Phnom Penh Day 2

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Geo: 11.5543, 104.926

This morning we decided to have another try at visiting the palace. Turns out it was closed this morning. We ended up in Phnom Penh in the midst of their Independence Day Celebrations so schedules for various sites are disrupted with the visit of the King of Cambodia- Norodom Sihamoni who is also celebrating his 62nd birthday.

We decided to take a bit of a city tour which turned out different than we expected. While negotiating with the driver he agreed to give us a deal on the tour if we would buy a bag of rice for an orphanage which he helps out. We agreed so it was off to the rice store and the the orphanage. We had a bit of time there meeting the kids, seeing the facilities and meeting the volunteers. There are about 60 children and the bag of rice will last about 1.5 days. After some investigation we discovered that many of these orphanages are scams but because we visited and were able to meet the children, see their rooms and classrooms we believe this one is a legitimate one. There were also 2 "western" volunteers that we were able to talk with.

After leaving there we had the tour and were dropped off in the French area as we had agreed. The day was becoming hotter so we participated in the obligatory 11:40 Happy Hour beer - $ .75 US. Check the Happy Hour sign.

The palace did not open until after so we went to the Museum of Cambodia and then sat in the shade there until the palace opened. Lots of tourists there.

We took the tuk tuk back to the hotel. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant around the corner. It was run by a fellow from Malaysia who has spent 7 years in Canada. He stays current with what is happening in Canada. The food was very tasty and we would highly recommend it.

Tomorrow we have a private car booked to Siem Reap. We were not up to a crowded bus again and the hotel arranged a car and driver for us.

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Comments

[crw]

While in India many trips ago, I saw a motorcycle, just like the one in your photo packed with live caged chickens, whisk by my car. A couple of kilometres down the road, I came across an accident. There was the motorcycle all twisted and o
n fire. Guess BBQ was on someone's menu that night.