After spending a week in Siem Reap we traveled by bus to Phnom Penh, the capital city. At the bus station we arranged for a tuk-tuk to take us to our hotel. We passed the Palace and noticed many people taking photos and flower arrangements every where. We thought it looked like some type of ceremony. Then our driver said something about roads closed due to the funeral. We finally made it to our hotel and after checking in we looked on the Internet to see about the funeral. We discovered it was the funeral for the King Father. He passed away in the fall, but the actual funeral was 100 days later. Not the best timing for us to be arriving in Phnom Penh. The funeral was a multi day event with the procession on Friday, two days after our arrival, and the cremation on the following Monday. As a result, many things were closed and not available for us to see and many extra people were in Phnom Penh. We made the most of the situation and saw a few things like the killing fields,the Thol Sleng prison and shopping in the Russian Market. We were also able to visit the Cambodia Mission Office and meet the mission president and his wife.
I have to admit that Cambodia was a bit of a disappointment to me since I was really looking forward to visiting the country. I think our rough entry into the country was hard and then we just didn't have the best timing in Phnom Penh. Maybe we were just looking forward to our next country, the Philippines and being able to see my parents. Now I am not saying that we didn't like Cambodia, our experience there just wasn't what we had hoped for. However, my interactions with the Cambodian people were mostly positive (aside from the scam artists) and I am glad that we went there. Maybe another time I will return and have a different experience.
I have to admit that Cambodia was a bit of a disappointment to me since I was really looking forward to visiting the country. I think our rough entry into the country was hard and then we just didn't have the best timing in Phnom Penh. Maybe we were just looking forward to our next country, the Philippines and being able to see my parents. Now I am not saying that we didn't like Cambodia, our experience there just wasn't what we had hoped for. However, my interactions with the Cambodian people were mostly positive (aside from the scam artists) and I am glad that we went there. Maybe another time I will return and have a different experience.
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| Joe getting measured for a shirt at the Russian Market. He had a shirt custom made and we returned to get it a few days later. |
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| Sunset from the balcony of our hotel in Phnom Penh. |
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| The streets reminded us of India (without the cows) |
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| Digging trenches by hand. It was a very hot day! It gets hard seeing all the poverty . |
Now I have seen that shirt that Joe was being measured for. It looks great--especially with him in it! G. Hull
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