Frustrated in Cambodia

I have now been in Cambodia for three days, and I have been frustrated with the country. It is better organized than any other place I have visited at keeping tourists under control in terms of spending. ATMs only dispense dollars. Prices for tourists are quoted in dollars. Local citizens pay a different (lower) price for everything. It's like being visiting with a tour group rather than being independent. My mode of dealing with it has just to spend lots of time in my hotel and to buy food at the supermarket for eating in my room. I have been out some, but in general I am passing time. In one respect that is nice; I am getting some rest while here.

Friday, June 19, 2009--Bangkok to Phnom Penh

I had a nice conversation with the manager of my hotel after breakfast. She explained that the insurance company still has not paid off on the cost of the fire the hotel suffered two years ago (about a month after I had been there). That is why business is so slow. They have had to pay the costs of all the work to refresh the hotel themselves while fighting in court to get paid by the insurance company. She said they have a big nursing conference scheduled next month and that it is because of them that the tower is opening. However, she said they are only doing touch-up on the tower due to the lack of money. It has not been remodeling as I had understood when talking to the employees a few days ago.

It took only 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport. Easy going. My flight was delayed by 30 minutes, so that meant that I had over 2 1/2 hours to wait until my flight. I walked a lot as exercise, since the airport is long with plenty of room.

I sat beside a nice couple from the U.S. on the plane--Todd and Lisa. They are former reporters for a newspaper in the northwest. They said they saw the "writing on the wall" last year and decided to quit and travel before being fired. They have been traveling independently around the world since then. They are the first Americans I have ever met who were doing this! Instead of an ATW ticket, they have just bought one-way tickets along the way. And they did a big segment through Russia by taking the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was delightful to visit with them. They are going back home with plans to change their careers. She will return to graduate school and teach at the university on an assitantship. He thinks he will enroll in law school and become a public defender.

I had written a guest house in Phnom Penh for a reservation, but I never heard back from them. There was a good entry for it in WikiTravel, and they have a website which looks nice. Anyway, that meant that I arrived in PP without a definite place to stay. A lady on the plane whom I had helped by changing seats so she could be by her daughter tried to call the guest house--the PDK1--as we were unloading from the plane, but there was no answer. Therefore, I arrived on my own.

In the terminal, the "prepaid" taxi my guide had mentioned ended up being something slightly different. They gave me a piece of paper that said $7, but I was supposed to pay the driver when I arrived at my destination. Of course, there was no guarantee other than their word that the driver would honor it. Most airports, you pay at a counter, get a receipt, leave with a driver, and give him the receipt so he can be repaid when he returns with it. That's PREPAID!

Then I went to an ATM and discovered the dollar-only withdrawals. I wasn't sure at that time whether it was something at the airport only or whether it would be true elsewhere, too. Frustrated, I started to walk. I had no Cambodian money, and I did not want to be paying everything in dollars.

I walked and walked. Fortunately, the showers that had occured earlier and left the streets wet did not recur. I had no map with me, so I had to stop occasionally and ask which direction. Fortunately, the airport road just goes straight all the way to the center of Phnom Penh. Lots of drivers of tuk tuks and motorcycles tried to get me to pay for a ride. I just kept saying, "No money!" and walking on. I think they were surprised at the pace of my stride.

By 18:00, I was well in town, but I could not figure out how much further it would be to Riverside where my guest house was supposed to be. I looked down a side street and saw a nice looking guest house, so I went to it. I got a room for $10. It was fine--large, clean, cable TV, a/c. But it had no hot water, and the sheets were a bit thin. Anyway, I knew I was not informed that I would be expected at PDK1, so I didn't worry about it. I took this room.

I had not eaten on the plane, so I needed something. I went out to find an ATM and eat. That's when I discovered that all ATMs give only dollars. Because I had been sent to a supermarket to find an ATM, I started looking around. Even the prices in the supermarket were marked in dollars. And it was full of local people shopping. Instead of trying to find a place on the street to eat, I just bought some peanuts and other items and returned to my room to snack.

Saturday, June 20, 2009--Phnom Penh

I left the hotel at 7:45 to search for another place to stay in the Riverside area. I wanted to find a place and get back to collect my luggage and check out before noon. Using my guidebook, I started searching for places I had marked, including the PDK1. Well, the PDK1 was dark and dreary looking. There is no way I would have wanted to stay there. Some other places were also dark, since all buildings here are adjacent with no side windows. A nice place was full. Eventually, while searching for another highy recommended place, I saw a guest house down a side street. It was just across the street from the Royal Palace and the National Museum, so I went to see if they had a room. They did. It was bright, clean, had cable and a/c, etc. It was $20 per night. A lady on the stairs confirmed that she paid the same and that it was a good place to stay. So I took the room.

