Phnom Penh

At 6am this morning we arrived in the just awakening capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. After a strange night on the sleeper bus, we were hastily awoken by the bus lights as we pulled up to the Giant Ibis office. It was a strange feeling not knowing where we were and what awaited us outside the bus. Unsurprisingly we were greeted by a group of Tuk Tuk drivers hungry for fares. As we were sleepy and exhausted, we picked the first driver than asked, grabbed our bags and headed to our hostel.

We were dropped outside our small friendly hostel, after being weaved through the morning hustle of Phnom Penh; past cyclos and street vendors, we felt the difference from the sleepy ambience of Siem Reap. 

We walked into the hostel and asked how long before we could check-in, we were informed it would be until at least 12oclock. We sat in the lobby and ordered breakfast and waited... And waited and waited. We found out eventually that the guy who stayed in the room wasn't even in there! At 11.45 he rocked up, collected his bag and left! So we basically waited 5 hours for nothing, they could have cleaned his room and been done by 8am! What a clown.

But anyway the staff at the hostel are great, the owner is an Australian guy who is really helpful.

We slept from 12 til 8.30pm, we are now sitting on the river front eating some comfort food: pizza and chicken nuggets.

Tomorrow we will go to the Toul Sleng genocide museum (S-21) and Russian market. We have both been reading a book called "First They Killed my Father", written by a survivor of the Khmer Rouge communist takeover. We have both found it both fascinating and deeply disturbing. It has really inspired us to go to the genocide museum and we will also visit the Killing Fields in a few days too. 

(Google: Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh for background info). The events that took place here were horrific, however the Cambodian people still keep their welcoming and friendly charm; a credit to these people, whose streets were stripped of all character and thousands slaughtered at the hands of the Angkar.

I'm sure the next few days will be moving!