It took about 6 hours to get from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh via air conditioned bus and cost me 600 baht ($20) but had I driven myself, it would've taken just under 3 hours (I drive fast). As soon as we set foot off the bus in the city center, there were tuktuks and motorbikes for hire hovering around like vultures going in for the kill.
I found a polite tuktuk driver who said he'd take me to a safe and cheap guesthouse for $3
I found a polite tuktuk driver who said he'd take me to a safe and cheap guesthouse for $3
and, after that, to and from Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields) which is about 17 kilometres (10 miles) away from Phnom Penh, for $15. I tried to barter a bit, but his prices seemed fair enough so I didn't make a big fuss over it. We arrived at Golden Home Guesthouse in no time. He told me to go inside and look at a room and see if I liked it, and he waited outside while I did surveillance.
The only room available was on the fourth floor, and I had had an accident before I'd left Bangkok, re-injuring my gimpy left knee. Hobble hobble hobble. A room with a fan cost $15. It was clean, and had running water. It appeared that there used to be a water heater, but it's now just a useless piece of plastic with one wire jutting out at the top. Super safe! I haven't seen any Cambodian guesthouses with toilet paper yet, and this is my second time in Cambodia, and fourth city visited in the Kingdom. While the bathroom appeared to be very clean, the sink leaks onto the tile floor, and when you flush the toilet, the sink doesn't work at all. If you've been to Southeast Asia before, you're probably used to the shower, sink, and toilet, all in the same area, and the spray nozzle for your butt, that's attached to the toilet tank. There wasn't even a bar of soap in the bathroom?!?! It's become a habit now; I carry tissues, toilet paper, liquid soap, and antibacterial wipes with me everywhere I go.
The only room available was on the fourth floor, and I had had an accident before I'd left Bangkok, re-injuring my gimpy left knee. Hobble hobble hobble. A room with a fan cost $15. It was clean, and had running water. It appeared that there used to be a water heater, but it's now just a useless piece of plastic with one wire jutting out at the top. Super safe! I haven't seen any Cambodian guesthouses with toilet paper yet, and this is my second time in Cambodia, and fourth city visited in the Kingdom. While the bathroom appeared to be very clean, the sink leaks onto the tile floor, and when you flush the toilet, the sink doesn't work at all. If you've been to Southeast Asia before, you're probably used to the shower, sink, and toilet, all in the same area, and the spray nozzle for your butt, that's attached to the toilet tank. There wasn't even a bar of soap in the bathroom?!?! It's become a habit now; I carry tissues, toilet paper, liquid soap, and antibacterial wipes with me everywhere I go.
Fast Forward, I chucked my backpack in my room, and ran downstairs to check in, then hopped in my awaiting tuktuk to The Killing Fields. my driver stopped and bought 2 surgical masks. I thanked him but said I'd be fine, I smoke so much that a little dust wouldn't bother me. (Later on I blew my nose and my boogers were black.) The road to Choeung Ek was one of the most heinous roads I've ever been on. Someone could lose an eye or a limb, or both, easily. There were cranes, tractors, open trenches, motorbikes going in every which way, variations of paved, unpaved, cobbled, and red dirt roads, and all part of the same street. Nothing startles me anymore. And near-collisions don't count. We were literally an inch away from a mack truck that decided to do a u-turn mid traffic. Pebbles flew everywhere and there was so much dust that it was hard to see in front of us.
Luckily, even in gridlock, it didn't take terribly long to get to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. My tuktuk driver said he'd be waiting under the trees for me and showed me the way to the entrance. The admission fee was $5, and I was given headphones and an electronic device with a number pad on it that served as my virtual tour guide. I won't go into too much detail, because I don't want to ruin the experience for those that have not yet been to Choeung Ek; i personally had been moved to tears, and left the museum with a new awareness.
Luckily, even in gridlock, it didn't take terribly long to get to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. My tuktuk driver said he'd be waiting under the trees for me and showed me the way to the entrance. The admission fee was $5, and I was given headphones and an electronic device with a number pad on it that served as my virtual tour guide. I won't go into too much detail, because I don't want to ruin the experience for those that have not yet been to Choeung Ek; i personally had been moved to tears, and left the museum with a new awareness.
Around 1:10 a.m. after dicking around online, I felt a bit peckish, so I climbed down the 4 flights of stairs and asked a hotel worker if there were any restaurants open. He gestured towards the dark street and told me I could take a look but he was pretty sure everything was closed. I asked if the guesthouse's kitchen was open, and he said it was. Well why the heck didn't you tell me sooner, numbnut?!
I sat down and saw a table tent: Restaurant hours 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Geez Louise, those are long hours for the kitchen staff. I sat down and ordered a salami, cheese, and tomato toastie, which was basically a panini, and a diet coke. A short while later a Cambodian girl and an obviously intoxicated Caucasian male walked in and sat at the table next to mine. I played on my phone the whole time until my food arrived, oblivious to the world. After inhaling my sandwich, I craved something sweet, and ordered a Malteser Crunchie, which was 3 scoops of french vanilla icecream, crushed Maltesers, and hot fudge.
