Apr. 9, 2003
In the morning, I bought airplane tickets to go to Cambodia. It cost
10,750 baht ($253
at 42.5 baht per dollar). The travel agent told me
that it was necessary to buy a visa to
enter the country ($20) and
necessary to pay a departure tax when leaving the country
($25). I
left for Phnom Penh at 4:30pm and, after arriving, got a motorbike ride to a
guesthouse -- Apsara. (The ride was interesting -- on a motorbike
for about 7 miles in
about 20 minutes. Also, the driver tried to
take me to a different hotel, apparently
where he would get a commission if
I stayed there, but I insisted on going to the hotel
that I had chosen.)
Unfortunately, it turned out to be located too far away from things
to do. So, I recommend not staying there if you go to Phnom Penh.
After a rest and a
shower, I went out to a couple of bars and played 3
games of pool with a Vietnamese-
Cambodian woman. (The women were
very friendly!)
Apr. 10, 2003
After eating breakfast at the guesthouse, I arranged for a taxi (for $15) to
take me to
various sightseeing places that day. I went to (1)
National Museum ($3) -- It had
artifacts dating back to 3,000 BC and into
prehistory; (2) Wat Phnom -- A temple with
many decorations; (3) Wat
Ounalom -- Another temple with many decorations; (4) Wat
Lanka and
Independence Monument; (5) Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum ($2) -- It was an
American-built elementary school that was used to kill civilians and is now
"dedicated"
to the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot; (6) Central Market --
It is open from 7:30am to
5:00pm and is very hectic; (7) River Boat Tour --
I didn't have enough time to go on it;
and (8) Killing Fields -- I didn't
have enough time to go on it either because it is a 1-1/2
hour ride to the
fields. I later learned from another tourist that the fields are not very
interesting and not worth the trip. Afterwards, I checked out some hotels
that were
located on the road adjacent to the river and near the center of
things to do. I chose the
Indochine Hotel. It cost $10 per day and
I highly recommend staying there. However,
it is noisy in the
morning because of the traffic, so I recommend getting a room in the
back
part of the hotel. After a shower, I went to the Indochine II Hotel
Restaurant &
Bar to get a free meal that my hotel offered as part of
staying at their hotel. I tried the
local Cambodian meal
"Amok". Although it looked suspicious, it was very good!
Here are a few notes about Phnom Penh --
1) Many roads are either unpaved or are very worn and potholes are everywhere.
2) Walking along inland streets at night is very risky. I met a man who
was beaten and
robbed, along with his friend. He had just returned
from taking his friend to a hospital.
3) Traffic flow is very haphazard. People drive fairly slowly, signal
lights are rare, and
I never saw any accidents.
4) Money is exchanged at "money exchangers" carts that are located
near the Central
Market. The people who operate them seem to be
honest.
5) In order to travel to Ankor Wat, it is necessary to set aside 2 days just to
travel to and
from there when starting from Phnom Penh.
6) The language is "Khmer", not Cambodian.
Apr. 11, 2003
I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport (15 minutes, $6). Five days
after this day was
going to be the 5-year anniversary of the overthrow of
Pol Pot's regime. Approximately
1.7 million people were killed
during a 4-year period.
Three hours later, I arrived at Manila's airport after going through Bangkok
Airport.
I took a 3-hour taxi ride to Subic Bay and met my friend at
about 12:30am.