Phnom Penh

---

HELLO!

I wasn't going to write a blog after just one day... but I don't want to disappoint my loyal readers! 😉
thanks again for the comments! I even have a fan in Belgium now! merci por ton message...

I don't have all that much to say since its just been 24 hours since I last wrote you, but some stuff has happened. Although I loved the temples, I left early and didn't do Day 3. It was mostly because the lady Violeta that was sharing the tuk-tuk with Barry and I, was a BIT on the depressive side. EVERYTHING was always wrong. Even the towel at the nice hotel! That was the line... so i decided, i'm GONE! That's the nice thing with traveling on your own! I didn't have to ask anyone... I just bought a ticket and I was gone the next morning. By the way, a tuk-tuk anywhere in Siem Reap costs US$2. The bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (5 hours) cost $4. The main thing was that if I stayed for day 3, she would travel with me to Phnom Penh the following day... I'm a happy, easy-going person, and she was pulling me down!!

Last night we did discover a part of Siem Reap that was not as horrible as the part where we stayed. So if you go there... avoid the main street area and find the Old Market area. much calmer and cosier!
Typical finding that on the last night, but no worries, I was done with SR.
I was picked up at 7am this morning by a bus and taken to the bus "station" (can you call it a station when it is a mess of a market mixed with a bus parking lot???) to get on the bus to Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital). I was directed onto a bus and had a seat. Another old, beat up bus... broken plastic seats, the fan above my head was missing. Two other tourists came on the bus... and then the bus started filling up with Cambodians... a chatty cambodian guy sat down next to me. They always like to practice their english... I was not in the mood. I was thinking, HOW DID I GET PUT ON THIS BUS?! Looking out the window, I saw a nice shiny yellow bus. The drivers and crew were even uniformed! Why do I ride with the locals and the lady with a stuffed monkey in her bag! (seriously, I saw two small stiff arms sticking out of a plastic bag, that could only have been monkey arms!) Next time I'll take the $5 bus!! No more budget rides for me!!!

Then the driver started the engine... I thought, this bus is just going to crawl to Phnom Penh and we'll get there way after everyone else. I was wrong. Apparently, he was a race car driver in training... The road from SR to PP is MUCH better than the one to Poipet (the border). This can actually be considered a road (whereas the other was a dirt path for 10 hours!). But it is narrow... and it is full of vehicles, motorbikes, bicycles and cows/oxen.... How do you get a cow out of the way? HONK!!!!!!!!!!! so for 5 hours the driver had his foot on the pedal and hand on the horn.... and the cambodian guy asking me questions and a little girl staring at me the whole way. It wasn't all that bad, and the time flew by, but its just so funny how different it is here...
We stopped for lunch on the way.... in a place that was SOOO dirty that even though i was hungry, I refused to eat there. chickens were walking around my feet!! AVIAN FLU! and these chickens come partially featherless already! its weird... they don't look healthy. So i got a mango and pineapple (cut up and ready to eat) for $1. Good price right? And they sell them everywhere, so i've been taking advantage of that! You eat them with a stick... very easy and yummy.

Finally arrived in PP and managed to leave my new Cambodian friend, that wanted to be my tour guide (even though this is his first time here!).... and met an Irish guy who took me to where he's been staying. The room is alright... basic... looks like the type of place that might have cockroaches in the bathroom when you get back from dinner... i think i feel this way because the hotel guy inspected it for a few long moments before fully opening the door for me... haha ah well... no worries. It has a restaurant on stilts on the lake (Tonle Sap), so I'm going to go hang out there later... probably a nice sunset view!

I just met the owner (English) of a bar here, so I'll go there for drinks later too. And there's a danish girl next to me who's the owner of another bar... a lot of foreigners that came here to stay apparently!

I'm actually online to look at flights out of here though! I want to go to the beaches!!! Tomorrow I'm going to see the Killing Fields and S21... Its going to be a heavy day... but definitely something that must be done when in Cambodia. Another thing on the tour posters here is the shooting range! You can go shoot any type of gun/machinegun/etc you could imagine... I dont really want to try that. I've even heard that you can shoot at stuff, like a cow... no thanks.

I plan on leaving Cambodia BY AIRPLANE (YESSSSSSSSSSSSS) on monday.

again - things I forgot to tell you last time:

The locals in SR (maybe here too, but I just arrived so I'm not sure), can speak English pretty well. Even the kids! I had a mini conversation with one little girl about Celine Dion and Nelly Furtado! Also, I heard several Angkor guides speaking in Spanish, French, German, Japanese... unreal! They barely speak English in Thailand! Impressive for a country that just joined the tourist map so recently. The guy on the bus today said that they know they must speak english for tourism to survive... Thailand should think about this.

Another thing that impressed me was that the kids know the capital cities of the main countries! They asked me, "where you from?" I answer, "Canada" (to keep it simple! I have said Portugal before and they looked at me with a blank face). Then they say, "Capital Ottawa, speak two languages, french and english."

wow this was a long one... apparently I had a lot to say!
off to the Russian market now... need some Cambodian souvenirs!!

Jessica

---

Comments

[Nelly]

Hola amiga
Que terrible, yo ya estaria muerta con todo lo que te esta pasando. Translation: I would be dead with everything you are going through. You are amazing!! Hope everything gets better and better for you. I promise that if you go to Chile it will be better to travel over there. Take care. Love, Nelly.

[Kim af East T'sook]

Reader's Dijessica.
Dear Jessica, We are fascinated with your adventure and we are "living" it thru U. We can hardly wait for your next travelreport. We enjoy your amazing style, to describe the journey, since you possess that rare characteristic, to magnetize the readers into your world. Therefor, we beg you: when you return to Vancouver, pl. EDIT a CD with the full story and photos. We will, gladly pay for. Enjoy and go swim with sharks. Cheers Dqts

[Colleen]

This is hilarious!
Jessica - I had to do the lol here at work a few times! This part of your book (when you get around to writing it) will be a comedy! So funny but I know you can handle it. Nelly is apalled, I see!