At the bustling bus station in the morning surrounded by Cambodians selling newspapers, fruit, baguettes etc. It was a good bus this time and the paved roads were heartily welcomed as the flat deep green and wet Cambodian countryside slips past. At our first stop a Cambodian guy befriended me telling me his story and showing me his travel pics.
Arrived in the Cambodian capitol of Phnom Penh and found a tourist agent and recieved a map. Located the address for the guest house where the group was staying. Grabbed a moto driver (mopeds are the main type of transportation here. Cars are only for the privelaged elite)and weaved thru the no rules crazy traffic to Guesthouse Sister #9. Had lunch and awaited the crew who were off taking in the sites. BTW: there is a heavy French influence here. They even have a Charles du Gaulle Boulevard!
Isabella wound up coming to Cambodia afterall and she was the first person I saw arrive. Robin and Minesh showed up shortly after there tour of The Killing Fields, S-21 Genocide museum and shooting off Ak-47s and Colt 45 guns at the interestingly named "Happy Club" shooting range. They introduced me to the others of the crew: Laura/Hanna (Canada), Paul (Can), Brian (Scotland) and Dave (Oz). We hung out on the chill patio overlooking the lake and playing pool (All pool tables in Cambodia are competition sized snooker tables: odd for such a short race of people.) into the night.
Saw some of the crew off in the morning, they're headed up to Siem Reap but will be back in a few days. Paul stayed back and we decided to check some sites. After a short moto ride we entered the National museum and had a look at the rooms filled with increasingly larger and larger statues of Buddha, Shiva, Vushnu, Ginesh, Mama Buddha, lingas, Nagas, etc. After finishing up with some ancient jewelry and 2nd century B.C. drums and flutes we took lunch at a Cambodian noodle shop. All locals and all noodles, the lunch came to a meager $1.25!
We walked to the Royal palace next. First thru the Throne room which is adorned in gold and impressive. A smaller version of Thailands, but unfortunatley no pics were allowed. Strolled thru the grounds admiring the buildings, gardens and stupas. We entered the Silver Pagoda next. It's name comes from the hundreds and hundreds of solid silver floor tiles each weighing over 2 lbs. Of course there was a plethora of Buddha statues, but the two standouts are the 200lb gold Buddha adorned with 2084 diamonds and high above all the rest is the Emerald Buddha. Unfortunately, again no pics were allowed. Lastly we had a look at the shrine to Buddha's footprint. Now I know why he walked around barefoot. He couldn't have possibly found footwear to fit his 18ft. foot!!!
Next up on the agenda is the Killing Fields Memorial. My moto driver, Rain, dropped me off at what is actually a very small area where some 9000 bodies were unearthed and they have built a towering stupa to house the skulls as an eery reminder. After the Nazis the world said "Never Again", so you have to wonder how Pol Pot, Ankor and the Khmer Rouge were able to do it all over again in Cambodia a mere 25 years later. Or maybe "Never" isn't so far away.
After the Killing Fields, Rain took me to "The Happy Club" which is a pricey tourist trap were you can fire off all kinds of weapons such as Ak-47s, M-16s, Colt 45s, Lugers and even a grenade launcher!! I took a look at the menu, but didn't eat.
A short moto ride brought us to the S-21 Genocial Center. Got there just in time for the documentary movie and then witnessed the torture implements, gallows, cells, interogation rooms, skulls, forensic wound studies, photos of the dead, and their stories. The same sureal feeling as in Aushwitz/Berkinow, but not quite as intense.
After that all I could do was head back to the Guesthouse to drown my sorrows with Tim (New Zealand) who has been working in -40 degree Mongolia and Joel (Germany) who is here on holiday with his Cambodian wife and says there is no doubt about it. When he retires in 10 years he's permantely moving to Cambodia.
So that is about it from Phnom Penh. All that is left to do is wait for the crew to come back from Siem Reap and then we are all headed to the beach for X-mas!!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!
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