Day 4: Bus to Siem Reap

We left Phnom Penh around 8am. The sewage smell emanating from the bathroom of our room expedited our leaving. I am not sure I would stay in this hotel again. The upside was that it was clean, had a nice breakfast, had a good location and was pretty cheap. However, if I were to come back to Phnom Penh I think I would want to stay near the water. It was a little calmer over there.

 We took a little bus from the hotel to the bus depot (the bus tickets to Siem Reap else arranged for us by the hotel) and got on our seven hour treck up north. It was a really interesting ride as we could really see the Cambodian country side. 

Eventually we arrived in Siem Reap. We took a tuk tuk to our guest house (what they call small hotels here). We were getting a lot of pressure from the driver and later from the hotel workers to take their tuk tuks to Angor Wat the next day. We resisted because we wanted to ride bikes there. After we checked in we rested for a little bit, the hotel provided us with fresh fruit shakes, lychees, and bananas. We later saw a lychee tree at the hotel and assumed they came from there. It was all amazing. We then went out to buy bus tickets to Bangkok for Friday. 

We stayed at the Ta Som guest house, which was a pretty basic hotel. It was clean, cheap ($34 for two nights), included breakfast, and was more or less close to town. Walking to the center of town from the hotel took about 12 minutes. If you're down with 'roughing' it a little it's great. Keep in mind we did not have warm water for the shower and we shared our room with little hopping crickets. We enjoyed it!

Here is the tripadvisor link for the guest house:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g297390-d1911328-Reviews-Ta_Som-Siem_Reap_Siem_Reap_Province.html

Siem Reap is noticeably more tourist friendly. It is also a little calmer and more approachable than the chaotic bustle of Phnom Penh. I was not as nervous about the possibility of getting hit by a car or motorcycle. We bought the tickets and then decided to walk to the city center, which was not that far. They have a couple of very touristy streets labeled in lights called "pub street," "night market," and "art center night market." The markets, as one would have guessed, sold touristy goods and wares as well as on the street massage parlors and these tanks with fish who nibble on your feet. Pub street had lots of restaurants and bars. It was very pretty and packed with people. We ate at a place called "Khmer Family Restaurant", which was pretty tasty. After dinner we walked through the markets and then walked back to the hotel. Since we had decided that we were going to get up to see the sun rise at the temples we decided to call it an early night.

- N

Day 3: The Wilds of Phnom Penh

Today was a busy one. Chris, who is struggling a little with jet lag woke up around 5 and proceeded to encourage me to awake as well. So we got up and went to have the complimentary breakfast downstairs. It was a pretty good spread and nothing beat the price. 

It was pretty tasty!

Afterwards we walked a ways, which is no easy feat here, over to the Phnom Wat. On the way there we ran into a monk-led demonstration. Apparently, much like Thailand, there is a movement to remove the prime minister who has been in power for about two decades. 

Phnom Wat is the main temple in Phnom Penh. It was on the smaller side, but was beautiful in its own way. When we got there, they were playing music to guide the religious in their meditations. 

View from the back. 

View from the front. 

The main alter. 

(The various animals living at the Wat.)

Afterwards we took a Tuk Tuk to the national museum. It was, in my opinion, a better way to travel in the city. 

(Us inside the Tuk Tuk and the roof of it.) 

Did I mention that it was raining?  We got to the museum and it was really started to rain. Perfect time to go inside! The artifacts were beautiful. A lot of religious iconography that represented different eras in Cambodian history. The building itself was also really beautiful. 

Afterwards, we were pretty tired from walking around and it was only 11am! We went back to the hotel to rest and plan our next move. Walking back was quite the experience as the heavy rains flooded the streets. It was intense, but actually really interesting to experience. As said before this city is viseral in every way imaginable. The rains made it a little more so. 

We eventually decided to go to Sleng 21, the genocide museum. On our way out, I almost ran into a man leaving another room on our floor. Behind him came out another man and a pretty Cambodian woman. Let me say that this was awkward elevator ride. We had read that our hotel was frequented by prostitutes, but up until that point had not seen any. It was a little disturbing. Not because I am anti-sex work (it's a complicated and multi-faceted issue), but because one of the men just could not stop oggling the woman in the elevator. The other could not look at Chris and I in the eye. 

Anywho, we took another tuk tuk, which was a little difficult because of a language barrier. We got to the building, which was a groups of unassuming buildings hidden among others on a busy street. The prison, which was originally a high school became a location of suffering and death for around 20,000 people during the bloody Khmer Rouge regime. When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, they discoverd the prison and a few bodies. Some of the building has been, more or less, untouched through time. I have read a lot about this museum during my research on historical memory and genocide commeration. It was very interesting to actual be there. In the first room we went into, which was part of the torture building, we encountered a female guide who was basically giving testimony to her own experiences during that time. It was extremely intense, personal, and painful to listen to her recount her story of unimaginable suffering and loss. 

