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Sambo
Sambo walks home after a hard day.... Chum Reap Sooa (Good morning - spelled terribly wrong in Khmer),
Well K,K & T are here! (internet spotty - so forgive if the entry gets cut off)
The plane ride from Seattle was actually pleasant - EVA Air rocks. We all sleep and ate well and arrived in Tai Pei rested and ready for an adventure.
While sitting in the airport, we meet two fabulous young women. Shannon, who on her fourth trip to Cambodia with a mission group (Partners in Progress) was back for a month to support a mission project. And, Erin who is a young women here on an internship prior to starting law school at the Univ of MN. She will be working on labor relations issues - so we wish her the best of luck on this great opportunity (see the attached photo). Shannon showed us pictures and gave great advice and where to go and what to see while staying in Phnom Pehn - it was tremendously helpful.
We arrived in Phnom Penh and as we were flying in - we knew that this was going to be more intense, beautiful, scary than we had made up in our
minds. Tina and I got very silent as we watched the countryside. It was brown, and wet and unevenly built up and primitive from the air. When we de-planed....the humidity was right there to meet us - it actually felt welcoming and good to me. Why is it that airplanes believe more air conditioning is better than less :-). Anyway, getting a visa was easy - a photo and $20 and you're in. Our driver was waiting, our luggage showed up and we were off....
This is where is got interesting. The road to our hotel was a mixture of new buildings, old buildings, and destroyed buildings. We all just watched in awe - or it anticipation of hitting one of the moto riders who where everywhere. When i have a better connection - i'll explain the traffic laws - oh yeah, there aren't any. But we arrived safely, and our room is what we expected - clean, basic....and the staff very helpful. They helped us track down Erin - who i was checking on to see if she arrived at her guesthouse successfully - after several long and confusing conversation later - yes, she had arrived. She can
Tina - First Look
Cultural Transition comment, but she had the same experience we had - emotional after a long trip and a cultural change.
We rested up and than took out my (spontaneous) list that i spent 3 hours in Tai Pei writing up - just so we wouldn't miss anything and we stepped out into Phnom Pehn not really prepared for the experience, but not wanting to miss Sam Bo (large elephant) walk home from his day job during rush hour. We hired a Tuk Tuk, negotiated down from $3 (tourist fee) to $2 (locals) based on the help of our hotel staff. However, we bonded with Torndo our driver and now we've hired him for the rest of our stay.
We decided to go the River (where foreigners like to visit) as our first stop - like I said it was rush hour, so we inhaled significant fumes, dodged motos and cars and oh yes, the elephant to enjoy the walk. I think it all had to sink in - it is like no other place that we've been. Pleasant smiles, dirty river banks, busy, chaotic streets, dirt and dust - not many tourists. At the end of our walk, we
Independence Monument
Monument dedicated to all the Cambodians killed in war backed down from a Khmer dining experience and ended up at the FCC (Foreign Correspondent Club) for a beer (because we still haven't figured out the ice thing), and a cheese and tomato pizza....not adventurous, but at least we could take our malaria pills. We had planned on attending a local, cultural dance (Apsara) at the art center, but by the time we got back to our room to clean up all of us laid down and were sleeping by 7:30......right after some discussion on what "did we actually get ourselves into" or probably more accurately what did Kathy get us into.....
It's Day 2 - Sharon and Rob just showed up :-)....and so more to follow.
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