Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Talor: Boarded a bus from Siem Reap and six hours later, we arrived into Phnom Penh, the Capital of Cambodia (or Kampuchea as the Khmer call it), in the late afternoon. After a bit of searching, a combination of a tuk-tuk ride and walking door-to-door, we settled into a large double at the Khun Leng Guesthouse on Street 111, quite luxurious with air-conditioning AND hot water... our first since NYC!

The next three days passed quickly as we set out to see the sights. We were wow'd by the fantastic collection of ancient art at the National Museum. Good thing photography is not allowed or else we would have had a million photos! The Royal Palace, similar to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, was a bit underwhelming and not as... well... grand, but lovely just the same. The Tuol Sleng Museum, a former school that Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge turned into a prison/torture chamber, and where thousands of men, women and children were killed, was utterly depressing, but eye-opening to see how depraved human beings can be. The domed building that houses the central market, Psaar Thmei, was pretty cool, but we were disappointed in that, as with the cramped and claustrophobic Russian Market, it had become very touristy, and therefore, the vendors weren't willing to bargain much... o well.

At the Sovanna Phum Theater, part of an NGO trying to revive the performing arts in Cambodia, we took in a very creative and entertaining show, a combination of traditional music, dance, puppets and shadow puppets. Then we headed toward the river to experience PP's famous nightlife, but were saddened to find the majority of them were just girlie (sex) bars with a handful of young scantily clad girls drinking with western men... ugh. Prostitution runs rampant here and though there are laws against sex with a minor, we see very young girls with dirty old men all the time... it's really sad. However, there is a nationwide campaign to end child sex exploitation. I'm not sure how successful it's been, but everyone is encouraged to report it. The good news is that the rate of HIV/AIDS (one of the highest in SE Asia) is slowly going down through information and education.

A word about getting around...walking is unpleasant given that there are very few sidewalks, and even when there is, the sidewalk is taken up with vendors, parked cars, tuk-tuks and motorbikes so you pretty much end up walking in the street. Taking tuk-tuks is a real hassle because first they try to rip you off, they usually don't know where they're going so you need to pay attention and direct them, then they complain afterwards that the ride was farther than they thought and ask for more money... argh! And the driving is CRAZY! They drive in every direction on either side of the road and nobody obeys the stop signs or traffic lights. Though not as bad as Vietnam, but only because there are less motorized vehicles on the streets, it is still stressful.

But we did enjoy the food... similar to both Thai and Vietnamese, Khmer cuisine is all about fresh ingredients. They also make liberal use of herbs, spices, chilies and fish sauce, which they say is different, but my palate has yet to be able to distinguish the difference. As usual, we sought out street food... fresh cut-up fruit, noodle soups with fatty pork, rice porridge with unidentifiable organs, toasted baguettes filled with pate and pickled veggies, refreshing cold noodle salads, and hairy fish pastries that were yummy. We also tried the wildly popular eatery below our guest house where hordes of Khmer would gather to eat Chanang Dei (Cook-Your-Own-Soup). They brought us a portable gas bbq with a pot of stewed goat soup on top, and as it boiled, we added vegetables, mushrooms, tofu, taro, eggs and noodles, then we sweated as we slurped up every last bit. And for our last meal in PP, we decided to splurge at the elegant Romdeng, which is part of an NGO network that takes kids off the streets and trains them with valuable skills in the hospitality industry among others. We indulged in a traditional Khmer dish, called Amok, which is fish baked with coconut, spices and herbs in a banana leaf. Also had a uniquely Khmer dish of spicy ground pork dip with crudite. Then for dessert we ordered homemade coconut and mango sorbets, and jokingly asked for fish sauce and chilies on top. It came with no fish sauce, but it was sprinkled with chopped up chilies... the ultimate flavor explosion of sweet and spicy! Left feeling happy not just with a good meal, but having supported a good cause... aaahh!

