Cambodia - Day 3 and 4

Jamie and I relaxed on Monday morning by hanging out in our guesthouse in Phnom Penh. The weekend and lack of sleep had finally caught up to us. At 2:00, our bus to Siem Reap left and we took the 5 hour bus ride there. It wasn't bad and we saw some of the Cambodian country side. Lots of rice fields and small shacks built on stilts.

We arrived the Crown Royal hotel around 8:00 pm and decided to just eat there. I had the fish amok and Jamie had the pineapple rice chicken. We have enjoyed the fact that the real fruit shakes in Cambodia are really cheap. All are under $2.50 and most are around $1. We were pretty tired, so decided to call it an early night. We had decided we would not stay in this hotel because 1) they were slightly overcharging us and 2) the only internet was in the lobby and they charged $1 per 30 minutes. Cheap by American standards, but I have mine own.

We disappointed them greatly by leaving but the place we have moved, Golden Orange Hotel, is just as nice and has free Wi-Fi throughout. The bathroom is a tub/shower combo with no shower curtain and luke warm water. We'll live. It is so humid here that a warm/cool shower actually feels pretty good. After settling in our new place, we set out to find some bicycles. We found some we could rent for $2 per day. Once again, we probably overpaid for these, but it'll be ok. We are saving ourselves from paying a tuk tuk driver anytime we need to go somewhere and not walk. Driving in Siem Reap is not quite as hectic as Phnom Penh, but still no sidewalks, so you just walk in the sandy streets with the cars, motobikes, and bikes.

We went by this Butterfly Garden restaurant because it sounded nice. It was decent and there weren't many butterflies. I was told that "a butterfly has died." We saw several dead butterflies, so we weren't sure what they were talking about. We tried to go see the miniture model of Angkor Wat, which was right next to our hotel, but it was closed.

We had to wait around until 5:00 to get into the Angkor Wat Archeological Site to purchase tickets for the next 3 days and so we could get this afternoon and see the sunset. It was too cloudy for the sunset to be very beautiful, but just being there at sunset was exciting for us. We walked around the main temple of Angkor Wat for about an hour, then biked the 6 km back to our hotel.

Tomorrow will be a packed full day of Angkor temples. Be sure to check back later for a full slideshow of pictures. If you haven't already, Google Angkor Wat in the search engine on this blog and read more about this magnificent place. For those who have been to the Mayan ruins in Mexico, Angkor Wat makes Chitzen Itza look like child's play linkin logs.

Cambodia - Day 2 Afternoon

One fat monkey. Would give Cloey a run for her money.

Jamie and I spent yesterday afternoon walking around Phnom Penh seeing some of the sites. I've added onto Cambodia 2008 - Eric and Cambodia 2008 - Jamie slideshow folders below. Feel free to browse and ask questions.

We tried going to the Royal Palace, but it was closed due to the national holiday. We'll try going there next Saturday when we return from Siem Reap. We then walked along the river side until we reached Phnom Wat, an arificial hill and the site of where the city was founded back in mid 1300's. They have built a pagoda on top an the hill that houses many Buddhist shrines. Monkeys, like the one above, surround the hill and are eager to be fed. Not surprisingly, more people are willing to pay for food and give to the monkeys than will pay for food and give to the numerous beggars near the pagoda.

We then went to the central market, where 1000s of people visit small little stores set up by locals. It has a domed structure on top of it and you walk around in circles to all of the different booths. It reminds me a large flea market back home.

Next was a westernized mall. Nothing special although there was a roller rink at the top that was cool to see as well as a spot where you can take pictures overlooking the city.

We then were exhausted so decided to eat along the riverfront. We couldn't find the place at which we really wanted to eat, so decided on a western place called The Jungle Room. It was decent.

The highlight of the day was definately the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum. We are a little disappointed that we didn't get into the Royal Palace, but we'll do that another time.

Enjoy the photos. I might try and add some captions later. We'll be leaving in a little while to ride a 5-6 hours bus to Siem Reap. We are supposed to have internet there. Stay tuned for 100s of pictures of Angkor Wat and Siem Reap.

Cambodia - Killing Fields and Genocide Museum

Jamie and I had a very somber morning touring the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum. From 1975 to 1979 around the city of Phnom Penh, the country was taken over by a ultra communist government. During the Khmer Rouge regime, they slaughtered between 1 and 2.5 million men, women, and children of various occupations and social classes. A taxi took us 15 km south of the city to view the "Killing Fields." There we saw the holes of the mass graves and the large monument for those who died there. Inside the monument are the skulls of some of the people that were buried in the mass graves. After our visit to the Killing Fields, we went back into the city and visited the Genocide Museum. During the Khmer Rouge, it was converted from a school into a prison and torture chambers. The museum consists of 4 buidings and like the Killing Fields was very emotional. These 2 places are certainly ones we will never forget.

When viewing the pictures below, please beware. For us, it was education of the disaster of what humans can do to one another. The photos will show the places where children were slaughtered and people were tortured. I have taken the pictures of the human skulls, so just beware.

Hollywood did a moview back in 1984 and we purchased an awarding winning documentary.

I would say enjoy the photos but it is not something you enjoy. You only hope the world can learn from these tragic events and move on peacefully.

Let me know if you have any questions. There is a TON of information out there concerning the Killing Fields, Khmer Rouge, Tuol Sleng, and the Genocide Museum in Cambodia. Do some research.