Then I had to deal with the tuk tuk drivers to find one to take me to the old guest house to get my luggage and bring me back. Yuck. I hate it. Some ask for $5. Then they ask what I want to pay. Anyway, I kept walking and telling them they should have given a good price the first time. Finally, I found someone who, when I told him I had already walked away from several tuk tuks because they did not give me a good price the first time, said he would do it for $3. I agreed, and off we went. I stayed in the new room all afternoon just enjoying the TV and the a/c and the cleanliness of the place.

Around 17:00, I went walking. I had already seen a large part of town while searching for a guest house. So I walked mainly along Riverside. Unfortunately, the nice park-like area that is normally there is torn up right now because of new drainage systems that are being installed in the city. But going southward from my hotel, it was okay and there were many people. I walked and watched the families. That walk eventually brought me to two nice parks that are between one-way streets. They were full of people, too. It was nice to relax and watch them. Cambodian people are friendly and nice when not in the tourism business, so many smiled at me and said, "Hello." Most of the people were being active, though. Many were playing badminton without a net. Some were playing group hacky-sack using a feathered weight rather than a ball for the game. A few were flying kites. Groups were doing exercises together. There was also a dancing fountain with a crowd around it. I stood and watched it perform to the Overture of 1812 and then to a disco number after that.

I went to another branch of the same supermarket where I had been last night. I bought peppered ham, bread, chips, beer, and water to have in my room (since there is a refrigerator there). I returned to the room to eat dinner and watch BBC, CNN, and a movie.

Sunday, June 21, 2009--Phnom Penh

It is hot and humid here. The guidebooks warn to go to places early and state that all sensible Cambodians go to their homes from 11:00 until 14:00 to eat and nap. So I went across the street to see the Royal Palace at 9:00. That was too late! It was HOT! But it is a beautifully maintained complex. Of course, there is a set price for foreigners which locals do not pay. And there really isn't much to see other than to walk through the complex. The only two buildings that were worth seeing inside were the Throne Room (gorgeous) and the Silver Pagoda (named that because the floor has silver tiles). I stayed in the complex, however, wandering and eventually sitting in a shaded area while watching the local people who were visiting. There was an interesting group that had to be peasants from outside the city there together and dressed for their big day in town. There were many families with cute children.

After spending from 11:00 until 16:00 in my room, I went out again. I wandered close by, because there were clouds and some showers could be seen in the distance. As I walked by a temple, there were hundreds of monks leaving. Many were getting onto buses and trucks, but some were walking in the direction I was going. I just fell in with them so that I could have their protection for getting across the streets. Drivers are much less aggressive when monks are in the street than when others are. Eventually, two of the monks spoke to me in English. They had been shy at first, but both spoke English quite well. They asked me if I would go to their pagoda (temple) with them saying that it was nearby. I walked and we talked. Very quickly, we were at their pagoda and walked into the complex and to the back where their building was. There are many buildings in the complex with each housing about 60 people--monks, students, teachers, etc. We sat downstairs, and soon there were about 10 people there all speaking English with me. One was a teacher who will help train Peace Corps volunteers from the U.S. this summer. Some were students there to study while assisting the monks. A couple of others were monks. We visited about 45 minutes with me asking lots of questions. The two who had spoken with me were returning from classes they attended. They had been monks for about 10 years and were in their early 20s. After about 45 minutes, I excused myself, because I knew they had homework to do and probably prayers to perform before their day would be over.

I walked back down the street and into the parks where I had been the night before. I sat on a bench near the dancing fountains and just listened to the music, watched the fountains, and observed the people. Finally, around 19:00, I went back to the room and ate more of the food I had bought the night before.

Monday, June 22, 2009--Phnom Penh

I went to the Genocide Museum today. It is a former school building that became a prison during the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot period in the 1970s. It was a long walk and I was perspiring by the time I got there even though I left the hotel at 7:45. It was about a 50 minute walk to the museum. I saw the jail cells, I saw the photos of the prisoners (about 20,000 of whom only 7, I think, left alive), I read about the forced exodus of people from Phnom Penh to the farms, etc. I also saw a documentary about it all. And finally, I saw the skulls which everyone associates with this museum. Today, the number of skulls is very limited due to some people's complaints. Anyway, I was an interesting museum to visit and helped remind me of what I remember reading about during that period of time.

I tried to eat lunch at a local place on the way back, but they did not start serving food until noon, and it was only 11:00. So I just continued walking. As I got to my guest house, I paused to buy a bus ticket to go to Siem Reap tomorrow. I will be there for 4 days and then return here for two more.