Blogs from Phnom Penh, South, Cambodia, Asia - page 206

We crossed the border from Vietnam into Cambodia by 'speed boat', which wasn't 100% true! It was a boat but there was not even a hint pace on the thing. It took two days to travel up the Mekong Delta and cross into Cambodia, this involved three buses, two petrol boats and one rowing boat. Despite the slow and very uncomfortable journey we did get to spend some time going round some of the floating villages which were very interesting especially seeing the hole in their living room floor which they farm fish in (they make use of everything round here). We also went to some local sweet makers which were cool...instead of Popcorn they have Poprice...which was actually nice. Finally we made it to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, which was one of the ... read more

I was SO happy to have finally reached Phnom Penh, I would have slept in a barn if it meant getting some rest! Luckily I didn't have to though... Through my host organization I arranged to stay with an expat who lived right in the city, named Marylin (from the UK). She picked my tired ass up from the FCC (Foreign Correspondents Club) and took me back to her place on the back of her motto. I think I've become so used to riding these bikes that I might have to get one when I come home! EK! Streets of Toronto beware! Marylin lives in a plush apartment building, all gated in and protected from the slums which surround the area. It's such a HUGE contrast of living standards between the expats and Khmers. Compared ... read more

as i mentioned, i needed a new room. i also wished to check on a vietnam visa, so i rented a bicycle. much easier to go further this way. i didn't realize how crazy this bike ride would turn out. it seems as though the concept of right or left-hand drive doesn't really exist in cambodia. for the most part it is right-hand drive, however if it seems easier to stay on the left side of the road, that is ok(actually it is the norm), wether you be a bicycle, scooter, tuk-tuk, car or even a truck. mostly, there don't seem to exist rules of the road. if a car wants to turn he pulls in front of oncoming traffic figuring that they must yield. whomever is there first has the right of way. don't even ... read more

First time So the bus stopped at some hotel or other and we took a tuk-tuk down to the "backpackers" end of town called lakeside(where the rooms are cheap and the showers are cold)after Emma had looked in about four differant hostels we settled on "number 11 Happy Guest House" we took a room with a/c and no hot water for $7 a night. First thing next morning after putting in our laundry,having a harty breakfast and generaly sorting ourselves out we took a tuk-tuk over to the LaosPDR embbassy to arrange to get our visas (mistake number one, you need 3 passport photos as you have to fill the form in 3 times) so we grab the forms and head back to the hostel via the central market, where we look for a couple of ... read more

Our arrival in Phnom Penh was already, uhmm, how should I put it, pretty amazing. As soon as we got out of the bus, about 20 people started pulling us, screaming to us, putting flyers in our face, just doing everything, EVERYTHING to get us to the guesthouse they wanted us to go. AHHH!! We even had difficulties to reach our backpacks. Ow my god, this was a very prmosing start. We could barely discuss what we wanted to do, cause we couldn't hear each other in all the chaos. Eventually we decided to go and check out rooms in a hostel we knew from the Lonely Planet, fortunately it was okay so we could stay there. So.. What about Phnom Penh itself? It's definitely not the nicest of the cities we've visited, but we've seen ... read more