|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Day 18 - Sunday, Nov 9, 2003
Phnom Penh
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cambodian Independence Day; 50th anniversary of independence from France. |
| Breakfast at the hotel. Claire showed up toward the end of breakfast, then hired a moto driver to take her to the Killing Fields while Dan and Dodo got "arty" at the National Museum. Claire's plan was to then go to the Tuol Sleng genocide museum, but she had extra time, so she went to the National Museum in between. |
| Dan and Dodo caught part of the parade on our way to the museum. One float was too tall to go under a banner above the street, so they had to stop and lift the banner with a long pole. The National Museum was nice - small, with a pretty central courtyard and lots of figures from places we'd been at Angkor, including 2 lovely statues (a Garuda and a monkey) from Banteay Srei, plus Vishnus and Ganeshas and too much incense (it felt strange to have active shrines inside a museum). We drank a couple cokes along the way south and west to the market, one at a touristy hotel (Sky Burger) and one at a roadside open-air place after we'd run out of touristy places. |
| Wandering through midtown, Dan and Dodo saw lots of untouristy sections of Phnom Penh (a whole street of moto repair shops; a sudden ritzy district; new Mormon church being built; Britney Spears' face on every hair salon [or saloon]; sudden shacks and garbage; a stagnant canal; and then the "Russian Market" though no idea why it's called that...) |
| Had planned to meet Claire at the Russian Market, but missed her in the mobs. Drank a couple beers, and Dodo bought two little silk shirts for $8 total. We left the market around 5 and got caught in a horrific human traffic jam as we tried to make it back to the guesthouse. At one point, we came to a major road (6 "lanes," 3 in each direction) that we needed to cross. The road was packed solid, about 19 motorbikes across, with some going against traffic in the wrong lane. We tried to be smart and cross at one of the few intersections with a traffic light, but to confuse things there was also a cop directing traffic. He waved us across with his baton, but after crossing about a lane and a half, the light changed and we were suddenly stuck in a sea of motorbikes. The cop had to wade out to us and accompany us the rest of the way holding out his baton (which people drove right through). |
| Dan and Dodo made it back to the guesthouse somewhere after 7. Claire was already there watching rugby. We decided to dine there since we didn't want to fight the crowds again. Dorothy bolted her curry and went up to the room just after 8 to have some time to herself to read (Gecko Tails) as she can't stand TV sports and was feeling cranky. |
Claire's Trip to the Killing Fields
Claire's Trip to Tuol Sleng Torture Museum