SE Asia Summer Pt. 5

The last leg of our trip took us to Cambodia.  However, before we could get there, we needed to return to Vientiane for an overnight stay.  That meant we made our way back to the Intercity Hotel.  Definitely the highlight of that night was eating at the street market.  The street food was amazing.  We ate grilled fish, roasted chicken, fresh spring rolls, and a spicy papaya salad.  The meal cost about 160,000 kip or about $20 dollars.  After dinner we took a quick stroll around the neighborhood to let our food go down.  Finally, it was off to bed for an early flight the next morning.

The last city of  our summer vacation was Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.  We arrived at their international airport around 11:00am.  From here we hired a tuk-tuk driver to take us to our hotel, City Centre Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Phnom Penh.  It was about a thirty minute ride weaving in and out of the heavy noon time traffic.  Once we reached our hotel we realized this area was in a prime location for touring the city by foot.

After checking in and freshening up, we took off to explore.  It didn't take us long to find Sisowath Quay, also referred to as "river street."  Here, dozens upon dozens of restaurants, bars, tour agencies, and other shops reside across from the famous Tonle Sap River.  Since it was just a bit after lunch time and we hadn't eat, we sat down for quick bite.  We ordered mainly finger food items and drinks since it was happy hour.  Our waitress was a very nice Cambodian girl who really took a liking to Pazi.  The two of them chatted for several minutes during our visit.

Next, we casually strolled the streets taking in all the sights and sounds of the local Cambodians for several hours.  As we were doing this, Pazi needed to send some e-mails so we decided to stop at an Internet cafe.  While she did this, Adan plotted out the activities for the following day.  Then the evening concluded with a nice dinner at an intimate Cambodian restaurant near the river.  Adan ordered a traditional meal of Loc Lak.  This is a dish centered on beef that is marinated in a sauce of soy, garlic, salt, black pepper, and even ketchup.  It also is served with a fried egg, diced tomatoes, and a side of white rice.  Pazi tried the Amok.  This is another popular and traditional Khmer style plate.  It's made of catfish in a coconut and turmeric sauce that is steamed to perfection in a banana leaf.   Tasty!

Day One
The first full day in Phnom Penh had us walking a lot.  We began with a nice continental breakfast at our hotel.  They offered the usual eggs, toast, and fresh fruit juices.  After eating we decided to visit the magnificent Royal Palace.  The facility's grounds are massive and exquisitely detailed but it was under construction.  However, at the time of our visit a good portion of it was off limits as it's the actual residence of the King.  The areas we were able to see didn't disappoint. 

The main pavilion, Chanchhaya, can be seen from outside the grounds and gives the palace a very distinctive look.  It appears that this area would be used by the royal family to sit and view festivities taking place below, however it is actually reserved for special, periodic moonlit dance performances.

Inside we paid about 15,000 riel ($4.00) to get inside.  The site's buildings are mainly a mix of wats, pavilions, halls, and stupas.  Each one sits like an island that floats above the pristine gardens that fill the entire complex.  During our visit there was only a few hundred other guests so it wasn't too crowded.  The palace was built about 1920, although the site has been used by Khmer royalty since the fifteenth century.

While the grounds are very traditional in Southeast Asian design, incorporating Buddhist architecture, there are touches of European flavor.  The best examples of this are the Throne Hall and the Pavilion of Napoleon III.  One is filled with ceiling frescoes and other is entirely constructed of iron.  We went on exploring the other dozen buildings on site for the next couple of hours.  Overall, the experience of visiting this landmark was definitely worthwhile. 

The rest of the day was spent wandering the city and visiting the many neighborhoods.  The next major site was Wat Phnom.  This Buddhist temple set on a hill overlooking the city and river, is often called the Temple of the Mountains or Mountain Pagoda.  It was originally built back in 1372 and stands 27 meters in height.  Currently the site of the temple is a city park where many locals go to hang out and stay cool under the many trees that provide shade during the hot days.

After another couple of hours walking, we sat down for dinner at a restaurant that served good drinks and had Wimbledon tennis matches on a big screen television.  Unfortunately, we ordered pizzas to mix things up and it the food was disappointing.  Oh well, not all meals will be great.

