand finally. The sip was a mixture of strong strong coffee, a little chocolate, but mainly a taste that left me looking for the alcohol bottle they poured in before they served the coffee. I doubt alcohol was in it, but the taste from coffee beans, must've been the strongest coffee I've tasted, resembled it. Pure nirvana was the emotion on each of our faces as we sat with all the other Cambodian locals enjoying coffee, playing chess, and watching hanging TVs. I described the place like a "mirage in the desert but actually real" because of the heat outside versus the cool mist drifting down from ceiling pipes above me. Along with the coffee, the lady set down a pot of tea at our table with a deliciously familiar yet unidentifiable smell. Overall, this entire experience cost $1.25 for all of us combined. Only in Cambodia.
The rest of the day:
- ate at the local noodle place down the street from us. Delicious
- visited and took home Megan from the hospital (with dysentery)
- ate dinner at an Irish Pub. I got creamy pesto pasta...I forgot about that stuff
- went to Pub Street, X bar, and Linga. Watched a drag show Cambodian style
- ate most delicious street food ever. Crepe/banana desert.
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