Timeout in Phnom Penh

by the time we got to phnom penh i was in pretty rough shape.  i had a full blown fever.  unfortuantely all decent places were booked out for the next five days for chinese new year so we had to settle for something a little gross.  well managed by one family and very helpful staff - just different standards and expectations of cleanliness i suppose.  the only alternative was super luxury which was/is out of our price range.

i lay shivering under the blanket with my head on roel's lap while we watched some olympics.  we didn't leave the hotel at all.  the next day was more of the same.  except roel got out to a convenience store to buy me some basics like ibuprofen and OJ.  :)  i was very thankful not to be doing this trip solo.  luckily this guesthouse offers a dvd machine rental for $2 a day and a whole slew of pirated dvds to choose from.  this was the worst day in terms of how i felt.  i didn't leave the room except to eat from the small kitchen/restaurant downstairs (the food was actually not too bad at this place).  roel didn't feel great either as his allergies were at his worst during this time.  we cancelled our tour of the killing fields and the toul sleng museum this day.

phnom penh has a population of about two million.  even though i know this is a third world country very much in the early developing stages i was surprised at the lack of infrastructure.  for some reason i expected a little more from the big capitol city.  don't get me wrong, it was fascinating and fun to see - but it was dirty without a whole lot to do or see once you have done the couple obligatory cultural and historical things with a visit to a couple of markets.  no reason (in my opinion) for anyone to stay here for more than two full days.

the next day we drugged our selves up and went on the tour we had postponed.  i knew the general history of the khmer rouge but didn't realize exactly how brutal they were...more barbaric than the nazis.  they didn't want to waste bullets so they hacked away with machetes, shovels and hoes.  they didn't want to leave children behind in case they would grow-up with resentment towards the regime so they smacked babies and young children against trees.  this regime ended up killing almost one-quarter of the country at the time (1975-80).  not that long ago.

the stupa (shrine/memorial) erected at the killing fields sends shivers through your spine.  a tall strcture filled with skulls excavated from the mass graves on site organized by sex and age.  the museum (which you should actually visit first) is set in a old highschool which the khmer rouge used as a prison and torture centre before sending people to the killing fields aforementioned.  not much to say about this.  another disturbing look into the human condition or lack thereof.

after these activities i had used up all my energy for the day and we went back to the hotel.
next day i managed the mall for about one hour before hitting a wall...it was chinese hew year - super crowded and warm.  we managed to work our way up to the fifth flour which had an outdoor walkway and a rollerblading rink and arcade.  a decent view of the surrounds. 

during the day we could hear celebrations but there was nor street festival or activities.  it was pretty local and family oriented.
a shot of roel at the mall:

at this point we would have headed for sihanouk ville (beach area of cambodia) but we didn't want to expend energy on a gruelling travelling day and risk relapse so we decided to just recoup in phnom penh.  we splurged and bought ourselves massages at raffles hotel le royal.  very nice.  we worked out every penny we spent by using the faciltiies all day.

on our last day (at this point i'm feeling pretty good but roel is still not great with his allergies, poor guy) we hit up the russian market and central market.  during our five days we also managed to take in the royal palace and wat phnom.  we didn't do anything much past about 9pm as i was usually sleeping by then.  roel was a super swetheart as i could tell he was antsy to get out more but i just wasn't up to it.  that's all for cambodia.  see you in vietnam.