Phnom Penn

We arrived to Phnom Penn by bus and what a welcome we received! As we got off we were instantly besieged by a hoard of Tuk Tuk drivers. There must have been over 15 of them all vying for our custom – even me saying “the first person to leave us alone will get our business” didn’t deter them. Instead you would find them grabbing at our backpacks in an effort to take you to their vehicle – it was complete madness! When we finally jumped in a Tuk Tuk he made a beeline for the lazy fish hostel, obviously where he worked, so the hostel paid his fare because we were happy as it was the area we wanted to stay.

Tuk Tuks are different in Cambodia to their Thai counterparts in that they are a regular moto to which is hitched a 2 wheeled, 4 seater carriage that they tow - and there’s no limit to what the drivers think they can carry! 4 travellers desperately clinging onto all their baggage as it spills over the sides, seemed to be fine by them and I’m sure if they could put people on the roof they would!

The hostel turned out to be fine. Basic but fine. It consisted of several wooden sheds on stilts over a small brown lake which gave it a nice view, but it was obvious some major earthworks were happening on the opposite bank. We later learned that the lake was slowly being filled in to make way for posh hotels and apartments, displacing the working class locals and their tourist businesses, so I’m pleased we got to stay there while we could. It was however a little disconcerting that there were holes in the floor of room where you could see directly down into the water, which was also where the sewage ended up! There was also an equal amount of mosquito sized holes in our net – but after a quick repair job with the LX tape we were protected once again!!!

Phnom Penn couldn’t have been more different from Siem Reap, it felt instantly much poorer and was a far more chaotic busy city. It was dusty and dirty but had a wonderful bustle about it too. Lots of street food vendors and interesting tiny shops selling anything and everything. There was also an assortment of backpacker bars around our lake, and it was from one of them that we heard about Michael Jackson’s death – they were blaring out his music and the blackboard outside announced ‘Thriller’ zombie cocktails on promotion! We even managed to get an Indian curry fix with an awesome canteen selling Thali set meals for less than a pound a head.

We spent a day touring the Royal Palace, which although not as ostentatious and well manicured as the one in Bangkok it was nevertheless beautiful. What was interesting was that areas of it reflected Cambodia’s French colonial past with a beautiful wrought iron building in one area. As always the temples were very decadent and peaceful and the gardens were great to wander around. Apologies in the photos for the rather bright T-Shirt I am sporting, we arrived at the entrance to find out I was deemed as inappropriately dressed so I had to buy one of their souvenir shirts in order to get in!

Another point of note is that the palace is still used. Next to the public access is the Kings residence, if we knew what he looked like we might even have spotted him - we watched over the fence as many black 4x4’s arrived and people were escorted up the red carpet and inside.

That day we also visited the National Museum, it was in a peaceful green more touristy area. It was quite an interesting place mostly made up of statues and stonework from Ankor Wat (which to be honest I think I would have rather have seen in context at Ankor). The highlight however was in the centre of the Museum - a courtyard with a series of ponds all containing lots of large koi carp. We bought some fish food and spent a lovely hour feeding and watching them, very relaxing!