Cambodia: Phnom Penh

CAMBODIA: Phnom Penh

On Thursday morning I was picked up by a 6:30 shuttle van to the bus depot, where I got on a cushy tour bus to Phnom Penh. We stopped two hours into the ride for about half an hour, and I found the market just past the tourist strip, where they clearly weren’t used to blond female giants like me. Being stared at here, where they haven’t seen the likes of me before, is much more friendly-feeling than in Korea, where they have seen plenty of westerners, but stare anyway. Something of a laughing “with” vs.”at” distinction. I also had my first experience of being followed by kids begging outright in the market, and adults and adults with kids outside the bus stop. It’s a tough thing, as tourists are discouraged to give to them because there are social services for them and because it encourages more begging, but then, there they are. I ended up giving away a lot of Mr. Mao’s oranges, as I couldn’t eat them all and they were heavy!

We arrived in Phnom Penh about 6 hours later and were swarmed, SWARMED, by drivers. I got into the office, where they seemed to be officially unwelcome, to get info on buses out, but didn’t get much help, so I turned my attention to finding the hotels I’d noted in my guidebook. A driver who’d gotten into the office and was wisely employing soft-sell techniques said he’d take me to the guesthouse I asked about, and we walked to his taxi in the lot nearby (hmmmm, as opposed to the tuk-tuks lined up on the street), and when we got there he said that it was closed, so I got pissy and said that he should have told me that at the station, if it were true, and not now, and that he should take me there (It’s a common scam to tell tourists that things are closed in order to steer them to places that give a commission to the guides). It turned out that the place had changed hands and had a different name, and I agreed to look at another place nearby that had $5 rooms. It was decent and in an acceptable location between a market and the Mekong, so I took the room there and arranged for my Lao visa with the clerk.

That done, I walked to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (enjoying fresh fruit on the way). The walk there was a good tour of part of the city, which is part pavement (main roads) and part dirt. The Palace itself was big and impressive, but not nearly as much as other places I’d seen in recent travels, and none of the buildings were accessible. And the young monks practically hunt you down and rope you into a conversation so that you feel like they’re either stalking you or trying to sell you something. It was creepy, actually.

I left there and walked by the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship and Independence Monuments before having a very late lunch at Amoc Café. I had a set menu meal of chicken satay, sweet and sour pork, chicken amoc (chicken, curry, coconut, veggies, mint and other herbs, served in a coconut—AMAZING!), rice and dessert of mango and sweet sticky rice, all for $4.50. I ate it all, and it was goooood!

I walked it off by wandering through some of the busy parts of town to the river promenade and did some further looking into buses to Kratie for two days later. Upon arrival back at the hotel, the clerk told me that he’d been unable to get my visa processed as promised (i.e. he didn’t leave in time to get there before they closed), which meant that I’d have to delay my leaving for another day (I’d already lost one to the camera fiasco), which would then leave me zero scheduling wiggle room to get to my final destination before my flight to Venice. Which meant that I’d have been stressed out the entire time, and wiggle room is necessary when traveling in this part of the world. Frustrated, I finally ended up booking a flight to Vientiane, Laos, and skipping several places I would have seen on the way via boat and bus. Again, the budget takes a hit—but more upsetting was the itinerary abbreviation. Bummer.

Friday: up and out to the central market for browsing and breakfast. I passed by lots of people eating various dishes, then sat down next to someone with something especially yummy looking and indicated that I’d have it, too. Again I got the feeling that I’d wandered beyond the normal tourist boundaries, but felt perfectly welcome. I went back to the travel agency to pick up my ticket, then along the river to the National Museum, which was EXCELLENT. It was a beautiful building with a gorgeous courtyard and wonderful sculpture and artifacts—all with great English information.

Outside the gate, I negotiated for a moto ride to Tuol Sleng Museum, a former high school that Pot Pol turned into a notoriously cruel prison, from which most were taken to be exterminated. It is an appropriately horrifying and upsetting place. Cells and rooms of torture are left as they were, barbed wire is everywhere, and there are photos of prisoners and Khmer Rouge soldiers and the killing fields. I’ve been to concentration camps in Germany and WWI museums in Japan, and while they are all testaments to the terrible things people are capable of doing to each other, what really struck me here was that these atrocities had happened during my lifetime, and disproportionately to very young people.

I didn’t have time to go to the killing fields (despite the collection of drivers at the museum’s entrance who really want to take you there), and I don’t think I would have wanted to go anyway. My final planned stopped was the Psar Tuol Tom Pong, the other huge market south of town. I felt like a jerk to be shopping after being at the museum, but having a deep moment in a park wasn’t going to make me a better person, I figured. I bought a bunch of BeerLao t-shirts for gifts, some Gap tops (I also saw a lot of Polo and Lacoste), and a leather purse, plus some pineapple and papaya.

Another moto driver brought me back to the hotel to pick up my bags, and I hailed a tuk-tuk (that was on its last legs, it seemed) to the airport.

Last notes on Cambodia:
Siem Reap:
almost totally tourist-oriented
Begging at markets but not at temples
Kids scruffy but seemingly healthy (and yet there was a children’s hospital where people waited for over 24 hours to be seen; there was always a huge line outside)
Majorly strong sun and high humidity
Thatch and bamboo homes everywhere, often on stilts
Barefoot or flipflops
Kids with rotten teeth asking for candy
They live close to the land, lots of farming
Hammocks everywhere
Monkeys

Phnom Penh:
City-er, Tuk-tuks and motos super aggressive about getting customers
Faster pace and busier
Classes are more apparent
Begging everywhere
More expats, more exposure to westerners who aren’t just tourists
French influences in architecture, as in Hanoi (and vendors call you ‘madam’)

Next stop: Laos!