March 11th 2025, Kampot, Cambodia

Another day another good routine. Got to hit the gym this morning and sauna this afternoon. During the day I rented a scooter and drove to a pepper plantation and through Kep. The pepper plantation was actually pretty cool. I tried a variety of peppers from red, white, black, green, and more. The peppers are so pungent and so flavorful it is crazy. I honestly even thought about buying some they were so good. I also had pepper tea which was nice. On my drive back to Kampot I got pulled over at a traffic stop for not wearing a helmet. I had to pay 15 dollar fine. I typically wear a helmet but I sometimes they make my head itch so I did not wear one. Well it got me this time, the first fine of the trip. In the afternoon I was feeling super tired but I got the energy to go to the sauna. It made me reflect on my favorite sauna experiences. Here they are: Fukuoka Onsen Japan, Arashiyama Onsen Japan, Seoul Intercontinental Coex Korea, Russian Banya Dallas USA, Vientiane herbal steam spa Laos, and this Kampot bathhouse here in Cambodia. I like saunas and pools which are outside like in Japan. Also it is important they place nice Zen music and have a place to relax. I prefer when the sauna room is big rather than small. Also it is nice when scrubs are provided and herbs are placed in the sauna or steam room. Of course you need at least three temperatures of pools to plunge in. Today I did 3 minutes in 15 deg pool. It is not that cold but I was happy with the extended duration. Last thing I want to mention is my planned trip to China. As of December 17 2024, only 3 months ago, China allows for USA citizens to travel 10 days visa free is using China as a transit. That means you must fly from country A to China, then to a new country B after. I plan on going from Phnom Penh Cambodia to Chengdu China then to Hanoi Vietnam. I was about to book my tickets today after triple checking the visa free policy. There is not much info online about it so I asked CHATGPT. Mr. GPT said Cambodia and Vietnam may not work because they are in the same region. It made me second guess my trip. It would really suck if I spent on this money on tickets and get rejected at the border. But this is the adventure. I am going to book it and hope I can use the visa free travel. It is not a guarantee though. I am actually really excited to visit China and Chengdu if everything works out. Any way I go back to Phnom Penh tomorrow for a couple days to celebrate Purim and Shabbat at the Chabad there. After I will head to Siem Riep to enjoy the celestial city of Angkor Wat for the Vernal Equinox.