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Published: April 24th 2011
Our 3.45 am wake-up was not easy, nor was the bus ride to Cho Doc where we could catch the ferry out of Vietnam to Phnom Penh. The roads in Vietnam are not the best, and again, there's that motorbike issue, so the driver of the van was doing everything in his power to pass them, no matter what oncoming traffic may exist in the left lane.
We arrived in one piece after having our eardrums bombarded with Vietnamese pop, panicking due to the fact we weren't one hundred percent sure as to when the ferry left Cho Doc, and from where. Our only option for transport were buggies pulled by men on bicycles, so we threw our stuff on board and watched uncomfortably as our drivers struggled under the heavy load of all our travel gear.
Miraculously along the way a man pulled up on a motorbike who happened to work for the ferry we were trying to make. He called ahead to the dock, and luckily there were still tickets left for us.
Everything went smoothly from there on out until we got to the Cambodian embassy. The ferry makes a stop for everyone on the
boat so that we can get visas. One of the employees of the ferry takes all our passports and deals with the immigration personnel. The issue was, like Phil had warned, you need to have enough visa pages. Poor Stephanie was pulled aside and informed that she wouldn't be allowed the visa because her passport was full. That is, not allowed unless she paid. Thirty dollars later (on top of the visa fee) she was back on the boat with the rest of us, some of her stamps covered forever.
We arrived in Phom Penh early afternoon which left us some time to get situated in our room. The Royal Guest House was great. The building was huge, the rooms spacious, and the characters residing there quite entertaining. Richard, a Vietnam vet, was one we had the most interaction with. He filled us in on spots to visit and had a lot of opinions about the US, living overseas, and the Vietnam war.
Unfortunately we didn't end up doing too much in Phnom Penh while I was there. Since we arrived late in the afternoon and people were tired, the first day was a bit of a bust.
Along the Mekong
On our way to CambodiaThe second day we had grand plans to hit up a couple sites, but only made it to the Russian Market (a huge outdoor market where my haggling training from Senegal came in very handy!). We tried to see the Palace, but it turns out scarves over ones shoulders do not count as proper attire. Thus, we missed our window.
We ended up doing a walking tour of the city, however, passing old colonial buildings, and wandering up to the Phnom Wat. Phnom means hill and Wat means temple, thus the Hill Temple. The story behind it is a girl named Penh found 4 buddha statues of some importance, and placed them on this hill (the only hill in the city). Thus the name Phnom Penh was born (Hill of Penh). The Wat wasn't that amazing, except that it was covered in monkeys! I don't know where they came from, but they were pretty entertaining. There was also an elephant that you could ride and feed at the bottom of the hill.
Our last stop on the tour was the Hotel Raffles, the oldest and most expensive hotel in the city ($200/night to give you an idea of
what other prices might be like. Better yet, ours was $15/night!!!). We had drinks and pretended like we were journalists camped out during the Vietnam War collecting stories to send back home. Apparently Jackie O stayed there at one point, and they have a champagne glass with her lipstick mark.
While my visit was quick, the city was super charming. The mood was friendlier and the pace a little slower than in Vietnam. Plus, there were fewer motorbikes 😊 I will be returning before my time here is through...
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