Erik: Yes, P.P. is crazy. You constantly have to dart-and-dodge the wild driving tuk-tuks, motobikes, and SUV's. The bigger vehicles don't give way – just plough through the throngs, so you have to stay alert and ready to jump aside at any moment. More aggravating are the tuk-tuk drivers soliciting business – they're relentless. “Tuk-tuk, suh?”; “No, thank you.” “Tuk-tuk?” (perhaps I changed my mind in the last 5 seconds?); “No, thank you”; “Where you go?”; “Nowhere – just walking”; “I can show you the way.”; “No, thank you.” “But where you go?” “Nowhere – we just like walking.”; “Oh, walking bad!” -- It's fine once or twice, and you try to keep your patience and be polite, but this happens 3 or 4 times on every block, and if you're walking a fair distance, you can imagine the aggravation. Some of them will actually follow you down the block. And don't even think about pulling out your map – it's like pouring honey on yourself in an ant nest. The worst part is that when we did actually want a tuk-tuk, they would provide such poor service and then whined for more money at the end, that we eventually swore them off completely.

The girlie bars are quite depressing as well. I'm writing this after two weeks in Cambodia, and I'm now so sick and tired of seeing fat old “barang” (foreigner) men with 16 year girls in tow – everywhere you go. I'm no prude, but after a while it really is a downer. Maybe I'll feel different about that when I'm fat and 60, but I doubt it. (No offense, Talor!) Obviously it's not limited to the sad, older men – plenty of young lager louts with dolled-up Cambodian girls in tow as well...

The sights in P.P. are underwhelming compared to the color and spectacle of Bangkok. Everything is more drab, worn down and simple. But then you have to remember the history – over 30 years of civil strife, including the reign of the Khmer Rouge, who thought any sign of riches or religion an insult to their agrarian, communist ideology. They destroyed much of the splendor in the royal palace and reduced the the old, majestic colonial buildings to ruin. Tuol Sleng was the ultimate in sobering sights. “S-21” as it was known in the KR days is now a museum and somewhat of a shrine to the 1000's of Cambodians incarcerated and killed there. Walking through the hall of photos, with mug shots of nearly all the victims, was really too much. While Talor sobbed in a quiet corner of the courtyard which had previously been the schoolyard playground, I was approached by two Buddhist monks, asking me if there was anything to compare to this in my country. A difficult question to answer simply...

But P.P. was not all doom and gloom. We did enjoy our stay there, ate some wonderful food (if less spicy than Thai...) and met some incredibly nice people. It's amazing how cheerful, smiling and welcoming they are given the hardships the country's been through. Perhaps they embrace the peace and are happy for what they have now. I do hope that it will last...

Our numerous photos of P.P.:

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Angkor Wow - AKA Siem Reap

Talor: After a week in Bangkok, we came up with a loose plan for the next couple of months... first Cambodia to visit Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, then south to Sihanoukville for some beaching (for me) and diving (for E), go a bit east hoping to catch a glimpse of the Dolphins along the Mekong River then make our way north and see what goes on in Laos.

At the advice of a fellow traveler at the Riverline guesthouse, we decided to take the government train to the border, free to Thais and a whopping $1.45 for foreigners for a 6-hour ride. Though the train was packed, the ride was uneventful. Then the hassles began...

It wasn't one of our more pleasant border crossings. Long-story short, we ended up paying $10 more for our visas than we should have and paying about $4 more than we thought we would for a 3-hour shared taxi-ride into the city of Siem Reap. On the bright side, we shared the taxi with a very cool couple, Sebastien and Joy, also traveling Southeast Asia, and the time went quickly as we chatted through the ride.

Siem Reap is a dusty, touristy town where everything seems to exist for the tourist hordes coming to visit Angkor Wat. It is similar to Aguas Calientes and Macchu Picchu, except that the people and prices are friendlier. Found a great little guesthouse, the Red Lodge, where we got a fan room with a private bath for just $7. And it comes with a nice courtyard where there is free coffee/tea, bread and bananas all day. And they provide towels, toilet paper and soap... wow! And the knowledgeable, Mr. Dong, who runs the place, helped us with our planning and transport.

