Blogs from Cambodia, Asia - page 852

It finally feels like the trip has begun. We had a ridiculously early flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. I didn't really know what to expect... I had heard that the place was turning into a backpacker's Mecca but was pretty run down. Taking a look out the plane's window, the entire country seemed to be brown; it reminded me of an aerial photo of the North Korean country side. While the airport was pretty modern, with a somewhat unorganized customs system that rendered me $20 lighter and took up a page of passport space. We found a taxi and were off. The city was basically a disaster area, with beautiful colonial razer-wire-defended buildings and puddles of questionable liquids in the street. It appears that there's not public sanitation system for the ... read more

February 23, 2011 – Tuesday Weather – very warm & humid Upon arrival at the Phnom Penh Airport we were processed through their immigration very quickly. Due to repacking at the YVR airport Susan and I had put our Cambodian visa picture in checked luggage therefore we were forced to pay 2$US at the Phnom Penh Airport along with the visa cost of 25$US. Today is day one of our tour and we are overcome by the poverty in this city. Phnom Penh is dirty, dusty and every time you step out of a tuc tuc (motor taxi) there were children either begging or trying to sell trinkets. Glue sniffing was very prevalent among the youth. Our guide Lim was very informative, offering the necessary information as we toured the National Museum of Khmer Arts, the ... read more