Phnom Penh
We arrived in Phnom Penh on the evening of 21 Dec 2006. It was rather late, and after checking into our hotel, we tried to find a place for dinner. The hotel staff advised us to try looking along the river. We found ourselves at the Mekong River Café. The exotic decor attracted our attention!
The river is HUGE!!
The next morning, we strolled along the banks of the river. The day was cool, but the sun was bright and hot. We had brunch at a café by the river, after which we decided to take a walk around the town.
Our first stop was at a temple. We next ventured to the national museum. After that, we wanted to visit the palace, but it was closed at mid-day and would open again only at 3pm.
National Museum
We were approached by a tuk-tuk driver, Joy. He recommended that we visit the Genocide Museum and return to see the palace later, which we did. After the palace, we took a quick walk through the central market. It was very brief, as the market was actually closing for the day. We did get to see the flower stalls, lots of souvenir shops and one stall selling bugs of all sorts! EESH!!
Our final stop was the Japanese bridge. Joy took us to where we could climb up to the bridge and walk across. We walked by the side, almost three quarters of the way across. It was cool to be out there!
Japanese Bridge
We had to buy bus tickets to Siem Reap for the next day. We had intended to get the Mekong Express, but turns out it was all sold out. Joy drove us to another place where we managed to get tickets for US$7 each.
Joy recommended a restaurant, Veiyo Tonle, for dinner. This is run by a "not-for-profit" organisation which had build up a local orphanage. That day, there was a group of Japanese visitors who had arranged for the children to perform a traditional dance. It was interesting, to say the least!
The following morning we had a quick breakfast at our hotel before catching the 8am bus to Siem Reap.