Phnom Penh, another city that's better than Baltimore. Also another place I've added to my future hometown wish list (alongside Amsterdam and Bangkok). Kiima's first impression was somewhat how she expected it and somewhat not. She expected a bombed-out shell of concrete and guns. Instead, we found a slick new airport and a downtown alive with humanity. She found an unpleasant similarity to the India we just left (cows eating trash, guards outside large walled colonial buildings, trash and dirt everywhere, chaotic traffic). It didn't help that we finally had our first stinker of a place. We checked all of the reviews and info about it online, but it turned out to be a bit of a smelly dungeon. So stay away from "Grand View" Guest House. Not surprisingly, a guide book we read after we left, called the area a "backpacker's ghetto." Instead, we checked out a few other places and settled on Spring Guest house (A-, clean and modern, simple). This was only $2 more and a way better choice ($12 total!).
Phnom Penh is the Asia I'd expected to find. I'd given up on it after we left Thailand and Laos. Bangkok was more western than I'd expected, Laos was more touristy than I'd ever hoped to find, and we won't be able to squeeze Vietnam in to the equation. This place is seriously bada$$. Its big and just the right amount of seedy. Its got three huge daily markets in the city center and many more seemingly spontaneous markets scattered all about. There's also the French baked goods we were supposed to find in Laos. Here, we found a bakery and bought flaky meat pies for breakfast. Then, we had grilled pork and sausage skewers on toasted baguette halves for lunch at the market. Kiima bought earrings for 75 cents and I bought a sandal cleaning brush for 50 cents and a pack of Marlboro lights for $1. All this before we rode home in the most comfortable tuk-tuks we've seen in southeast Asia so far ($1.50 for most trips). The food is also reliably tasty and cheaper than in other places we've visited. Our first meal here was fish amok, spring rolls, and coconut beef noodles with Angkor beer and a pastis on the riverfront. Not too shabby.
One of the days we checked out the Independence monument in the center of town. Its a large cement arc-looking structure in the middle of an immense traffic circle. Apart from a startled guard, we were the only ones there, but we didn't think it was anything other than the heat keeping people away. Soon though, another, older guard showed up and started asking questions. At one point he tapped the hand cuffs on his holster and at another he made a pantomimed request for cigarettes. Thankfully, both Kiima and I knew to play dumb until we slipped past him and then quickly strode away. Only as we left did we notice the "Staff Only" sign and realized the situation. As we recounted the incident over a bag of pineapple slices in the park nearby, we decided to always have a pack of Marlboros on hand if the situation came up again. The very next day, it did.
We took the hour-long tuk-tuk trip out to a shooting range at a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces base. We took 30 shots with an AK47 and 30 with an Uzi. Kiima and I split each of these and she seemed much more comfortable than I felt ($60 total). There was also a hand grenade on offer for another $30, but we decided against that one pretty quickly. Mom and Dad, the target we used is on its way. You'll see that the bad guy did not get away.
On the way out of the base, our forethought from the day before paid off. We had to pass a young guard who was in charge of the gate and he did not seem inclined to let us pass without some sort of lubrication. We saw him smiling and chatting with the tuk-tuk driver who played dumb and then mimed a search for a non-existent wallet. This didn't work, so the driver came back to us and asked if we had any Riel for the guy. Kiima quickly searched out the new pack of Marlboros from her bag and we gave him 8 cigarettes. This did the trick and we were on our way without incident.
During the rest of the week we visited the more conventional sites: The Royal Palace (more impressive and more royal-looking than the one in Bangkok), the National Museum, Wat Phnom (from which the city takes its name and which was crawling with harassing monkeys), and we saw a shadow puppet and traditional dance show. On one particularly hot day, we splashed out on a day at the pool at the most expensive hotel in the city, the Raffles Hotel Le Royal. I think we'll be instituting this same tactic in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore too as they're supposed to be different versions of the same steaming bowl of soup. We also spent a half day in the US Embassy getting additional pages sewn into our passports. This is a milestone I'm proud of, but, of course, some one's always there to eclipse us. The woman in line ahead of us was denied additional pages since she'd already done it twice before and adding more paper to her book would not be physically possible. At that point, you just need a new one altogether. I think I've found a new personal goal.
We arrived here safely with Vietnam Airlines. I love riding the more obscure national airlines. One day I want to say I've made it through a trip with Kazakh Air or Air Niugini. We were actually booked though Lao Airlines, but this flight was operated by Vietnam Airlines, so I guess we sort of got a twofer there. Also, a special note to all of you Cambodia travel fans: All ATMs dispense USD (which is great since we were running low). Most visas or departure taxes have been in USD. Guidebooks don't mention this, but Cambodian Riel is used for anything less than 1 USD and is accepted as is for purchases of any amount. I always threaten to write a lonely planet counterpoint guide book. Like the money issue, so much of their info is way outdated or shallowly researched.