After that, it was cigarette time, and I had to pack my brand new smokes. I'm guessing my loud cigarette packing made the Caucasian guy turn around and ask me if I was on vacation. I told him it was more of a stay-cation, and I'd been traveling since July. Turns out he's from Canada, and the girl he was with was a local Khmer girl who bartends on Street 104, the riverfront pub street, which is notorious for sex tourism. We chatted for a long bit, and Canada told me he used to be in the military. This was after I mentioned how much trash and filth I had seen in Phnom Penh. He retorted by saying Afghanistan was worse, and thought Thailand was pretty filthy too, and smells bad. I got the feeling he doesn't care much for Thailand. Told me he had somehow broken his jaw and was laying on the ground bleeding as 15 Thai people just glanced at him and kept walking. Sad.
An older German man asked if he could sit down and join us, and i gestured yes. Mid conversation, a beautiful Khmer girl, with long blonde hair, tons of makeup, porcelain skin, and a petite perfect body walked out from one of the rooms, accompanied by an older, dark haired, European-looking guy. Apparently it costs anywhere from $8 to $50 to have a prostitute over. I can never get over the fact that it's normal for a girl to sell her vagina for money. I talked to Canada about it and he said it was perfectly normal in Southeast Asia and I should get used to it. I made a comment about how guys who have to pay for sex should go home and shoot themselves in the face, and he said he had paid for sex before. Sigh.
He said selling your body is a job. You work, you make money, it's your job. He said he feels like the king of the world in Pattaya and Phnom Penh, but admitted it gets annoying to be haggled by prostitutes when you're just trying to have a beer and watch football. My opinion: Caucasian men who frequent Southeast Asia and pay for sex are usually the dorks in the Western world, that can't get laid no matter how hard they try, and their sex life consists of porn sites, magazines, and their left and/or right hand.
I sat down and saw a table tent: Restaurant hours 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. Geez Louise, those are long hours for the kitchen staff. I sat down and ordered a salami, cheese, and tomato toastie, which was basically a panini, and a diet coke. A short while later a Cambodian girl and an obviously intoxicated Caucasian male walked in and sat at the table next to mine. I played on my phone the whole time until my food arrived, oblivious to the world. After inhaling my sandwich, I craved something sweet, and ordered a Malteser Crunchie, which was 3 scoops of french vanilla icecream, crushed Maltesers, and hot fudge.
After that, it was cigarette time, and I had to pack my brand new smokes. I'm guessing my loud cigarette packing made the Caucasian guy turn around and ask me if I was on vacation. I told him it was more of a stay-cation, and I'd been traveling since July. Turns out he's from Canada, and the girl he was with was a local Khmer girl who bartends on Street 104, the riverfront pub street, which is notorious for sex tourism. We chatted for a long bit, and Canada told me he used to be in the military. This was after I mentioned how much trash and filth I had seen in Phnom Penh. He retorted by saying Afghanistan was worse, and thought Thailand was pretty filthy too, and smells bad. I got the feeling he doesn't care much for Thailand. Told me he had somehow broken his jaw and was laying on the ground bleeding as 15 Thai people just glanced at him and kept walking. Sad.
An older German man asked if he could sit down and join us, and i gestured yes. Mid conversation, a beautiful Khmer girl, with long blonde hair, tons of makeup, porcelain skin, and a petite perfect body walked out from one of the rooms, accompanied by an older, dark haired, European-looking guy. Apparently it costs anywhere from $8 to $50 to have a prostitute over. I can never get over the fact that it's normal for a girl to sell her vagina for money. I talked to Canada about it and he said it was perfectly normal in Southeast Asia and I should get used to it. I made a comment about how guys who have to pay for sex should go home and shoot themselves in the face, and he said he had paid for sex before. Sigh.
He said selling your body is a job. You work, you make money, it's your job. He said he feels like the king of the world in Pattaya and Phnom Penh, but admitted it gets annoying to be haggled by prostitutes when you're just trying to have a beer and watch football. My opinion: Caucasian men who frequent Southeast Asia and pay for sex are usually the dorks in the Western world, that can't get laid no matter how hard they try, and their sex life consists of porn sites, magazines, and their left and/or right hand.
After Canada and his girl left, Germany asked what I was doing tonight. I said, "Sleeping." He offered me a beer and I lied and told him I was on antibiotics. He told me a tale of how he took a girl home and thought she just liked him and wanted to hang out, but asked for $25 at the end of the night. He then asked if I was sleeping alone and I said, "Of course!" He went to the restroom, and I hobbled as fast as I could up to my room and locked the door. Not open for business. Ever.