 We walked throughout the buildings, looking at thousands of photos of those who had been prisoners that were later executed. We also read some of the false confessions. As a sociologist who studies the politics of memory of post political violence, it was very interesting to see how the regime, the violence, and the liberation of Cambodia were framed. The setup of the museum was very much akin to holocaust museums. This was not surprising as the Vietnamese government sent delegates to Germany to study their genocide museums, but still fascinating to witness in person. I deleted most of the photos I took there. Here's what remains of our photos. 

(Signs telling you not to smile)

 After this extremely depressing trip we went over to the royal palace. This was one of my favorite places in Phnom Penh. It was beautiful. 

For dinner we went to an amazing restaurant called "Romdeng." This restaurant was run by an NGO that worked to train locals into the restaurant business. Chris and I were feeling quite adventurous and ordered the fired tarantulas as an appetizer. I had a bit of a melt down when they arrived! Chris, his usual adventurous self, went right for it. 

For actual food I had an Amok style fish dish, which was AMAZING and Chris had an equally delicious chicken meal.

We finished with a tamarind and banana crepe with coconut ice cream. It is not pictured because we ate it immediately. Overall it was a fantastic time in Phenom Penh. We are currently on route to Siem Reap via bus. More on that later!  

- N

Day 2: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Chris and I arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon after a busy morning in Bangkok. It was a very short flight over. I make mention of the flight because we keep seeing people we flew in with. I have never been to a place where I can recognize so many other travelers. There was a 20$ Visa fee, which the process of acquiring was chaotic at best. We got fined an extra $4 for not having extra passport photos ready forthe Visa application. Anyways, we took a cab from the airport with another American who is doing an extended trip through Asia and looking for places to "hang out for a while." I thought Bangkok was overwhelming until we got here. There seems, at least initially, that there are no real traffic guidelines. People go every where from every direction. It really felt like the Wild West, but with motorcycles instead of horses. These motos are often packed with people including multitudes of small children. We eventually made it to the hotel, Angkor International. We started to get settled, but there were some issues with our room, mainly the key did not work to lock the door, and they moved us to a nicer room on the 5th floor, which included a nicer view. 

We went out for dinner to a French fusion restaurant called 'Le Wok' which was amazing. My meal, not pictured, had fresh black pepper in it. My whole world has changed since eating fresh pepper corn. It is a multi-tonal sensory experience.  Considering it would have been an almost regularly priced meal in the US it is one the more expensive places here as other meals are around $2-3 an entree. However, it was delicious and an easy transition into Cambodian cuisine. 

(Chris' ginger and honey chicken) 

After dinner we walked by the water canal and found a little bar to get a drink at. My beer was a whopping 1$. Chris had a Singapore Sling.

Around this time we started to get kind of tired and decided to go back to the hotel to sleep. A pretty interesting first night in Phnom Penh! Tomorrow we will go to the National Museum,  Phnom Wat, and most likely the genocide museum.

- N

Day 1: Bangkok!

We arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon and grabbed a taxi. The international airport is new and very nice. Here is a sign we saw:

Our hotel is called Roof View Place and is just a short walk from old Bangkok and Khao San Rd.

Khao San by night is the most dizzying array of sights, sounds, and smells we had ever experienced. A cornucopia of tourist markets, tattoo shops, massage parlors, food carts, fried scorpions being offered up on trays, and of course, the drunk tourists reveling in it all. A visceral experience. We headed one street over to grab a bite to eat: some pad Thai and spicy basil chicken with rice. Also, some local beer for dirt cheap. The hanging lanterns gave us a sweet ambience.

We crashed early and woke up early, deciding to head over to the Royal Palace and temples. Glistening with sweat in the 85• weather at 8 in the morning, we approached the temples and the government buildings where there were mass protests only days before.

Wat Pho is a breathtakingly elaborate temple consisting of several buildings. One of which housed the famous reclining Buddha.

Enormous and ornately inlaid mother of pearl at his feet.

Also, the walls were hand-painted in exquisite detail.

Some more pictures of the temple area including monks chanting during prayer.

We headed to the Royal Palace and Wat Phra Kaew but decided to come back when it is less crowded. These little fish tanks are for cleaning debris off your feet. Have a seat with your feet in the tank and the sucker fish will nom your feet.

On the way back to the hotel, Nicole was kicked in the shin by a local woman. I bought some little donuts from a food cart and as we ate them wondered, "what was that about?". We're now preparing for our flight to Phnom Penh. We'll see you again shortly, Bangkok!

- C