Spent the next three days visiting wats, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. Though it was amazing, and at times, breathtaking, we found ourselves getting “watted-out.” And did I mention it was Chinese New Year? Which meant everything was extra-crowded. And everywhere we went, there were hordes of kids wanting to sell us anything from postcards and cold drinks (useful) to toys and bracelets (not so useful). These kids are not only absolutely adorable, but also absolutely RELENTLESS! Being the suckers that we are, we'd get back at the end of the day (entirely covered in red dust!) and empty our bags of useless knick-knacks we had purchased.

Took a break from the madness by visiting the very interesting, the very tranquil, silk farm where we learned where silk comes from (the saliva of silkworms). Also spent an afternoon taking a tuk-tuk, a motorbike and a boat to the fishing village of Kompong Phhluk, where the houses are built on wooden stilts 7 meters high on the lake.

Realized it was our 365^th day on the road! Ha! Can't believe a whole year has passed and can't believe we haven't killed each other yet. Guess it's going well...

Erik: Yes, the border crossing was very stressful. You need to get a tuk-tuk (3-wheeled scooter carriage) from the train station to the border, but the drivers refuse to take you there until you buy a visa from one of the places that overcharges you. Nice scam. At least we didn't overpay $20 like most of the other tourists we saw...so I guess we were half-savvy, half chumps.

The Angkor ruins are truly amazing despite the crowds. Angkor Wat, the largest religious building in the world, is breathtaking for the sheer vastness of it. You walk through the main gate, and then still have more than a quarter mile to walk to get into the central temple, and the bas-relief sculptures on the wall surrounding it have amazing detail, depicting ancient hindu epic myths. My favorite temple, though, was Bayon in the Angkor Thom complex, with its hundreds of huge sculpted faces staring down at you with mysterious smiles. We were there just after sunrise, so the lighting was dramatic, the air cool, and the tourists sparse.

Despite what we'd heard to the contrary, we found Cambodian food quite tasty – spicy curries and rich amoks (coconut, lemon grass stew), as well as simple cold noodles and refreshing green bean drinks. I was even talked into eating a fried cricket by some friendly Malaysian tourists, and it wasn't too bad.

It was very, very hot and dusty in Siem Reap, and I soon found my long hair a disadvantage. There was an old local barber across the street from our hostel, so I finally took the plunge and got my first haircut in over a year. I went for the dramatic and had him buzz my hair as short as possible. It was a comical scene as neighborhood kids gathered round to see the long-haired “barang” (foreigner) go under the clippers while Talor documented with the camera. There was an enormous pile of long, blonde/gray hair in lap afterwards. What a relief, though. My “hair” dries in 30 seconds now, and no need to break any more brushes trying to untangle it after a shampoo. Talor says that I look like a convict now, but i don't care.

After a few days in Siem Reap, though, we were “watted out” as Talor says. (“wats” are cambodian/thai temples.) We were ready to move on to Phnom Penh, and from there hopefully to the less touristy parts of Cambodia.

Our (way too many) photos of Siem Reap and Angkor:

Siem Reap

Bang for a buck in Bangkok...

Erik: After a brisk tour of the US to see our families and friends (Portola Valley, CA, which was chilly compared to summer in Chile, Seattle, WA which was only just emerging from a record-breaking cold spell, and New York, NY, which was downright cold), we were ready to get on the road again. South East Asia had been high on my list ever since we'd spent a few weeks in Malaysia and Vietnam two years before. After a good deal of time poorly invested in disorganized research, we'd finally settled on the loosest of itineraries – flying into Bangkok, Thailand and returning from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 6 months later. Since we were using my American air miles for the tickets, we were able to organize the ticket only a few days prior to leaving. Everything in between we would decide as we went along. In hindsight, we probably should have invested a bit of that time in finding and reserving a hotel in Bangkok for our first night, especially as we were due to get in about midnight. Oops!

