Friendly Faces, Old and New

Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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I had done what I had gone to Kratie to see, so I left at 7:15am to head back to Phnom Penh, but this time only paying $4.50 for the same bus.  Once in Phnom Penh, I headed back to the Hotel Indochine.  This time my room was quite a bit smaller, but the bathroom had a window to the hallway, so I was able to get a little bit more light into the room.

I set off for Psar Tual Tom Pong, a market in search of new t-shirts.  First though, I stopped off at Jars of Clay, just a few blocks away from the market, for a quick bite to eat.  Inside the market it was extremely hot but worth it as  I ended spending only about $2.50-$3.00 a t-shirt.  Granted, they aren't the best quality, but works just fine for me.  Satisfied with my purchases, I headed back to my hotel before heading out for a drink at the Foreigner's Correspondent Club and then dinner at a pizza place, where I ordered one of the regular pizzas, not a "happy" pizza that is ladened with marijuana.

Monkey at Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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The next day it was off to the Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21).  This was the school turned prison that held the 17,000 people taken to the Killing Fields.  It was here that the prisoners were tortured.  I went through the rooms that had photos of some of the tortured prisoners making it all too real.  I was particularly interested in the documentary that they only show twice a day.  Unfortunately, after waiting for about half an hour, it appeared that they couldn't get it running.  I left only to find out that they did manage to fix it and so I missed the first 15 minutes or so.  The documentary was very good, but like the film at Chu Chi Tunnels in Vietnam, it was kind of hard to hear.  However, the focus of the documentary was on a couple that were cousins that married, but then were separated and eventually killed.  Some of the letters that were written were shared and were very moving.

Central Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Once done with the film I had a few more rooms to visit before leaving.  In one of them, I ran into the Dutch couple I had eaten lunch with one day on the Mekong Delta tour.  Before heading to Phnom Penh, they had headed back to Ho Chi Minh City and then onto the beach.  After chatting for a bit, we parted ways.

Once leaving the museum, I headed for lunch at the Garden Centre Cafe which was a good 20 minute walk.  I had read that this place had a good Sunday roast.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a beef roast, but I did have roast pork, crackling and real mashed potatoes.  Very yummy!

View of Phnom Penh from Soyra Shopping Centre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Once done with lunch, I headed over to the National Museum which was a beautiful building with some neat sculptures around front and a nice courtyard in the back.  As I walked around and saw quite a few pieces that had been taken from Angkor which only made me more excited about heading there in a few days.

After the museum, I decided to check out the only department store in Cambodia, Soyra Shopping Center.  It was bustling with people, happy to be out of the heat and into air conditioning.  The center was at least 7 or so stories high and as you got onto each escalator, there was an attendant waiting to assist you in case you didn't know how to use the escalator!  The center was pretty much a regular market with some stores and many stalls selling mostly clothes and electronics.  On the top floor, there was a roller rink that seemed to be quite a hit with the locals.  Outside of the rink was a balcony that had a fantastic view of Phnom Penh below.

Outside the National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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For dinner I decided to check out Friends, which is a tapas place that is run by an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization).  This NGO takes street kids and teaches them how to cook or serve customers.  Once finished eating, I headed back to my hotel, only to run into the same Dutch couple again that I had run into earlier that day.

The following day the only item on my agenda was to head to the U.S. embassy as I realized that I only had one full page left in my passport and didn't want to take any chances of completing running out, or being refused entry into a county because of lack of pages.  As I walked to the embassy, I passed a corner that had so many Cambodians sitting on the sidewalk with many children.  I wasn't sure what was going on, but as I rounded the corner, it turned out the building was a hospital.  It was so sad to see the hundreds of people lining up, just to get medical care.

Outside the National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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I finally found the embassy only to find a queue outside.  I was surprised that they made us wait for at least 20 minutes in the heat, especially when there was plenty of room inside.  The whole process to get extra pages added to my passport took about two hours, during which I ended up talking to two Americans.  The first guy was about 50 and had come to Cambodia in January, only to fall in love and get married a month later.  He was there trying to get his wife a visa for the U.S.  The second guy was about 65 and had been teaching in Cambodia since 1999.  He too had run out of pages in his passport.  As we chatted, I found out that he grew up in the Mission in San Francisco and his mother still lives in Daly City.

National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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Once done, I decided to walk across the road to check out the only hill in Phnom Penh, Wat Phnom.  Once at the top of the hill and checking out the wat, a security guard came up to me and told me I hadn't bought a ticket.  I immediately headed down, feeling bad, but they obviously need better signs, because I never did find the ticket office.

I headed back towards the hotel, only to see the woman from Fiji that I had met at the Foreigner's Correspondent's Club with Tim and Phillip.  She had been down to Sihanoukville and was back in Phnom Penh before leaving for Ho Chi Minh City. We talked for a few minutes before I headed on.

Cell at Tuol Sleng, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
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That night, I headed back to the Foreigner's Correspondent Club (do you think I like this place??) where I was to meet up with my old boss, Steve and two old co-workers, Frank and Erik.  As I waited for them to arrive, who should I run into but "Dave" the Norwegian guy and his girlfriend Linda, who had been on my Mekong Delta trip, but had headed back to Ho Chi Minh City and then Mui Ne before heading to Phnom Penh.

Just before 8pm, the E*TRADE crew, along with Frank's friend Lou showed up.  It was oddly strange seeing them, but at the same time, quite normal, despite how far from home we all were.  Perhaps the fact that both Steve and Frank had been to Phnom Penh before and that I had spent some time there by now that it all felt very relaxed.

Tuol Sleng, Phnom Pehn, Cambodia
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It was good to see some familiar faces after 10 weeks of traveling.  After some drinks and dinner we headed out.  I ended up parting ways as I had an early bus to catch (surprise, surprise).