Day Two
We began the day with more walking.  Then eventually we ended up at the Phsar Thmey, also referred to as Central Market.  This market is very unique in that its design is unlike any other market we had seen before.  It is constructed with a major dome in the center and then four arms that branch out creating huge areas for vendors and their stalls.  It was built in 1937 and is still a very a happening place.  During our visit we saw the gamut of typical market goods that included souvenirs, clothing, jewelry, shoes, handicrafts, and art to name a few.  Pazi really enjoyed buying inexpensive home decor items and Adan found some really neat paintings during the visit.

The food options were limited in this area so we found a shopping mall and decided to see what food they had available.  Inside we found a restaurant that served Korean style fried chicken.  It was a chain of some sort.  The sauce they used on it was great.  It was sweet, yet had a punch of hot pepper to it.  This food definitely made up for our poor dinner the night before.

Our afternoon was visiting the French influenced areas of old downtown PP and other smaller wats.  Additionally, we spent some time locating an adequate driver to get us to the genocide historical sites of Phnom Penh.  After all this was done, we sat down at a Khmer style restaurant had a simple meal of Samlor kari and spicy papaya salad.  The main dish was a spicy coconut curry with chicken, potatoes, and onions.  It was decent food.

Day Three
This day would be our last full day of vacationing.  We decided to spend it visiting the most important sites in the area.  We hired a tuk-tuk driver to take us to several locations related to the mass genocide of Cambodia.  We struck a deal of $13 dollars for an all day excursion.  This guy wanted US money and not riels.

After breakfast at the hotel, we set out for The Killing Fields.  The name is harsh, but true.  From 1975-79, immediately after the Cambodia Civil War, the Khmer Rouge regime took over the country .  Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge shut down all the major cities and forced everyone to evacuate.  In doing so the regime transported thousands and thousands of people to be killed and buried in fields in the surrounding areas of Phnom Penh.  Many innocent people were murdered when they were thought to have been connected with the former government or foreign governments against the regime.

It took us about 40 minutes to reach the site.  We spent about an hour viewing the location of such heinous actions.  At one point we were shocked to find teeth and bones protruding from the ground!  We learned why when we overheard one guide mentioned to another group that experts estimate over one million Cambodians died during the genocide and many of the remains of those who perished are still being unearthed.  This visit was a very powerful experience for us.

The next spot we wanted to see was the Tuel Sleng Genocide Museum, also call S-21 Prison.  It was another 45 minutes to reach this site by tuk-tuk.  This museum was a high school that the Khmer Rouge regime converted into a prison.  The site has five building that were set up to detain, interrogate, and torture.  It was said that during the Khmer Rouge's five years of power any where from 17,000-20,000 individuals were imprisoned at S-21. 

It was a very somber experience as we learned about the cruel and painful details of prison life at this location.  Exhibits were set up to explain individuals accounts of the prison, torture and interrogation techniques were discussed, and displays about the trials of the regime's leaders were outlined.

At this point our driver wanted to take us to us semi and automatic weapons that are completely accessible to the public for use in Cambodia, but we regretfully declined.  Since we had him at our service for another couple of hours, we decided to visit the Russian Market.  Located about 30 minutes away, we trekked on over to this shopping haven dedicated predominantly to foreigners.  It got its name after a huge 1980s boom of Russians visiting Phnom Penh and the name has stuck ever since.  The market is decent, but nothing spectacular.  The stalls are filled with souvenirs, curios, luggage, shoes, and much more.  We did happen to find a few knick-knacks, but found a small cafe with milk teas to be a better place for us to hang out and watch the crowds go by for a bit.

Ultimately, we headed back to our hotel and washed up to have dinner.  Adan really wanted to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant he had seen the previous day so Pazi agreed.  It was small and plain looking restaurant, however the food was excellent.  We ordered all the classic dishes- fried spring rolls with fish sauce, spicy chicken, and mixed vegetables with gravy.

Day Four
Our last day in PP was short.  Our flight to Guangzhou was scheduled for 1:30pm so we decided to visit the National Museum for a couple of hours before leaving to the airport.

The museum is located just one block over from the Royal Palace.  Unlike the palace's bright shiny gold and white colors, the museum is done in a very distinctive rust red color.  It was built around the same time as the palace, 1920, and holds the world's largest collection of Khmer art.  Inside there is an incredible amount of sculptures, ceramics, bronzes, statues, and other artifacts related to Cambodia's rich history.  Due to the fact that it was 9:00am when we arrived, the place was relatively empty and allowed us to wander and examine the museum's exhibits freely.

After about an hour and a half, we headed back to the hotel to gather up our things and make our one final flight back to China after another series of amazing cultural experiences in Southeast Asia.