HCMC and Phnom Penh

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We arrived in HCMC late on Sunday night and found a taxi to take us to our hotel. Because of our late arrival the hotel sold our room to someone else. They then led us through couple of different alleys and to a different hotel. It worked out okay although the room was not very nice.

After finally getting to sleep on Sunday we woke early Monday morning to find transport to Cambodia. We ended up getting on a pretty nice coach bus with a/c. The a/c is huge because it's about 95 during the day here. The ride was comfortable and rather scenic. The border crossing was a hassle because our passports kept getting moved to the bottom of the pile.

We arrived in Phnom Penh around 3PM and were met with a horde of tuk tuk drivers. Finally agreed on a price and we were off to the hotel. Our driver was very nice and we decided to hire him for the next day. We checked in to the new hotel, which was much nicer than what we had in Vietnam and cheaper. While we were out for dinner we met up with Ricky, a Brit over here on holiday. Ended up spending the rest of the evening with him, drinking 75 cent Angkor beers.

We got in late Monday night and overslept Tuesday morning and were afraid we'd lost our driver for the day. That was not the case though. Tossi was still waiting outside the hotel. Our first stop was Choeng Ek, the killing fields. It was really hard to beleive the terrible things that went on at that place. Our next stop was the S-21 detention center. This was a place they held, interrogated, and tortured people during Khmer Rouge regin of the late 70's. Many of the people there ended up at the Cheong Ek.

After viewing all of that suffering we needed a bit of a lift so we were off to the Russian Market. We planned on getting a sample of some exotic foods and find some good bargains. Much of the place was closing down when we arrived so we didn't have much luck. Chris got a couple of t shirts for $2 each. The smell from the food stalls was so overwhelming I decided to avoid them.

We are off to Siem Reap tomorrow and hopefully a sunset visit to Angkor Wat.

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Photos

recovered remains
There are 17 levels in the memorial each with preserved remains found in the many mass graves that were unearthed.

Comments

[Ray]

Great pictures
Tossi has a nice cab hook-up. If you eat to much hot food rember peanut butter takes the hot taste out of your mouth. Have a great trip and be careful . (remember]