I'm now in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Thien decided to come along from Saigon, so he is here, too. We were both pleasantly surprised with Phnom Penh. We both expected overwhelming poverty and not much that was aestheticly pleasing. As it turns out, it is a very pleasant city, with a lot of nice restaurants, an attractive riverfront, several nice green park areas scattered around town, and friendly people. Yes, there are beggars, but not as many as several of the other cities. And yes, there are the occasional people with legs blown off by land mines. And there are certainly the annoying motorcycle taxi drivers who ask you every 10 feet if you need a ride. And restaurants are surprisingly expensive (but cheaper than the US.) But all-in-all, quite a pleasant city.
When I wrote last, I was still in Saigon...
Sunday, 8/31/03
I had brunch with several of the Saigon crowd and then we went shopping. One of the guys is so small that he was trying on children's clothes.
Monday, 9/1/03
Thien and I went to the Cambodian embassy in Saigon and got our visas.
I got another case of traveller's diarrhea, but not too bad.
Went out dancing to the same place I went the first night I got in Saigon months ago. I was the only white person there, and once again, I could see over the top of the crowd on the dance floor.
Thien was also getting sick by the time we got home, so we decided to delay our departure to Cambodia by a day.
Tuesday, 9/2/03
It was a holiday in Vietnam, so everyone had the day off. We basically just hung out and relaxed until late in the afternoon. We stayed out too late at Phuc's house and ended up packing until 1:00am. We had to get up at 6am the next day.
Wednesday, 9/3/03
Thien and I took a bus to Cambodia. There was a pair of French guys who did nothing but have a heated argument from the moment they got on the bus. Before we were out of Saigon, one of them asked to be let off the bus. He ended up getting back on again before we pulled away, but demanded to be let off again later. Fortunately, the driver took off before there was any other chance for him to change his mind.
The ride on the Vietnam side was fine. We went through the usual immigrations/customs tedium at the border. They just waved me right on by through customs and the border check. Thien had to pay at customs and at the border check. I have no doubt it was because of the nationality on his passport--the only other person who had to pay anything was also Vietnamese.
After waiting at a little restaurant on the Cambodian side of the border for an hour and a half, we got on the new bus. The inside was covered in dirt. When the bus started moving, we found out why. For the first hour, the road was dirt, with a top layer like talcum powder. Within five minutes, we were all covered in dirt. Several of us were laughing at the ridiculousness of the cloud of dirt inside the bus. No one seemed too upset. Fortunately, I still had a surgical mask from a SARS-era flight, and I used this to keep the dust out of my mouth.
The road was crossed with ditches, and had plenty of holes. They were in the process of building a big highway, and the bus would switch from what will be the east-bound and west-bound lanes, depending on which was better. By the end of the 4.5 hour trip, Thien was really sick from the motion.
We stayed at the guesthouse where the bus dropped us. We were tired, filthy, it was getting dark, and the rooms were only $3, so we took one. Judging from the rooms, they put the place up in about 10 minutes. But the deck was VERY nice. The guesthouse is built out over the lake in Phnom Penh. The view and the breeze is really serene. However, the other side of the guesthouse leads to a series of muddy alleyways. It appears to be in backpacker central.
Thursday, 9/4/03
In spite of the fact that you could hear conversations in the next room, I slept really well. Although sound travelled, there wasn't much sound to travel. The only thing that disturbed my sleep was Thien saying that a mouse just ran down his arm.
We walked around Phnom Penh, and had a very pleasant day. We walked down the riverfront and had lunch while chatting with the waiter. We went to the park by the Independence Monument and rested a while. We went through the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. Thien is a big lover of diamonds, and the Silver Pagoda has a statue of Buddha covered in diamonds, the largest of which is 25 carats. We walked through the cental market, housed mainly in a big domed building. While here, we got to see big spiders sold as food. One was still alive. Then through Wat Phnom on the only hill in town, and back to the guesthouse. We decided not to bother changing lodgings.
Dinner was at a really good Indian restaurant near our guesthouse. Phnom Penh appears to have a good selection of restaurants.
Friday, 9/5/03
Thien wasn't feeling well enough to leave Phnom Penh, so we just spent the day relaxing around the guesthouse. It was just as well, since it was quite rainy most of the day. The movie playing in the common area? Why "The Killing Fields" of course. If it hadn't been for rain and sickness, we probably would have gone to see the killing fields today.
Tomorrow morning, bright and early, another bus trip on the fun-filled roads of Cambodia. Off to Siem Riep and the ancient city of Ankor Wat--the main reason anyone comes to tour Cambodia.
Later,
Sid
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment