Category: Pnohm Penh

Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents!

Catherine, Jessica, Sharon and I get up early.  Sharon’s not feeling well, and Jessica is not interested, so it’s just Catherine and I that head to the Russian Market for some shopping.  Catherine’s trip is winding down, so she is after some souvenirs, and a broom.  I was hoping to find a bag, a camera battery charger, and some clothes.   I wandered around with Catherine for a while then said goodbye, as she had to head back to the guesthouse to catch her bus to Siem Reap.  She’s heading there a day ahead of us.

When she leaves, I search for my own purchases, managing to find a fake North Face that, for $25, should hopefully last me the rest of my trip.

Still in need of a battery charger, I head to Soya market.  It’s more of a mall than a market, and I wander around for a bit, managing to find a charger that isn’t made by Canon, but will hopefully do the trick.  Sadly, the clothes selection is pretty weak.  I meet a local guy, named Larry, whose English is pretty good.  Chat with him for a bit, and he suggests I try Central Market, which is walking distance from the mall.

I grab some shorts at the market, and an ipod cable, then go back to the guesthouse.

Rest of the day is spent pretty uneventfully, other than the point mid afternoon when a group of 20 or 30 uniformed students scream past the guesthouse on their scooters.  They knock a non-uniformed teenager off his motorbike, then pick up a bottle and throw it at him.  I ask the reception what the deal is, but she says that’s just the way the kids are.  Welcome to Cambodia.  A little later, I go to check my email, removing my flipflops as requested.  When I return, someone has taken them – probably mistaking them for their own.

Jessica and I grow tired of waiting for Sharon and Julien for dinner, so we head to the river to find something.  Sharon and Julien show up eventually, with a French/Cambodian couple in tow. We spend the night at the restaurant, harrassed once again by kids.  We recruit one to join us for cards.  She picks up the game quite fast.

Wake up feeling pretty rubbish.  Lena and the Latinos are to meet us for breakfast, but they don’t show up.  We get breakfast on our own, and the five of us, Julien, Catherine, Sharon, Jessica and myself, hire a tuk-tuk to take us around for the day. 

First stop is the Killing Fields, and en route we spot Lena and the boys in their own tuk-tuk.  We meet up with them at the fields, and take a walk through.  Smaller than I thought they’d be, and not as depressing as I thought they might be.

We head to S-21 next, a former school they’d converted to a prison.  We walk through old cells and through rooms containing nothing but photos of the prison’s inmates.  Whatever bug I have has me pretty exhausted, so I take lots of breaks.

Last stop of the day is the Royal Palace, which is so expensive that Julien and Jessica don’t bother entering.  In the end it’s not too impressive.  Actually, it’s impressive, but seems redundant after seeing so many nice wats and palaces in Thailand.

We stop by the river for lunch.  As we’re paying the tuk-tuk driver, I hear Wiki call my name and turn to see her and Pennie enjoying their own lunch. I thought they were a day or two ahead of me, in Cambodia, so I am surprised to see them.  They’re staying in the same guesthouse, so we chat for a few minutes and agree to meet later. 

I join the others for lunch, and were constantly hounded by young kids selling books, postcards and other items.  Louisa and Beth, from Luang Prabang, who seem to have gotten through Vietnam pretty quickly, walk into a nearby bank, and I flag them over when they leave.

In the evening, we try to meet Lena and the boys for a drink, but fail at finding them.  We go for a drink, check the internet, and then Jess, Catherine, and I head home for the night.

Lena and I caught an early boat to the mainland, then waited about an hour for the rest of the group to arrive.  When we had enough to fill a minibus, we piled in and headed to the Cambodian border.  Met two Canadians, Catherine and Sharon (who is yet another Guelph alum I’ve met on this trip, but we think we may actually have been in a class or two together, as we were there at the same time – plus she looks really familiar), and a Kiwi, Jessica.  The three of them were travelling together.  Also met Julien from Marseilles, France.

The minibus drove us to the border.  We filed out at the Laos exit, and had our exit stamps applied to our passports.  We each had to pay $2 U.S as a “holiday fee”, which is pretty typical at southeast asian borders.  From there we walked about 100 metres down the road to the Cambodian border.  Paid a $1 holiday fee there as well.  There was a Liberian on board who had a business visa, and was forced to pay an extra $200 U.S, so the $3 I paid didn’t seem so bad.

We switched buses, and drove for about half an hour when the bus broke down.  The driver flagged down a motorbike, and left us at the side of the road.  10 minutes later he came back with a can of petrol, and fueled up.   On our way once again, we stopped in Strung Threp for an hour to eat.  I had deer roti which is nothing like the roti we get in Canada.

Switched to yet another bus, and picked up some more travellers before heading on our way.  An Argentinian and a Mexican that were travelling together broke out their guitars and regaled us with some music (including Celine Dion at one point).  The road was very bumpy, and at one point two people in the backseat, Julien and Jessica, hit their heads on the ceiling at the same time that we got a flat tire at the front.  The tire must have been redundant, as the driver  yanked it aboard and soldiered on.

Stopped for dinner briefly, and a good 14 hours after we’d departed, finally arrived in Pnohm Penh.   We all tried to go to the same guesthouse that Lena had recommended, but of the three tuktuks we had, only one made it.  We eventually made it to the right place, but they were booked solid.  Only Lena and the Latin boys were able to stay.  We headed back to the guesthouse our driver had taken us to originally, and checked in there.

I was exhausted from travelling, and felt like I was coming down with another lovely stomach bug, so I headed to sleep pretty early.