#28: Arrival in Cambodia's capital

12.02.2020

Today we are moving to Phnom Penh. We want to cover the approximately 320 km by bus in about 7 hours. We liked Siem Reap and the hotel was very relaxing compared to the very turbulent city. However, only the main roads in Siem Reap are paved, making it the dustiest city we have ever been to.

After packing, having breakfast, and checking out, we make our way to the bus. The bus company conveniently organizes a free transfer from the ticket counter in the city to the bus station a bit outside. After waiting at the counter fully loaded for about half an hour for the transfer, we are picked up by a smaller bus. 

After a few more stops, we arrive at the bus station. There we already see a bus of the travel company, partially occupied, with five men arguing and looking into the open engine hood. Oh dear. Fortunately, we have to board another bus and the journey starts more or less on time at 10 o'clock. The bus is not as comfortable as the luxury buses in Thailand, but it's still okay. This bus actually has Wi-Fi, not just on paper. Only the air conditioning is not as good as in Thailand. We can even retrieve part of the travel costs because Martin finds a 100 riel note between the seats (unfortunately, it's only about 2.5 cents).

Looking out of the window, we get an impression of the locals' life. We see how people live and work in the countryside. The houses are usually on thin stilts and are colorful and rather small. We see livestock such as chickens and cows at almost every house, as well as a similar number of dogs.

After about 2 hours, we make the first stop at an inn. Shortly after getting off, Martin notices an unusual amount of sun on his ears and after some thinking, realizes that his cap is missing. Since the cap is also not found on the bus, it must have been lost on the way from the ticket counter to the bus - oh no. Even after further thinking, the cap does not appear and we report the loss to the bus attendant. She is immediately very helpful and calls the ticket counter: The cap will be delivered by night bus, and even without a separate ticket. After these dramatic scenes, everyone calms down a bit and the journey continues.

After another short break, we arrive in Phnom Penh at 4 pm. We are already besieged by tuk-tuks here, but we decline them all. We want to walk the approximately 15 minutes to the hostel. The city is extremely chaotic: People drive crosswise with all sorts of vehicles everywhere. Construction is going on everywhere and there are street stalls. To our surprise, it seems that sidewalks basically do not exist or are used as parking spaces, so vehicles have to share the road with us.

We only get a little lost once and find the hostel almost instantly. It is located directly on the Mekong river promenade and in close proximity to the night market. So it has a great location.

Surprisingly, our room is not in the main building, but in the annex building that is still under construction. So on the way to the room, we nod friendly to the construction workers and move into the room. The room is rather practical, but bright and has everything we need for two days.

After settling in, we want to go to the night market for dinner. But before that, we want to visit the rooftop terrace advertised on Booking.com. It is located on the 7th floor and as we ride up the elevator, we realize that it is currently still under construction. So we want to go back down with the elevator. However, just as the elevator doors have not yet fully closed, the lights suddenly go out. More or less frantically, we push against the closing doors, press them open again, and slip through the gap into the staircase. The doors snap shut behind us. Looking outside, we see that apparently the power has gone out in the whole block, and we narrowly escaped spending the night in the cozy, Cambodian 2 m² elevator on the 7th floor.

At the night market, all sorts of clothes and street food are offered. There is even a stage where a man (unfortunately without a real audience) passionately sings Cambodian songs. The food stands are arranged around many individual bamboo mats, on which you sit for eating (and without shoes). There, you are served by the respective stand just like at tables. We decide on fried noodles with chicken and fried rice with vegetables for little money. We also have the juice from a piece of sugarcane on ice. Everything tastes great!

After a short walk on the promenade, we go to bed after a strenuous day.