Also, that new Wilco album is killer throughout. Its like he finally decided to stop playing around and just lay down what he had inside all along. The last four albums were all self-indulgent exercises in audience loyalty. Mom, get mark to burn it for you. You and Dad will treasure it like you did Willie's "Spirit" album.
Phnom Penh is the Asia I'd expected to find. I'd given up on it after we left Thailand and Laos. Bangkok was more western than I'd expected, Laos was more touristy than I'd ever hoped to find, and we won't be able to squeeze Vietnam in to the equation. This place is seriously bada$$. Its big and just the right amount of seedy. Its got three huge daily markets in the city center and many more seemingly spontaneous markets scattered all about. There's also the French baked goods we were supposed to find in Laos. Here, we found a bakery and bought flaky meat pies for breakfast. Then, we had grilled pork and sausage skewers on toasted baguette halves for lunch at the market. Kiima bought earrings for 75 cents and I bought a sandal cleaning brush for 50 cents and a pack of Marlboro lights for $1. All this before we rode home in the most comfortable tuk-tuks we've seen in southeast Asia so far ($1.50 for most trips). The food is also reliably tasty and cheaper than in other places we've visited. Our first meal here was fish amok, spring rolls, and coconut beef noodles with Angkor beer and a pastis on the riverfront. Not too shabby.
One of the days we checked out the Independence monument in the center of town. Its a large cement arc-looking structure in the middle of an immense traffic circle. Apart from a startled guard, we were the only ones there, but we didn't think it was anything other than the heat keeping people away. Soon though, another, older guard showed up and started asking questions. At one point he tapped the hand cuffs on his holster and at another he made a pantomimed request for cigarettes. Thankfully, both Kiima and I knew to play dumb until we slipped past him and then quickly strode away. Only as we left did we notice the "Staff Only" sign and realized the situation. As we recounted the incident over a bag of pineapple slices in the park nearby, we decided to always have a pack of Marlboros on hand if the situation came up again. The very next day, it did.
We took the hour-long tuk-tuk trip out to a shooting range at a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces base. We took 30 shots with an AK47 and 30 with an Uzi. Kiima and I split each of these and she seemed much more comfortable than I felt ($60 total). There was also a hand grenade on offer for another $30, but we decided against that one pretty quickly. Mom and Dad, the target we used is on its way. You'll see that the bad guy did not get away.
On the way out of the base, our forethought from the day before paid off. We had to pass a young guard who was in charge of the gate and he did not seem inclined to let us pass without some sort of lubrication. We saw him smiling and chatting with the tuk-tuk driver who played dumb and then mimed a search for a non-existent wallet. This didn't work, so the driver came back to us and asked if we had any Riel for the guy. Kiima quickly searched out the new pack of Marlboros from her bag and we gave him 8 cigarettes. This did the trick and we were on our way without incident.
During the rest of the week we visited the more conventional sites: The Royal Palace (more impressive and more royal-looking than the one in Bangkok), the National Museum, Wat Phnom (from which the city takes its name and which was crawling with harassing monkeys), and we saw a shadow puppet and traditional dance show. On one particularly hot day, we splashed out on a day at the pool at the most expensive hotel in the city, the Raffles Hotel Le Royal. I think we'll be instituting this same tactic in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore too as they're supposed to be different versions of the same steaming bowl of soup. We also spent a half day in the US Embassy getting additional pages sewn into our passports. This is a milestone I'm proud of, but, of course, some one's always there to eclipse us. The woman in line ahead of us was denied additional pages since she'd already done it twice before and adding more paper to her book would not be physically possible. At that point, you just need a new one altogether. I think I've found a new personal goal.
We arrived here safely with Vietnam Airlines. I love riding the more obscure national airlines. One day I want to say I've made it through a trip with Kazakh Air or Air Niugini. We were actually booked though Lao Airlines, but this flight was operated by Vietnam Airlines, so I guess we sort of got a twofer there. Also, a special note to all of you Cambodia travel fans: All ATMs dispense USD (which is great since we were running low). Most visas or departure taxes have been in USD. Guidebooks don't mention this, but Cambodian Riel is used for anything less than 1 USD and is accepted as is for purchases of any amount. I always threaten to write a lonely planet counterpoint guide book. Like the money issue, so much of their info is way outdated or shallowly researched.
Also, that new Wilco album is killer throughout. Its like he finally decided to stop playing around and just lay down what he had inside all along. The last four albums were all self-indulgent exercises in audience loyalty. Mom, get mark to burn it for you. You and Dad will treasure it like you did Willie's "Spirit" album.
0 comments:
Post a Comment