We start our journey leaving Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday, June 1st, Saturday after breakfast with Marianne. Reluctantly we packed to leave for Phnom Penh by Mekong Express. We leave HCMC sad and happy, sad to leave two really great people we have met and happy to continue our journey.
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| View from the bus while traveling from HCMC ,Viet Nam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
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| Another photo of the countryside by bus |
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| Driving into the traffic circle in Phnom Penh, what a welcoming and beautiful site. |
Once we arrived in Phnom Penh, we found a place to stay, Diamond Palace II. We walked around night market to get cash in USD. We had dinner at Karma along the river for $11 and met Mary and Jesiah from London eating at a table nearby. They told us about the Killing Fields and S21 which they highly recommended we see despite the grotesque acts that took place in these places.
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| How can such a place have so much beauty, yet so many atrocities took place here. The Killing Fields |
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| Memorial with the bones and skulls of the victims of The Killing Fields. |
We slept in a little on Sunday then had breakfast, we started talking with Julia and Jess then rushed off to join and travel by tuk tuk to the Killing Fields, we had lunch at Bird Nest then to we were taken to S21. Heavy day on genocide and emotional but so worth the visit. Showered when we got back, what a relief to wash off, did research on transportation to Siem Reap. Went for a walk to have dinner at a local LGBT restaurant. We ended up having dinner on the rooftop of Quay along the Mekong River. Lovely evening with breeze off the river. Went for a walk along the river then looked for a couple of clubs. We walked in the dark streets of the night market, but felt real uncomfortable. We could not find Rainbow then walked past Blue Chilli which was real quiet with hardly any people there, we decided we were too tired and went back to Diamond Palace and crashed.
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| Traveling by tuk yuk with Julia and Jess to The Killing Fields |
Another week has begun and we both checked Facebook, this was our way of keeping connected with home. We walked to Wat Phnom, Duen Penh statue, Central Market (Phsar Thmey) then had spring rolls 3 for a dollar, bread with coconut milk and fish sauce, sweet rice flour treat, yummy local food. People were smiling at us while we sat and ate among them and savored every minute of the experience.
More walking and investigating to see what this City at the junction of the Mekong and Tonie Sap Rivers has to offer. We watched many monks in orange walking past as we approached the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. We started at Silver Pagoda. Beautiful grounds and temples within the walled royal grounds. Behind the palace and near our hotel we toured the open air National Museum surprising it only took us an hour but it is an unusual museum with open air courtyard and no exterior walls. The museum had nice exhibits and really well done. Finished our day cooled off at hotel then showered. Our last night in Phnom Penh we walked the Tonle Sap River towards the Monument. As we walked along, we saw a protest asking for amnesty. We had dinner at The Latin Quarter, delicious meal and relaxing. Off to Toto for ice cream, great flavors (coconut/jackfruit, mango/passion fruit).
On June 4th we set off for our 6 hour bus ride on Mekong Express to Siem Reap and our host, Sutay Guven, he is a long time couch surfer from Turkey. We arrived at Sutay's, met his girlfriend from Thailand and CS member, Linh NGO from Ha Noi. We waited and photographed an incredible thunderstorm before heading out to Le Tigre de Papiet for dinner. Andrew met us there then we headed to Temple Club for 'happy hour' 50 cent drafts. Good conversation and laughs.
The next morning we set our sights for a tour of the ruins. So on Wednesday, we took our host’s advise hired Sovan for tour of Angkor Wat. Found him on Utopia and he charged $12 USD for the day. We did 7 temples the first day of this amazing tour starting with Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Got back, showered then headed out on bike to Pub Street. Dinner at Viva, Mexican restaurant. Really authentic corn taco soft shell tortilla. Walked over to Temple Club to watch Aspara dancers then attended CS meeting, met Cassandra and planned for her to join us tomorrow. Road bikes back to house.
June 6th, Thursday off with Sovan to guide us and Cassandra to the farthest temples. Found the best temples and we did a jump photo Cassandra style at a thousand year old temple :). Our photo was taken by a Japanese tourist, very grateful he took the shot for us. We had a long day touring from 8 to 5.00pm. Returned to shower then had dinner at Taberu, new restaurant in street 25. $5.00 set Khmer meal includes soft drink and discounted draft beer. Early to bed and returned our bikes.
June 7th, Friday up early for our last day of touring. Another day of different temples, clear skies with beautiful settings. 8.00am to 3.00pm. We completed 18 temples in3 days, the area is full of rich wealth of ruins from the 11th to 13 centuries. Great experience. Bought tickets for Pakse, Laos. Uploaded photos and marked them in our air con room. Had dinner with Sutay at Khmer restaurant then to night market for ice cream, Khmer style at Angkor Snow Ice, really good stuff. Walked around then headed back at 10.30, have to catch bus for 5.00am with pick-up at 4.30am.
