Day 15, Summer in Asia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Turns out we weren’t the only ones up at 4 am in Phnom Penh. Since Paul and I were up we went for a walk in the park by our hotel. Scared the crap out of the front desk guy who was asleep behind the counter. He must hate travelers on weird hours.
Out at the Independence Monument park, there were at least twenty people already exercising. The night guards were doing their shifts from hammocks. We walked by trees with as many as six hammocks of sleeping people in them, like little pop-up hammock hotels. There were also tuk drivers sleeping in hammocks in their rigs.
At breakfast we got lots of what-to-see tips from a friendly entomologist from Baltimore who lived here for four years. He specializes in mosquito diseases.
Waiting by the pool to leave for the palace.
We walked over to the Royal Palace and was told by a tuk driver that the palace was closed for the morning because the King of Vietnam was having tea and meeting with the King of Cambodia. So specific. Perhaps he thought we were British and the story would play better. We didn’t know that the last Vietnamese king died in 1945, so it was unlikely he was having tea with anyone. The man said the palace would reopen at 2 pm, but in the meantime, he could take us on a tour of the city. We thanked him for the info but passed on his tour. Turns out that was just a wee scam since a few yards further was the entrance gate and the palace was open.
Kier was the only one interested in the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, so she went solo. That happens often when we travel, Paul or one of the girls doing their own thing. People do what they like–it’s how everyone stays happy. .
The Royal Palace ticket area had lots of kitty helpers.
These are photos Kier took at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.
While she was in the Palace, Paul and I walked past this pretty intersection to get some good Brown Coffee.
Kier was hardly in the palace for a half an hour so I met up with her while Paul took off into the city on his own. On the walk back to the hotel, we were excited to see the golden dragon statue in the park. As we got closer however, the golden dragon turned out to be a rooster–there’s a life metaphor in there somewhere. But our dragon-disappointment shifted our attention (disappointments often do) toward something even better, monks with umbrellas! Sadly I didn’t get any super close and awesome photos because I hear you get weird bad camera karma when you paparazzi the monks.
These are some snaps from a distance, I need a special superzoom lens to capture better monk moments.
At such a respectful distance, you can hardly find the monks in the next two snaps.
These were parked along the park.
We also passed a graveyard.
While exploring the city, Paul found a market that was…real. By this I mean, everything one could possibly eat was being sold here. There is widespread poverty here, reflected in what’s sold in the markets; every kind of meat, even the humblest of vegetables, an assortment of toasted and roasted insects and snakes. Paul says he’s never seen such a unique market, likely because it reflects the poverty of the people it serves and what they are willing to eat.
After he got back from the market, Paul and Madi went to S21, otherwise known as Toul Sleng Genocidal Museum. I don’t always have the stomach for sad places. In 1976 the Khmer Rouge turned the Suburban high school Tuol Svay Pray into an interrogation, torture, and execution center. The documentation of over 6000 photographs of the victims of S21, personalizes the large number with the faces of the people who were victimized.
Meanwhile back at the villa, the electricity was intermittent all afternoon, which limited Kier’s ability to work. She eventually got the electricity she needed to get some work done. The kitchen stayed open, must have been using gas, so we grabbed a ramen and spaghetti carbonara.
After Madi and Paul got back from S21, we had dinner at the sister hotel of the one we stayed in at Siem Reap. The menu was extensive and had great views of the city, day and night. Like our hotel in Siem Reap, this one has many adorned statues. Perhaps instead of stars, hotels should be rated in statues–this is a 5-statue, for sure.
