Phnom Penh - the capital of the Khmer

Wow, we are already in the fourth country on our travel list, the 'Kingdom of Cambodia'. After a six-hour bus ride, we arrived in the capital of the 'Khmer' (which are the inhabitants of Cambodia). This bus ride, or rather the bumpy ride from Ho Chi Minh to Phnom Penh, showed us one thing above all: this country was definitely poorer and less developed than Vietnam, China, and all non-industrialized countries we had experienced so far. The roads were often not paved, there were potholes everywhere, and mud and sludge from the rainy season. On these long stretches, you often encounter scooters - which would be impossible on normal highways.

Already in the border area to Vietnam, we noticed that all prices (everywhere: in shops, restaurants, etc.) were printed in the local currency Riel as well as in US dollars. We knew that you can pay with USD in some Southeast Asian countries (so we brought along some "Ami notes"), but we were surprised to find them as a main currency in Cambodia.
Another thing that immediately caught our eye was the small Buddhist temples, which are placed as statues in front of almost every house. In Vietnam, people usually express their faith through a very kitschy decorated Buddha altar or a Christ cross (there are 8% Christians in Vietnam and by the way 81.5% atheists).

An example of a temple statue

We had planned for two nights in the capital of Cambodia, which turned out to be enough. On the day of arrival, we didn't do much. The luggage was stored in the room and a restaurant was sought. Our surroundings were probably the most beautiful you can have in Phnom Penh: right on the 3 km long Sisowath Quay - a relatively modern promenade by Cambodian standards on the Mekong River. The next day started with a sad act: Max had to say goodbye to his beloved flip-flops, which had accompanied him on almost every vacation for nearly 10 years. Towards the end, he hobbled with a broken shoe from market stall to shoe store - not without amused looks from the locals. It's not easy (or actually not possible) to find suitable flip-flops for a man with wide feet and shoe size 45, as Asian men tend to have smaller feet. Since the old shoes couldn't be worn anymore, a new pair had to be found quickly. Now Max walks around with size 43.

Equipped with new shoes, we went to see the sights. On the way there, we were approached by some tuk-tuk drivers. Tuk-tuk, please? Yes, you read that right. A tuk-tuk is basically the taxi in Cambodia. It usually consists of a scooter with a carriage-like seating area attached. Their drivers are usually relatively well-educated in terms of language skills and are happy to act as tourist guides because they know the area very well.

But our first destination, the 'Wat Ounalom', was not far away. In general, the city's attractions are located along the waterfront, so you can easily walk everywhere. This temple is the headquarters of one of the two largest Buddhist orders in Cambodia, the Maha Nikaya order. During the bus ride, we had already seen some temples and we think that Cambodia has the most beautiful temples so far.

Afterwards (shortly before noon), we wanted to visit the Royal Palace of Cambodia. Unfortunately, it was closed. Too bad. We learned that the palace is open in the morning from 8 to 11 and in the afternoon from 2 to 5. But it didn't matter: we decided to simply go there again on the morning of the next day, the departure day.

"Why didn't you just go there in the afternoon?" some may ask. That's because the rainy season has just started in Cambodia and it can suddenly start raining, mostly in the afternoon. Therefore, we instead took advantage of the services of a tuk-tuk driver to go to the landmark and namesake of the capital, the Wat Phnom. We were told that it wouldn't take long to get there, according to internet forums, and we hoped to find a restaurant to take shelter from the rain (in case it did rain). You can reach the temple via a beautiful staircase. Once at the top, you will mainly find the temple itself and a few altars around it. Inside the temple, there is, as expected, a statue of Buddha.

We had almost calculated correctly - but only almost. Shortly after we left the temple grounds, the monsoon rain started. Just like that, seemingly out of nowhere. We ran the remaining distance to the nearest restaurant. From inside, you can enjoy the sight of the rain pouring down better.

We spent the rest of the day on the rooftop terrace of our accommodation. Such rainy hours are quite practical for us to take care of important organizational matters, such as our next travel destination, how to get there, the accommodation on site, what we want to see there, etc. We also like to continue writing on the blog in these moments.

The schedule for the departure day had already been set the day before: we visited the Royal Palace. It is truly impressive - at the same time, one wonders whether the state funds have been/will be distributed properly considering all this pomp, as the majority of the population, to put it nicely, is really humble...

After considering several options for our next destination, we decided on Battambang, instead of the popular seaside destination Sihanoukville. According to what we heard from locals, many Chinese people enjoy their holidays there. "Enjoy" in the Chinese way means behaving somewhat piggish. Therefore, we better not go there. We gladly took this advice to heart - based on various experiences.
Let's see what awaits us in Battambang, the widely prophesied "real Cambodia".