Cambodia Day 6, Sunday: The walking tour

We met at about 9 a.m. in the morning for breakfast at the restaurant of our guesthouse, then split up: Fa.rah, U.ma and So.o Hi.an were talking a mini-van, provided by the guesthouse, for a tour of the Killing Fields, the National Museum and the Royal Palace. The Russian and I were setting off on our own for a walking tour of Phnom Penh.

The Russian and I started by taking a tuk-tuk to Wat Phnom, a modern temple built on the only hill in town. The first thing that happened when we reached the temple was: a policeman demanded that we pay $1 each for entry, which we doubt was an actual rule. The Lonely Planet does warn not to make eye contact with policemen in Cambodia; they're known to ask you for money for any reason under the sun. From that moment on we tried to avoid any policemen we saw, and we took care to hide our camera whenever we saw a policeman nearby.

Wat Phnom

After walking around the temple we went back downhill and made a stop outside The Raffles Hotel Le Royal. There we  took a couple of photos of ourselves, and a bunch of kids that were playing just outside the building. We handed out sweets and felt like colonials.

Next stop was the train station, but it was closed, so we just stood across the road and took photos of the grand old art deco building.

Train Station

Then we headed southeast to Psar Thmei, or the Central Market. It was huge, and the most crowded place I've ever been in. Every inch is covered with either goods or people. We took a walk around and then stopped at a small stall to have some bamboo-orange juice. I was already sweaty and tired by that point; it was amazingly refreshing.

We walked around the market some more, attempting to find our way out. I ended up buying a Lonely Planet Vietnam for US$3.50 after much haggling, but even then the Russian wouldn't stop nagging at me because he said I was overpaying.

Stalls inside the Central Market

Finally we made our way out and got to Sorya Shopping Centre. The interior really made me feel like I'd returned to Singapore in the 1980s -- the lighting, the store arrangements, the architecture. We only took a look at the escalator trainers -- people who stand by the escalators to help those who have never ridden on one before -- and left.

From there we took a long, long walk to Ph 240 for lunch. We ate at The Shop. There I had the best meal I have ever had while travelling: a lamb burger and a lychee-mint cooler. The food was so good it hurt. I seriously almost cried. You know how when you hear a song that really touches a part of you that you feel like crying? It was like that. A part of it had to do, of course, with the fact that I was starting to like Phnom Penh, finally, and it was my last day in the city.

The Russian had a pretty good pasta salad, but he went and ordered a dates-banana-molasses shake. It was, of course, thicker than blood, and was not the most thirst-quenching of drinks, especially after four hours of walking under the hot sun -- and the weather was pretty damn hot.

Lunch

Next to The Shop was a cute little boutique that sold really cool locally-designed accessories and bags and I wanted to get myself a bag but I couldn't find the shopkeeper and there were so many other tourists in the shop oohing and aahing. I thought I'd go back after lunch but then I forgot about it, and now I live in regret. They were really pretty bags.

After lunch we walked down a couple of streets until we got to a row of art shops. This was where we found out that we had been overcharged on the Kompong Chnang tourist trap boat. The Russian bought another painting from one of the shops here, of a sunset over Angkor Wat.

Then we walked on and stumbled upon the Singapore Embassy. It's gorgeous! We were so proud we took photos. A couple of streets later we stumbled upon the Malaysian Embassy. Let's just say it only made us prouder of the Singapore one.

Eventually we ended up at the Independence Monument. We took a couple of photos and moved on, to the Royal Palace. It was closed for lunch, however, so we made our way to the National Museum.

I was really pretty exhausted by this point, so after some viewing I sat down and waited for the Russian to finish. We barely spent an hour in there. Once he was done we went back to the Royal Palace.

Again, I was close to collapsing, and the HORDES of tourists were really wearing me out, so after looking inside a couple of the pagodas, I sat and waited for the Russian.

Royal Palace

Well that was the end of Lonely Planet's recommended walking tour. But was it the end for us hardcore travellers? No! We took a tuk-tuk and made our way to Psar Tuol Tom Pong, or the Russian Market, to buy some last minute souvenirs for people back home.

I bought a t-shirt for June and a book for my colleague who asked for it, but then when I got home I decided to keep the book for myself. No, I only do that to people I don't care that much about.

The Russian got some pencils for his colleagues and t-shirts for his family. We came across a stall that was selling original American clothing, probably from Cambodian garment factories -- Gap, Adidas, Nike, American Eagle, etc -- for about a tenth of the prices back home, but we didn't find anything that fit.

And finally, finally, after NINE hours of walking, we took a tuk-tuk back to our guesthouse. But if only it were that simple. Our tuk-tuk driver didn't understand our instructions or the map, and got really, really lost. Eventually, he made a wrong turn when he was about five minutes away from our guesthouse, so we hopped off and walked the rest of the way back.

It was fucking exhausting but I'm glad we did the walking tour. I really fell in love with Phnom Penh that day. That walk alone made me feel like going back to Phnom Penh someday, if only to have another meal at The Shop and buy the pretty bag that eluded me.

Once we got back we showered and went to our friends' room to ask them out for dinner. They were still washing up, and so we waited outside their room. When we were all ready we took a tuk-tuk (none of us had functioning feet anymore by this point) to Ph 93 (I think) and ended up at a nice little Khmer restaurant for our last Khmer meal and shake battle.

The winner with 3 votes was the Russian, with his delightful apple shake, which had bits of green apple skin in it and was not at all sour. They probably added sugar or syrup. Um.a and I tied for second place -- I had a strawberry milkshake which tasted a lot like the one from McDonald's (except nicer of course) and she had a really nice, refreshing lime shake. For some reason I can't remember what Fa.rah had -- again. So.o Hia.n's coffee shake, I recall, was as strong as death.

When we finished our meal we upset all the other patrons' meals by making a lot of noise over taking a group shot. In the one camp were U.ma and the Russian, who were urging Fa.rah to just ask someone for help. In the other camp were the rest of us, determined as hell to use the self-timer function on Far.ah's camera.

Of course, she set it all up and we posed to perfection, and when the self-timer ended, her camera batteries died.

This lone guy having his dinner stood up and offered to take the photo for us. It was not at all embarrassing, because we were leaving the country!

And after that, Far.ah replaced her camera batteries and made us take another group shot on self-timer, so everybody won:

On self-timer

After that S.oo H.ian and Fa.rah went back to the guesthouse and the remaining three of us got a foot massage next door.

And after that, back to the guesthouse and home the next day. I carried the post-holiday blues with me for the rest of the week, and even today as I sift through the photos and write this entry, I feel quite sad that it's all over. I know that only means it was a great trip. I still ache for Laos every once in a while and that happened two years ago.

But life moves on. I'm working with the photos right now. I'm collecting photos from all the cameras, arranging them chronologically and uploading them onto Ofoto. It's taking a lot of time, a real labour of love. Let me know if you're interested in taking a look -- I think there must be about 600 photos in all.

I'll also be uploading more photos onto the blog gradually. Check back on the previous posts to see them.

End credits:
Thanks to my fellow travellers for ALL the photos, especially the Russian, for providing me with the first few you saw on this blog. I don't have a camera.

Far.ah and I both bought Lonely Planet Vietnam while in Cambodia and U.ma too has a copy. Stay tuned for more in the World Travels of the Tuesday Group!