Cambodian Trip - Day #1

First of all, we've officially fallen in love with a new airline - Emirates. We were sitting in regular economy class (of course) and can't even imagine the luxuries that the business and first class passengers receive. We were first treated a hot towel before taking off. We then noticed that every seat has a small television on the headrest in the seat in front of you. No big deal because there are some US airlines which have those too. BUT, these offer a full menu of over 400 movies, television shows, and games which you can control with the half sky phone/half remote control. I played a little backgammon and some mini golf before watching some of the movie Iron Man. Jamie watched Friends episodes the whole trip. All of this is free with more leg room and the food was really tasty as far as airline food standards are concerned.

We took the Emirate flight out of Hong Kong on Friday evening at 10:30 and arrived just after 1:00 am in Bangkok, Thailand. Our flight for Phnom Penh, Cambodia was not scheduled to leave until 7:40 am on Saturday, so we have plenty of time to relax. Have you ever tried to relax in an airport? Impossible. We did, however, find the lounge area for Bangkok Airlines and we were able to find some couches to sleep in until about 6:00 am.

Our flight to Phnom Penh was not spectacular, but the breakfast was tasty. We filled out our forms for customs, visa application, and arrival card. The visa for Cambodia is only $20. You are supposed to have a passport size pictures, but they will wave that for $1. I did have my picture taken by some webcam. Jamie didn't. The driver of our guesthouse was waiting for us outside and quickly drove us to our guesthouse, Frangipani Villa.

We couldn't check in yet, so we decided to walk around the city for a while. I'm posted some pictures in a slideshow entitled "Cambodia 2008 - Eric" and Cambodia 2008 - Jamie." We both have cameras and it is just easier to upload from 2 different ones. Feel free to browse them and let me know if you have questions. I'm not sure I'll be able to place a caption on all of them. Not sure I'll place a caption on any of them right now. Nonetheless, enjoy the photos.

We walked around Independence Monument and then up by some shops near the Royal Palace. We couldn't get into the Royal Palace until the afternoon, so we decided to go to the Cambodian National Museum instead. It was nice and you could read more about it by searching than I could ever type here explaining it. I have taken several photos you can view below. Jamie has also taken some from her camera.

Driving in Phnom Penh. While it is a general rule that you drive on the right side of the road, this is just simply a "guideline." Phnom Penh drivers make Chinese drivers look like Drivers' Eductaion instructors. There is no public transportation, so just about everyone drives a motorcycle. Tourists are guided around by carraiges pulled by motorcycles. These are called "tuk tuks," and they are very useful. We have had some problems so far the drivers not being able to find our guesthouse, but they are all friendly. A tuk tuk ride across the city can be exciting as you will find yourself going the wrong way down one way streets, going down the wrong side of the road, making U-turns in the middle of traffic, and nearly getting nailed by larger vehicles at just about every turn. We were going to rent bicycles from our guesthouse, but riding them in this city would be a deathwish.

We rested in the afternoon and went to Khmer Surin for dinner. Jamie had a traditional Thai/Cambodian fish plate and I had pineapple chicken fried rice. We had "banana soup" for dessert which consisted of cooked bananas with sugar and coconut juice - yummy!

We have free internet here at our guesthouse which is good for posting these and emailing. We were going to watch the UT and UGA games, but the Slingbox is working really, really slow here. We might actually have to miss a game. Not to fear, we have them recorded and we can always watch them when we return back home or this week if we have a faster internet connection in Siem Reap.

One of the cooler pictures we took today is of the 5 different currencies we've used in the last 24 hours - Chinese RMB, Hong Kong dollar, Thai Baht, American dollar, and Cambodian Riel. Cambodia for the most part takes American dollars which has been odd for us considering we haven't used US dollars since we left Atlanta on July 30.

Long post I know, but it has been a busy day. Our plan tomorrow is to go the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields as well as the Royal Palace for a tour. We leave Monday to go to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat.

Hope I haven't forgotten anything. Let me know if you have any questions or you can just leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!!!

Welcome to Cambodia!

We're here! After a long long journey, we've arrived in Phnom Pehn, the capital of Cambodia. We are exhausted because we haven't really slept in 34 hours, so we are resting this afternoon. I will post several pictures of what we've seen of Phnom Penh later as well as tell you all about our adventure thus far. I will tell you that Emirates Airlines is hands down the best airline in the world. I now know why our tickets were so expensive. I'll explain more about that later too. Hope all is well. You all are sound asleep. I'll post more tonight after I get some rest. Check back in the morning or midday for a full update.

We're Gone!

Last post until we get to Cambodia. Wish us luck! We'll be leaving at 10:35 tonight from Hong Kong, have a long layover in Bangkok of 7.5 hours, and then finally arrive in Phnom Penh at 8:30 ish. I'll post more when we get a chance. Not sure we'll be able to check into guesthouse immediately. Hopefully we won't have to lug our luggage around all day until check in. I think it is a rather informal place, so we'll be ok. I'm sure all will work out. Here is a map that will let you know where we are going.

Take care!

Chinese Fire Drill

Ha! I crack myself up! We literally had 2 fire drills today at school. So now I can say that I have been involved in a real Chinese fire drill. Not just the one where you stop at a red light and everyone dance around the car and get back in before the light turns green. You couldn't do that in China anyway because you'd be drilled by some driver swerving in your lane.

Just thought it was funny. Have a great Thursday America!