December 24 – January 9, 2019
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Sad to leave Bangkok but excited to continue exploring South East Asia, we hopped a quick flight on Air Asia to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As we waited for our flight at DMK, our Priority Pass came through giving us access to 3 lounges. We comfortably hung out at one enjoying free WiFi and food, making our travels much more enjoyable.
We arrived in Phnom Penh around 5pm and went through customs quickly although it was an interesting process. They wanted a picture along with 3 visa documents for each person. But if you didn’t have a picture then you can give them $3 (or maybe $6) and they process without it. Then they took our passports behind the desk and we moved to a section immediately next door to wait. The immigration officials called out our names and flashed the passports from behind a window for you to pick it up. Our bags came out quickly and we were able to get SIM cards for our phones before leaving. We got in a taxi and it took us nearly 1 hour to go about 13 km (8 miles) to our hotel! Traffic is congested here just like Bangkok.
Our room at Hometown Hotel was cheap, $22 a night, with a king size bed but no windows. We were only staying for a little over 1 week so it was fine. The neighborhood was a mix of being touristy, seedy and with locals living around. We had restaurants, bars, street food, outdoor food market, barbershops outside alongside the road, coffee shops, large garbage piles overflowing into the street and Wat Ounalom all mixed in. The streets were loud and chaotic, without stop signs, traffic lights, and side walks. We had to walk in the road with motor bikes, tuk tuks, cars, street vendors, and other pedestrians. We often cut through the Wat to look at the different buildings, kittens, puppies, chickens, peacocks, and monks. People were everywhere. There were some families living alongside the roads and the river sidewalk. Their young children were running around playing half naked (or some little ones totally naked). It was a bit overwhelming for a few days and really got me out of my comfort zone.
Since we were staying in a hotel, John and I went out for breakfast every morning then ventured off some place. We found a couple of great playgrounds that we went to, although they lacked shade after 10:30am and got really hot. One was at Wat Phnom which also had a small forested park around it with a mama and baby monkey. We loved to find them and watch the baby climb around. A second playground was at Wat Botum. At both parks John made local friends who we continued to meet up with over our time there. The kids (and us parents) were so happy to see each other again, even though we didn’t speak a common language. One morning we went to a cat cafe to play with the cats. John loved trying to get them to play with the toys and chase them. As the week progressed, in search of more things to do, one morning we hopped on a tuk tuk and went to a mall indoor playground. It was a typical modern Asian mall with chain restaurants like Dominos, Krispy Kreme, KFC, etc. The playground was a lot of fun with a trampoline, ball pits, padded exercise course to run up and climb on.
In our typical fashion we found some tasty food. Nearby was a restaurant where they made homemade dumplings and noodles. We also went to a fancy restaurant (yet still inexpensive) called Romdeng that serves traditional Cambodian food and is setup as a training restaurant that helps marginalized Cambodians. We were seated next to a wooden cabinet with beautiful hand made wallets inside and a jar of tarantulas on top of it waiting to be dinner. The baby loved looking at them but was a bit startled when a waiter paused at our table with a plate of 3 cooked tarantulas and set them down. He made a somber face while starring at them. John took some photos and the waiter picked them up. For our dinner we had a flavorful dish with fried red ants, pork and vegetables. You could not distinguish the ants unless you looked at the dish closely. We got the baby an amazing salad consisting of fried pork belly, fried morning glory, fried garlic, mint and other herbs with a galangal dressing. It was the best dressing I ever had! His dish was our favorite of the meal!
After about a week, on New Year’s eve, I started to get a sore throat so the baby and I stayed in for the night (not that we would go out anyway!). John went out of the city to see Khmer fights with some guys from the gym. The next day I was able to take John to breakfast at the hotel and hang out by the river but then I got really sick and just wanted bed.
Sick or not we had to switch hotel rooms so I found us a better hotel at Monsoon Basaac about a mile away. We had windows and a balcony! This neighborhood was more upscale than the previous with some beautiful buildings mixed in and some really nice cars like Rolls Royce passing by. It highlighted the huge contrast between rich and poor.
John ended up going to Bangkok for a couple of days to get his swollen foot checked while the baby and I stayed. We spent a lot of time in bed watching tv or playing on our phones/ipad. He was absolutely thrilled! We did manage to eat some good breakfasts. Across the street we had rice, marinated grilled pork, fried egg, pickled veggies, and some broth. Everything combined together worked perfectly. We also found a tiny little Asian bakery with a small playground. John loved their bagel with a slice of bacon inside and for me, toast with cooked spinach and melted cheese.
John got back from Bangkok knowing that his foot was ok, it was an inflamed tendon. I still had a sore throat and now it’s been a week. We decided to go back to Bangkok so I could go to the doctor. Before we left we wanted to take advantage of our time in PP so we went back to Romdeng for another delicious dinner. We had to try tarantula and it wasn’t that bad. However, I only had a leg and a half while John dove into the rest of the 3 tarantulas. We also had a delicious Burmese curry which was similar to khao soi but not spicy.
In spite of our time getting cut short, it was a memorable trip. We had the opportunity to experience the friendly Khmer people and an emerging city that will look very different in the years to come. It was also very humbling learning about the past and realising that many people we encountered lived through it and have painful memories. Considering what this country has been through, it is quite impressive to see the people so determined to live a happy life and recover from a tragedy they lived only 39 years ago.