Mini Travel Blog Series: #1 First Few Days in Cambodia

I thought it'd be interesting to post the emails I've been sending back home while I was overseas in Cambodia and Vietnam. It saves me the trouble of having to recall the extensive amount of things I did. I hope they prove interesting and enjoyable to read :)

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Sorry for the long wait! I wasn't able to find the time to get on the internet since we've been pretty busy here already. Yesterday we got picked up by Hanh (aunt-in-law) and her little sister Pov. My cousins Srey Moch and Ne also came for me. We all went together to the hotel and Soy E (youngest Aunt), Evan (her Aussie spouse) and Chloe (my eurasian cousin) went to shower and sleep.

Nethan (cousin) and I showered and then went out at 7:30pm (11:30pm Aus) with Pov, her friend, Srey Moch, Ne and Sydana (Cambodian cousin) to look around the city since we wanted to battle the jet lag. We ended up driving around Phnom Penh and finding a place to eat at a really new restaurant type of place, where we got to eat some spicy lemon grass broth with shell fish. We didn't get sick at all, but were very cautious. Pov then drove us to see the bridge where the trampede happened and we had a really good night. We came back to the hotel at around 10:30pm and woke up the next morning at 5:30am. Things were pretty slow in the morning and things seem to get busier in the afternoon - late at night.

Cambodia is much more modern now and safer. There are a lot of professional looking shops and franchises along Tonle Sap. The temperature has been very good too, nice and cool (which wasn't expected). Today we had Lote Cha for breakfast at a small stall near Tsar Olympic 5 minutes away from our hotel.

The people at the stall laughed at us and stared at Chloe! A lot of people comment on how pretty she is as we pass them. We didn't walk around for very long, maybe an hour and a half. Soy E seems to be very stressed out and afraid of the traffic conditions. Every time we cross the road she's like "shit man!" The rest of us are pretty "chill" and level headed, which balances it all out.

I've been taking a lot of pictures with my camera. I take them when people aren't looking, so they're very natural feeling and full of emotion! I'll upload them when I have time.

Hanh's mum called us after we had breakfast at around 8am and wanted us to come to her house for some kind of ceremony they were holding for Hanh's changing of name. We were pressured to go since she sent a car to come for us an we ended up staying there for around an hour or so. Basically a whole bunch of people were praying and "farting around" while we were upstairs in Hanh's room waiting for the kids to get ready. We arranged a rescue plan with Soy Goo (youngest uncle) beforehand to come in a Tuk Tuk and take us and the boys (his sons) to see the Palace (which he hasn't seen) in prepartion for the ordeal. At Hanh's we basically just sat in her room waiting which was pretty boring for all of us. We got to try some dragon fruit that her servants chopped up for us and saw her extensive collection of Louis Vuitton handbags and shoes.

My Soy E (little aunty) riding in the Tuk Tuk

Aunt-in-law (Hanh) planning her ceremony

The name changing ceremony

The food prepared for the "spirits"

The palace wasn't that great and neither was Wat Phnom (a temple). It seems like the attractions in Cambodia are really shoddy and not genuine. I got chased by one of the ticket attendants at Wat Phnom. When I followed Soy E through, the attendant yelled out to Soy E, "that person doesn't look Khmer!" Soy E replied "we're all Khmer." The attendant then followed me angrily saying, "you pay one dollar, one dollar!" I just turned to her and said, "gown Khmer!" (Cambodian child). She then apologised and asked Soy E if we all speak Khmer, with Soy E saying yes angrily. She then turned away and walked back to her chair.

Monkeys at Wat Phnom (they yelled at me for standing on the grass)

Trinket in Wat Phnom

Inside Wat Phnom

Nethan ran into some trouble at the Palace with the ticket people. I almost did too when they didn't believe that I was Khmer. They asked me where I lived and I was about to say Australia in Khmer, but then Soy Goo and Soy E were like Tutumpong (can't spell this city!), and I just walked really fast through. They were a bit unhappy though, saying "it's not right/fair that non-locals get in with local fees". When they spoke Khmer to Nethan he had no idea what they were saying and it showed on his face. They demanded that he go back and get a foreigner priced ticket, which was around $4?

Lachlan & Lincoln ("the boys") climbing on a lion statue in the palace

Anyway, we all agree that the palace in Thailand is much nicer.

On a similar note, Soy E also had trouble getting the K visas at the airport. They were basically farting around and pushing her to give them money for them to complete the visas. They also didn't believe that Chloe or Nethan were Khmer and were reluctant to give them the K-visa since they couldn't speak Khmer.

Anyway, Nethan and I are planning to go out later tonight with Hanh and maybe Pov after they've had dinner since we can't go to bed at 8pm like Chloe, Evan and Soy E. We're all doing well and having a good time. None of us has gotten food poisoning or sore throats. There is an abundance of Strepsil lozengers being sold at the pharmacies here anyway, so we didn't need to bring any over. They are good quality too! Basically you can buy everything here now and it's really good, sourced from places like Korea and Thailand.