PHNOM PHEN DAY 2

Trip Start Oct 01, 2008

319

Trip End Sep 02, 2009

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Flag of Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tuesday, December 2, 2008

We are up early, very, very early. This steel band begins playing just after 4 and woke Len up. They stopped for awhile and then began again just after 5. I woke up this time. It continued on until 6 when we turned on the TV and drowned the noise out with the late night news from London. We went up for the delicious buffet breakfast. Reheated our Cambodian heart shaped waffles in the toaster over and really enjoyed them hot.

We had hired a tuk-tuk to take us to the 'killing fields'. It is about 14 kms south of the city. Quite the ride as we got to see more areas of Phnom Phen. Some are not so nice. We notices more beggars here and more men, especially, with missing or deformed arms and legs.

We really notices the big SUV's here and new ones. We noticed lots of Lexus and Land Rovers as they have their name on the two side doors, Caddilacs, Mercedes, BMW's fancy Toyotos and Ford truck/car. We learned from two women from Australia that in 1975 most cars and trucks were destroyed and the metal was used for other things and the tires were used to make shoes for the army. They only needed those rubber sandals, not boots because of their enviroment.
Everyone here and in Vietnam on scooters and motor bikes wear helmets, except for the children. Some helmets look like WWI helmets, some look like the hats one would wear doing dressage on a horse in a houndstooth pattern. Some wear hats under their helmet and some over them. They sell gas in glass Pepsi or Coke bottles along the streets.

Our tuk-tuk driver today has 'We are absolutely against child sex tourism' printed arcoss the back of his helmet and shirt. I told him very good and ran my fingers across the message. We also had a notice in our first hotel room saying child sex was punishible in Cambodia as well as in the persons country by inprisonment. The house rules also included no overnight guests, must sign a visiting guest in, and be aware residents have been druged and robbed by guests.

It is a windy and sunny day and we enjoy the ride. We read the rules to visit this memorial. It is a very sad place and we pay our respects at the memorial when we first arrive. It is a tall building and there are shelves inside from the floor to the top with human skulls on them. It is unbelievable and a very sad sight. We walked around reading the information boards. The ground has divets all over where the grave sites have been dug out. Pieces of clothing lie mixed in the dirt. We leave and head back into the city.

We asked our driver to take us to the Russian Market. It has everything you can think of or would want. I tried on some sandles but didn't buy any yet. We did get some laundry soap, ziplock bags, and a rain cover for my backpack. It will be sunny for sure from now on.

Went to the internet, had lunch, and booked our tickets to Sien Reap for tomorrow. On our way back to the hotel we bought a pomello - one of those very large grapefruit type fruits. The woman cuts and peels it and takes all the white stuff off. She did one and then must have decided it wasn't sweet enough for us and did another one. We sat on the wall by the river and ate it. It was so very good and sweet, as long as you don't eat the membrane, that's the bitter part.

Back to the hotel and then we went looking for an ATM. Met up again with two women from Australia and I stopped to talk while Len went to the bank. We joined them for a beer and heard about their trip plans. They left for their dinner get together and we had dinner and back to the room for the night.