Firstly, I am thinking of you all back home on the Big Island with the tsunami destruction that friends have shared with me.....Kona Pier, K-Bay...everybody is in my thoughts and prayers ok.
I had an early start to my day waking up with the two Queensland girl in my dorm room who were getting up at 6am to get an early bus to Siem Reap. I slept quite well on a soft mattress (much harder in Vietnam) and paying a little extra for air conditioning in the room as well.
I met a guy from London last night that had just literally flew in to start his 2 week vacation in SE Asia and we decided to meet for breakfast downstairs at 7am and head out early to explore the sights of Phnom Penh and also try and beat the heat. Hide from Japan also joined us for the morning.
At 7am, the temperature was very VERY pleasant with a slight breeze coming in from the river about 200 meters away from our hostel. We began our walking tour of the city to the place where Phnom Penh got its name from. It’s a temple on a small hill (the highest point in the city at only 27 meters) very close to our hostel and the American embassy. At the base of the hill was also Samba, the resident elephant who you could get rides on.
Walking the riverfront and city after that, I noticed the definite French influence in the architecture. I was impressed with how well the landscaping of the parks in the city was. But the most impressive architecture came when visiting the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. The colors of the temples along with the backdrop of a nice blue sky made for beautiful photos today. The temples are so intricate in their design and etchings…truly immaculate! We visited the national museum to see ancient temple artifacts and learn of the traditional culture.
There are men offering motorbike and tuk tuk rides everywhere in the city including visits to the “Killing Fields” (which I already opted not to do) and some kind of place where you could shoot guns???!!!! We headed to the local and central markets for some ethnic food that was delicious consisting of rice noodle soup, vegetables and fish. There is a lot of seafood around probably coming from the river close by.
After lunch, my new friend Ashley and I kept walking to the infamous “S-21” museum in Phnom Penh. I specifically planned to visit this museum at the end of the day since I had been told that it was going to be very heart heavy and intense. S-21 was a former school that the Khmer Rouge leaders turned into a torture area for thousands of Cambodian people suspected of leading an uprising to their ways. The museum has literally left everything the way it was and pretty much just sprayed the blood of victims away. It was absolutely heart wrenching to see the torture chambers made and methods used to such innocent victims.
We headed back to our hostel with a tuk tuk emotionally and physically drained. We have booked an 8:45am bus to Siem Reap tomorrow and escape this big city ready for the calm and serenity that a smaller town and the Angkor Wat temples will hopefully provide.
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