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Published: March 4th 2007
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Monument
Taken on the way to find the travel agent. The road to Phnom Penh is paved and so the bus ride wasn't too much trouble. We pulled in to the hectic bus station around noon and I said goodbye to Sarah and her friend, and headed off on foot to find a place to stay near the center. After about 20 minutes of walking (often in the road because the sidewalks were full of motorbikes) I arrived at the Tat guest house where I got a single room for an astounding $2! The guest house had a nice rooftop restaurant and so I hung out there for a bit before heading off to find one of the reputable travel agents listed in the Lonely Planet. After 30 minutes of walking in the midday heat, I arrived at the address to find a barbershop. Some helpful locals pointed me in what they thought was the right direction and so I set off again. I eventually came to a mansion in an upscale neighborhood with a sign for Antiques. It happened to have the same name as the travel agent, but it was a very different business. So, I just decided to walk directly over to the Vietnamese embassy to get my
Inside the market
A shaft of sunlight streaks in from a hole in the roof. visa arranged.
I arrived at the embassy compound and approached the guard stationed outside. I asked him about a visa and he told me to give him my passport. I was a little confused, since I had expected to go inside and fill out a form, but having never done this before I handed it over. He told me the fee would be $35 and I would have it back the next day at 5. That sounded good and so I gave him a passport photo and left. I was a little worried about leaving my passport but I decided to take the chance.
I was tired of walking so I decided to take a moto back to the guesthouse. I found a driver and negociated a price and then hopped on the back. It was my first time on the back of a motorcycle and it was exhilarating. Unfortunately the driver spoke almost no english and he had no idea where I wanted to go so I had to keep giving him directions. We managed to make it after a couple stops with me pointing at the map. Lesson: don't leave home without a map in Phnom
Inside S-21
One of the few photos I took in that horrifying place. Penh.
That evening I got an email from Mickan saying that she and Jossan were in Sihanouckville. I decided to try to meet up with them so I bought a bus ticket for Friday morning (two days later) since I had to get my passport.
The next morning I headed to the S-21 museum, which is dedicated to the victims of the genocide undertaken by the Khmer Rouge. The museum left me reeling. I had no idea how bad things were. It was a similar experience to visiting the concentration camp outside of Berlin. As I walked out of the gate, people started accosting me for money and to go to the killing fields. I was in NO mood to deal with them, so I ducked into the Boddhi Tree restaurant across the street, which is an oasis amid the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh. Unfortunately the food wasn't worth the steep price tag, but at least it was a soothing place.
After collecting my thoughts I headed to the central market to unwind a bit. I managed to find some real levis cargo shorts that actually fit and were good quality (for once). I paid $5, which was a total steal -- they would have been $30 at home. I also picked up another Sony memory stick for my camera. After checking out the market I headed to the embassy. The guard recognized me and he had my passport waiting so I paid the $35 he had said the day before. Then he started asking for more money. He wanted another $5 for "him" as he put it. That's when I realized that this was definitely not the legit way to get the visa. I managed to talk him down to $2 before taking off with my passport. I'm getting sick of petty extortion in Cambodia. It really creates a bad image and it makes me suspicious of government officials.
When I got to the guest house I looked closely at the visa and discovered two things. First, it was valid for 30 days (correct), but starting the day I picked it up. Shit. That meant that every day I spent in Cambodia past 2/1 was a lost day in Vietnam. Second, the visa was issued in Sihanouckville, not Phnom Penh, which means that the guard had a deal with someone who took my passport all the way down to S'ville and back. Not cool. Lesson learned, always deal directly with the embassy as the guards outside are employed by the local government not the foreign government.
All in all, Phnom Penh is a gritty, hectic city, but I don't think that it lives up to it's (awful) reputation. Maybe I just got lucky.
Stay tuned for Sihanouckville.
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Peter in Virginia
non-member comment
Yeah, Cambodia was bad
Boy was I worried when I read you gave up your passport for 24 hours. But a happy ending, you got it back! Yay. So you're finally off to Vietnam, home of the people who kicked our ass. (Yeah, I know, we won every battle. Aren't we winning every battle in Iraq?) I can't wait for the post. Hey, you climbed up Kilimanjaro a year ago. How 'bout running up it? Check this out! http://www.kilimanjaromarathon.com/