(Soon I will have pictures to post, but I can't upload them from where I am.)
Jazmin and I arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday night around 10pm. The visa process was fairly easy. I just had to hand over my passport and completed forms, which got passed down a line of 5 or 6 people for various checks and stamps. I paid my $20 USD for the tourist visa, and we were off. Luckily, we had the forethought to arrange our hotel and an airport transfer before we left, so we could easily avoid the tuk-tuk drivers and touts crowding the exits. We also remembered to withdraw and change money to US Dollars at the Seoul airport, which has made everything tons easier.
We are staying at the Cara Hotel, about a block back from the Riverside area in Phnom Penh. It's clean and nicely decorated, and our room is quite large. Air conditioning and no bugs make us happy girls. :)
Our first morning, we decided to sleep late; after all, it's the first day of vacation! We finally got up and about around 1pm Cambodian time (two hours behind Korea, and 11 hours ahead of US EST). We ate a lovely lunch at Fusion Sushi, the restaurant within our hotel. I enjoyed chicken teriyaki (which tasted just like my mom's) and freshly squeezed watermelon juice, while Jaz tried a Bento box and fresh apple juice.
Full and happy, we began our walk in search of the Riverside area, otherwise known as Preah Sisowath Quay. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the moist heat felt rejuvenating. (It was 87 degrees Fahrenheit when we landed at 10pm, and the usual high is around 91F.) We found a tuk-tuk driver named Narang who took us to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, both within the same complex. It was beautiful, and the Buddhist architecture and idols were breathtaking. (Although, if I'm honest, the similarities were so strong to the Thai versions, that it was a bit like, "Wow, another temple.") We enjoyed our walk through the complex however, and took some (hopefully) stunning photos.
Upon exiting, some people approached us, selling water and books. So many people seem to have signs (in English and Khmer) explaining that they are land mine victims or were disable in some other way, and could we please help them. It's heartbreaking. On one hand, you want to help as much as you can, but on the other, you don't want to encourage begging and such. Jaz and I each decided to buy a book, and I was glad to buy Voices of S-21, a book I intended to buy anyway. Win-win.
Next, Narang took us to break our large bills into something useful. Most places here prefer Dollars, but many food carts and such only take Cambodian Riel. Regardless, we wanted small bills, to avoid having everyone see that we were carrying lots of cash (which stays in my money belt with my passport at all times). We headed to the Central Market, an Art Deco structure with four arms and hundreds of stalls. Purses, jewels, imported toiletries, souvenirs, amazingly beautiful flowers...you can find it all there. I easily found a day bag/purse - to avoid carrying my backpack everywhere with me - for $8, and two packs of postcards for $1 each. Narang dropped us at Kiwi's Restaurant & Bakery for dinner, and we parted for the day. (His fee for several hours was $2, but we gave him $3. We also made plans for him to pick uis up the next day.)
Kiwi's was nice, but we ordered way too much food. By that point, we were starving! I had a pad thai and a Coke; she had fried chicken, fries, and a Pepsi; and we split a delicious caesar salad and fruit salad. We found that even Coke and Pepsi girls can live together in harmony here! :D
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel for some much-needed showers and relaxing; it's amazing how sweaty and salty you feel after four hours walking around in 90 degree temperatures! After a bit more down time, we left for the Amara Spa, on the Riverfront, but linked to our hotel with free transportation. I had a one-hour massage and one-hour foot reflexology. About 10 minutes into the foot treatment, I wondered why in the world I thought that was a good idea. I am extremely ticklish, especially on my feet, my left ankle has been sprained so many times that it always hurts a bit now, and my "broken" toe (on the same foot) from 15 months ago never healed, so it still hurts a lot. Once she changed to the other side, I began to relax a bit more though. Jazmin said her milk bath and sugar scrub were lovely.
I stayed up until 230am reading the Kindle guidebooks, trying to make a plan for the next day, our last full one in Phnom Penh. More on that tomorrow.