The morning we left it was snowing strongly in New York, which I was quite happy about, as we would really appreciate the balmy, tropical heat once we arrived in Thailand. Our flight was without a hitch – New York to Tokyo (14 hours) on American, and then Tokyo to Bangkok (7 hours) a few hours later on JAL. Man, the Japanese really have us beat on the air travel front – Tokyo Narita is a very nice airport, pure luxury compared to JFK, and JAL is several tiers above American in regards to amenities, service, meals/drinks, etc. It was a nice way to finish such a long flight.

At Bangkok's airport, we easily found a taxi into the city. As we had no hotel reservation, we simply chose a neighborhood in which our guidebook recommended quite a few hostels, which ended up being Banglamphu. We had the taxi drop us off near our first choice hotel, but in the small, dark winding streets, we couldn't find it. (The road was too small for the taxi to take us to the exact address.) Luckily we ran into Phil, a very nice man from Louisiana, who just happened to be walking down the street at 2:30am. He'd lived in Bangkok on-and-off for many years, and knew where the Riverline Guest House was – he was even nice enough to walk us there. Unfortunately there was a “full” sign hanging from the door. Phil didn't leave off there, though. He took us through the back streets of Bangkok, ringing bells at guest house after guest house which either didn't answer or were also full. Finally we found one that had a room available for 330 Baht/night (about $10) Phil thought that price was a bit high but we were exhausted and so thanked him for his help and checked in. Phew!

After only 3 or 4 hours, our jet lag had us wide awake at 7am, which was 7pm NYC time. We went out and found a tiny local cafe/beauty shop, where they offered us fresh coffee for only 10 Baht ($.30). The people were friendly and the coffee strong and delicious. What a find! We ended up going there every morning and often in the afternoon for a Thai iced coffee. Talor even had her hair cut there a few days later.

Not being enamored of our room, we spent that first morning checking out other lodgings in the area, finally arriving back at the Riverline, which now had rooms free. We took an extra-large room with private bath there for $10. Beyond the good price, Riverline also boasted two rooftop patios with river views and a friendly, helpful staff. It also had the firmest mattresses I'd ever felt. I'm pretty certain that the mattress was made of some extremely hard wood, but it was welcome after all the saggy, threadbare ones we'd endured in central and south america.
We spent the first few days in Bangkok in a jet-lagged haze, doing little more than sleeping (always waking up at 3am or so...) and eating delicious and incredibly cheap Thai street food – pad thai, curry, noodle soups, fresh pineapple, etc. Food was everywhere and we sampled a lot of it, usually for $1 or less a plate.

Talor: Took several days to shake the jetlag, but found the best neighborhood to do it in. Though Banglamphu is a very touristy neighborhood, we settled into a nice guesthouse on a quiet street, away from the main drag, surrounded by very friendly shops and eateries. By the second day, we already had a morning routine established... woke up to very strong coffee just around the block at Mrs. Siam's as we wrote our daily pages, then walked around the block gathering up our breakfast (sticky rice, pork patties, rice custard, fruit and juice). Back at the guesthouse, we took breakfast on the outside deck watching the traffic on the river as we planned our day. After breakfast, we'd set out to go sightseeing.

Though Bangkok is big, there are lots of different ways of getting around... a clean and air-conditioned underground metro, a modern skytrain with great views of the city, a huge network of buses (both ordinary and air-conditioned), the river taxis along the water, taxis and tuk-tuks (motorized carriages infamous for trying to rip off tourists). Using different combinations of the above, we managed to get around and cover much ground.

A week went quickly as we spent our days visiting the Grand Palace (where we were blown away by the over-the-top opulence of it), the Kamthieng House Museum, (centuries old traditional Thai house), Chatuchek Market (one of the biggest in Southeast Asia), Chinatown (where the traffic is always at a standstill), and other parks and neighborhoods. The best part? Streetfood, of course. It's everywhere! At anytime! I love it!

For more photos...

Bangkok