Day 1 - Fri. June 9th
Finally made it to Phnom Penh - about 21 hours after leaving San Francisco. It is nothing like I expected. It feels a lot more 3rd world than I anticipated, but there is a great vibe. I checked into my hotel and walked around toward the open air market (psar).
The market is a labyrinth of stalls with everything from jewelry, to pots and pans. It took me three times as long to walk the 20 or so blocks because I was newly navigating the streets. Between the motos (scooters), tuk tuks (scooters with carriages), cars etc. you can really get yourself run down. There are no sidewalks, so you walk in the street and cars come from all directions and any side of the street. Actually an effective system as there seems to be virtually no traffic. To cross the street, I wait for a local who is also crossing and go when they go - otherwise, I can wait forever. Today, a nice monk helped me cross. btw: the monks dress in various colors of beautiful orange robes -- based on their year of study). It's really pretty to see 100 or more of them wandering around once their studies let out. There are many pictures and paintings of that very scene here.
Quick comment on the heat.... perhaps 100+ degrees? Crazy hot.
Michele got in Friday evening and we wandered out for a drink. We ran into Drew McDowell(american who has raised money and is here volunteering for the Cambodian Light Childrens Association). You can read more about his effort and make a donation if interested, at: http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Cambodia/Index.php
Drew and a friend were headed to a kickboxing tournament which basically brought all of Phnom Pehn to a screeching halt -- as the cambodian kickboxing champion was fighting. People crowded around tvs all across the city. We sat and watched some it in a restaurant where we had to keep our feet off of the ground because we saw 2 huge rats!!
We are getting ripped off by our hotel, so went and found another. At 11pm, we had our first of what we plan to be our daily massages.
p.s. am having trouble with the blogger site, so no pix yet.
Finally made it to Phnom Penh - about 21 hours after leaving San Francisco. It is nothing like I expected. It feels a lot more 3rd world than I anticipated, but there is a great vibe. I checked into my hotel and walked around toward the open air market (psar).
The market is a labyrinth of stalls with everything from jewelry, to pots and pans. It took me three times as long to walk the 20 or so blocks because I was newly navigating the streets. Between the motos (scooters), tuk tuks (scooters with carriages), cars etc. you can really get yourself run down. There are no sidewalks, so you walk in the street and cars come from all directions and any side of the street. Actually an effective system as there seems to be virtually no traffic. To cross the street, I wait for a local who is also crossing and go when they go - otherwise, I can wait forever. Today, a nice monk helped me cross. btw: the monks dress in various colors of beautiful orange robes -- based on their year of study). It's really pretty to see 100 or more of them wandering around once their studies let out. There are many pictures and paintings of that very scene here.
Quick comment on the heat.... perhaps 100+ degrees? Crazy hot.
Michele got in Friday evening and we wandered out for a drink. We ran into Drew McDowell(american who has raised money and is here volunteering for the Cambodian Light Childrens Association). You can read more about his effort and make a donation if interested, at: http://www.villageearth.org/pages/Projects/Cambodia/Index.php
Drew and a friend were headed to a kickboxing tournament which basically brought all of Phnom Pehn to a screeching halt -- as the cambodian kickboxing champion was fighting. People crowded around tvs all across the city. We sat and watched some it in a restaurant where we had to keep our feet off of the ground because we saw 2 huge rats!!
We are getting ripped off by our hotel, so went and found another. At 11pm, we had our first of what we plan to be our daily massages.
p.s. am having trouble with the blogger site, so no pix yet.
posted by Stephanie Mackin at 1:53 PM
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