Posted by: Jenn (with history help from Jonathan)
We took a bus from Saigon, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Before we hit the border, the bus assistant asked for our passports and $25 to pay for the Cambodian Visa. We were a bit confused because we thought it was supposed to be $20. After questioning the cost he gave us, he broke it down: $2 for the Vietnamese exit stamp, $2 for the Cambodian entrance stamp, $20 for the Cambodian visa and $1 for the bus assistant's services of quickly processing our visas for us. We told him we could just do it ourselves at the border and he said that was fine but that the bus wouldn't wait and we would have to take a taxi to the next place the bus stops for a restroom break. This sounded a bit sketchy, especially because our bags were going to be left under the bus, but we just didn't want to pay the unnecessary extra $5 each. Long story short, at the border we got our Vietnamese exit stamp for free, paid $20 for the visa, and then got our Cambodian entrance stamp for free. The bus was still there because this process took no time at all and we hopped on, proud of ourselves for not giving into the scheme of paying more since we are foreigners. Ten minutes later at the restroom stop, the bus assistant pulled out a wad of cash he had collected from the other tourists and handed it out to begging families...a Robin Hood of sorts.
We arrived at the Phnom Penh "bus station", aka a gas station, and about 2,345 tuk tuk (motorcycle taxi with a four seater carraige trailored on) drivers ran 1/2 a mile next to the bus until it stopped. Geez - prepare for personal bubble break in. We got off the bus safely, grabbed our bags and tried walking away...fail. We were convinced by one driver to let him take us and then we convinced him down to a price we liked. It worked out - he was cool.
After a good night's rest I was still feeling pretty bad with a cough and sore throat so I stayed at the hotel and Jonathan set off to explore some of the city. Staying in bed with cable TV sounded more appealing to me.
We took a bus from Saigon, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Before we hit the border, the bus assistant asked for our passports and $25 to pay for the Cambodian Visa. We were a bit confused because we thought it was supposed to be $20. After questioning the cost he gave us, he broke it down: $2 for the Vietnamese exit stamp, $2 for the Cambodian entrance stamp, $20 for the Cambodian visa and $1 for the bus assistant's services of quickly processing our visas for us. We told him we could just do it ourselves at the border and he said that was fine but that the bus wouldn't wait and we would have to take a taxi to the next place the bus stops for a restroom break. This sounded a bit sketchy, especially because our bags were going to be left under the bus, but we just didn't want to pay the unnecessary extra $5 each. Long story short, at the border we got our Vietnamese exit stamp for free, paid $20 for the visa, and then got our Cambodian entrance stamp for free. The bus was still there because this process took no time at all and we hopped on, proud of ourselves for not giving into the scheme of paying more since we are foreigners. Ten minutes later at the restroom stop, the bus assistant pulled out a wad of cash he had collected from the other tourists and handed it out to begging families...a Robin Hood of sorts.
We arrived at the Phnom Penh "bus station", aka a gas station, and about 2,345 tuk tuk (motorcycle taxi with a four seater carraige trailored on) drivers ran 1/2 a mile next to the bus until it stopped. Geez - prepare for personal bubble break in. We got off the bus safely, grabbed our bags and tried walking away...fail. We were convinced by one driver to let him take us and then we convinced him down to a price we liked. It worked out - he was cool.
After a good night's rest I was still feeling pretty bad with a cough and sore throat so I stayed at the hotel and Jonathan set off to explore some of the city. Staying in bed with cable TV sounded more appealing to me.
The next day I was feeling better so we rented a death wish (more commonly known as a moto-scooter) for the day to visit a few sites. During the late 1960's the Vietnam War found its way into Cambodia as many communists fled Vietnam to seek refuge in Cambodia's jungles. We secretly carpet bombed much of the jungle trying to uproot their camps. Fighting soon engulfed the country and ended on April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge seized the capital city of Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge, under the leadership of Pol Pot, then undertook one of the most gruesome genocides this world has seen. They rounded up the political opposition, the educated, and those that spoke other languages and systematically tortured and killed them. The Khmer Rouge and their policies are responsible for the death of over 2 million people during the four years after their takeover. The killing fields of Choeung Elk (a short moto-scooter ride outside of Phnom Penh) is the location of 129 mass graves where almost 20,000 bodies were buried. Some graves were filled with children, others headless corpses - the Khmer Rouge showed no mercy. There wasn't as much to see at the site as there was to feel. Walking through the field honeycombed with the dimples of unearthed mass graves made you wonder how one human can do this to another.
We also visited the S21 prison (formerly a high school), which is where the Khmer Rouge held and tortured innocent people before they were transported to the killing fields we previously visited.
After touring the prison we hopped back on our moto-scooter to head for the Royal Palace. On the way to the Royal Palace Jonathan went through a light flashing yellow just before it turned red. A cop started waving us down and then proceeded to run out into the street waving his baton. He ran out in front of us and about smacked Jonathan in the face with it, ended up hitting his arm. I was a little nervous. But we pulled over and Jonathan discussed the issue with the three officers. They started with talk of a ticket and needing to go to the police station since Jonathan didn't have a license (was stolen in South America). This quickly turned into a request for a $20 bribe. We pulled away from the curb after parting with only $2, if traffic violations were only settled this easily back home! Jonathan said the hardest part was deciding how to split the $2 among three officers. He said, "I gave one to the fattest as he seemed most like the boss and the other dollar went to the one with the baton in his hand, for obvious reasons". We decided we had had enough motoscooter-ing for the day so we dropped it off at our hotel and set out the four blocks to the Royal Palace. Halfway there we thought there might be some restrictions as far as clothing goes; I had on a tank top and mini skirt. We went back to the hotel and I threw on some leggings and grabbed a shawl to cover my shoulders. We walked back to the palace, bought our tickets and headed for the gate. Before we could hand him our tickets he told me that a shawl was not allowed and that I needed a shirt with sleeves. Frustrated at this point, Jonathan tried to sweet talk our way in...fail. They sold shirts at the ticket booth but they were far from cute and I was not trying to waste money on a heinous shirt. Jonathan jogged back to the hotel and grabbed the first t-shirt he saw because by now it was about 4:30 and the palace closed at 5. He came back, I threw on the shirt and attempt three at entering the palace was finally a success.
Several buildings made up the Royal Palace and the architecture and detail in all of them were so intricate and beautiful.
One of the buildings, the Silver Pagoda, houses many national treasures with the most impressive being a near life-size golden Buddha encrusted with 9,584 diamonds. The floor of the Silver Pagoda was inlaid with more than 5,000 silver tiles. Photos were not allowed, so of course Jonathan tried to sneak one.
Our day ended with the best fruit shakes in the world (so far). Cambodia has some delish fruit shakes and we were sure to get at least two each day we were in Phnom Penh.
The next stop on our itinerary is the southwest coast of Cambodia for some much needed beach time!