Phnom Penh - Cambodia - MP

We arrived to Phnom Penh during the late morning, after an overnight flights from Australia through Kuala Lumper and onto Phnom Penh. It was already very hot and felt like 40 degrees. It took some time to get our tourist visas, clear customs and get SIM cards for our phones. Then we loaded into a hotel shuttle that took us to Tea House Asian Hotel. The traffic was crazy with Tuk Tuks and mopeds going in every direction. 

Phnom Penh is extremely busy with so many smelly, moving parts. It's sensory overload in every direction. It is customary to J-walk through traffic when crossing the street. The oncoming cars see you, swerve or slow down and you just keep moving across the road. Sometimes, if you're feeling quite confident, you can put up an open hand to signal that they need to stop. They don't. Instead, they swerve or slow down. 

The next day we toured the Royal Palace and the Emerald Pagota. The King was home, unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see him. The grounds were beautiful and hot. It is respectful to wear clothing that covers the upper arms and goes below the knees. As you can see, we're wearing some heavy clothes in sunny weather over 40 degrees. 

After the Palace, we took our first adventure into one of the many markets. The markets were narrow and busy with many sellers vying for your attention and money. In each market, there is a food section. These sections smell of raw meet, fish, sweat and spices. It's a unique smell that is difficult to get use to.  



The major two religions of Cambodia are Buddhism and Hindu. The majority of people are Buddhist. Sculptures of the Buddha are seen everywhere. Each Buddha position has a different meaning. This is the mediating Buddha. It is suppose to encourage inner peace. 

We had a wonderful time in PP. We also took a sunset/dinner boat cruise on the Mekong River and learned about the Khmer Rouge genocide of the late 1970s by visiting a concentration camp (Torture Centre). We started to try different foods and are becoming quite efficient at taking Tuk Tuks around the city. Our hotel had a great hot breakfast buffet and outside swimming pool. When we had some down time, we usually spent it in the air conditioned hotel room on our devices connecting with friends and family through social media, email and FaceTime. 

Next stop Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor...

All the best, MP