To set the record straight, the proper pronunciation of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is P'nom Pen with the H's staying silent. Most of the time. The locals speaking so quickly with strong accents it is nearly impossible to make out what they were saying. When they speak, we have to consciously pay attention because it always feels like we are two to three words behind.
Rather than take a one hour flight, we decided on an overnight bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh with Giant Ibis bus company. The price was quite cheap, $12 a head, and we wouldn't have to cross any borders. On top of that, since it was overnight sleeper bus, we would be able to get some rest while saving the cost of a hotel. Great plan, right?
Everything started out smoothly, as it so frequently does. Even though we were technically checked out of the hotel in the morning, the staff was kind enough to let us hang around the pool until we needed to depart for our bus at 23:00. I guess they felt guilty about their previous mishaps. We grabbed a quick late night dinner at Pub Street before the bus. Cobb Salad!
The bus left 30 minutes late, but we were still optimistic and excited for our first sleeper ride!
While there were indeed flat mats for us to sleep on, the length was too short for Ben, so sleep would be hard to come by. Nadine was passed out and snoring maybe before the bus left the station. Unbeknownst to her, she was about to miss the drama. About 10 kilometers (6 miles) after we finally got on the road, the bus pulled over. Why? No one knows. It was at this very spot that the next THREE AND A HALF hours would be spent idle. Multiple times Ben went to the front of the bus to inquire about the problems, but the only response given by the bus attendant was "machine no work, machine no work." So there we waited. and waited, and waited. After that, we waited some more. To save some battery, the driver and attendant turned the engine and AC off and would only periodically turn it on briefly to get some AC airflow through the bus. The only other person awake was a grumpy, justifiably frustrated German man in the bed next to Ben, meaning there were at least 20 others on the bus, most of whom were snoring loudly. These precious minutes when the bus was turned on provided a brief reprieve from the heat and the various decibels of snores deriving from all directions.
Ben and the German took turns with the inquires, eventually deciding after three hours that if nothing changes in the next 15-20 minutes, we would wake Nadine up and split a $100 cab ride to Phnom Penh. Returning to Siem Reap was pointless, so might as well continue on our way. Within minutes of making our gentleman's agreement, the lights flipped on, waking up most of the passengers, Nadine included. The attendant worker boy began pacing up and down the aisle searching for the bus driver, who was no one where to be seen. We found out only later that he had bailed on us and had taken a taxi to G-d only knows where. We were left stranded...
30 minutes later another bus arrived and we made a quick transfer. Where it was originating from is anyone's guess, but we found it odd that we were previously on the only overnight bus, yet the new bus was already half full (half empty???) when we got on.
The original schedule had us leaving at 23:00 to arrive in PP at 5:00am. Instead we left at 23:30, got stuck, and didn't move again until approximately 3:30am. It was a nightmare.
The second bus was no better than the first. The wooden bathroom door was unattached at the hinge, opening and closing through the duration of the ride, slamming against the frame. Ben tried to lock the door by tying a knot using a broken iPhone cord he found on the bus, but that was only temporary since others would simply untie the knot to use the restroom. Needless to say, there was no toilet seat, toilet paper, and the floor was covered in urine, stinking up the back of the bus where we were located. Below us, all of the passengers' luggage were getting tossed around mercilessly, creating banging noises every 5-6 seconds. We were miserable.
A good amount of time was spent praying to the heavens we would survive. The bus was not safe; the driver was a replacement who must not have been scheduled to drive, meaning he was probably exhausted and likely to pass out at the wheel, killing all aboard.
Apparently we arrived safely, considering we are alive to write this. We tried to save a few pennies by taking the overnight backpackers bus, but this was clearly a mistake. Next time we will spend the extra $100 and fly.
For inexplicable reasons, we booked nearly four full days in PP. There aren't any notable landmarks or attractions, nor are there many activities in which to partake. Yet somehow we had a really really nice time. Only once did we actually go to the center of town. The day we arrived was Cambodian Independence Day, so our second full day we went to see the festivities in town. The King of Cambodia was scheduled to take a joy ride on the Mekong River and give waves to his adoring audience lining the shorelines. The issue was that no one on the streets exactly what time. We asked locals, and received four different answers, one of them being a security guard of the Royal Palace.
In the meantime, there were canoe races on the Mekong for the general public to enjoy. At the end of the boardwalk was a segregated area for foreigners only to relax in the shade. After each race the teams would cruise past chanting and yelling, much to the delight of the crowd.
We also walked past the National Museum and the Royal Palace, which again we skipped over as part of our silent protest of visiting residences of royal families. One funny scene was when there were a half dozen palace workers stripped down to their underwear showering themselves off with a garden hose on the grass within the gates of the Palace walls.
On our way home we paid a visit to the Independence Monument and a statue of the previous King who passed away in 2012.
Not all was fun and easy. A necessary stop in Cambodia is paying respect to those who lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. We visited both the S21 Prison, which is know the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, as well as the Killing Fields. Rather than describe the horrors, here are a few links to both places:
We booked a pretty nice AirBNB in a modern building with a pool and gym on the top floor with almost a 360 degree view of the city. Much and more of our days were spent exercising, swimming, playing billiards and competing in ping pong.
The was nothing by way of food near us besides a delicious BBQ joint where we dined three out of four nights, so we munched on a random assortment of goodies we had accumulated from various convenience stores.
All in all, Phnom Penh is pleasant. In retrospect, we definitely could have passed over the visit, maybe even going to Cambodia altogether. We still had a great time and look forward to our next destination: Vietnam
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