30th October - Phnom Penh, 11°N 105°E
The bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh takes about 6 hours including 30 minutes
at the border while the ‘coffee money’ for the immigration police is sorted out and
then another wait to get a ferry across the Mekong once in Cambodia. A 30 day tourist
visa for Cambodia is $20. If you are Vietnamese then an additional $1 will speed
the whole process. If you aren’t Vietnamese then things could cost more. We decided
to let the guy on the bus sort out our visa for us ($25 but minimum hassle).
The morning after arriving we headed for the Indian embassy to sort out our Indian
visas. We had gone through the online application process for a second time (it’s
impossible to change the embassy that you are going to apply at once you start the
application) and this time had been given appointments on the following Friday -
this was 4 days after we arrived in Phnom Penh. We went to the embassy early just
in case we could at least submit our documents, which, after a bit of negotiation
we were allowed to do and we should be picking up our visas next week. It does mean
that we don’t have passports with us at the moment but we’ll just have to avoid the
attentions of the police for the next few days.
The king-father here (same principle as the queen-mother) died a few days before
we got here so large parts of the royal palace were off limits. We still got in to
see the Silver Pagoda - not actually the silver-coloured pagoda we were expecting
but a pagoda with floor tiles made from silver - and the wall-paintings around it.
The bottom of the wall paintings are missing because of flooding of the two local
rivers, the Tonlé Sap and the Mekong. The Tonlé Sap is unusual in that, during the
rainy season, its flow reverses and water backs up into a giant lake. At the end
of the rainy season the flow reverts to normal. This makes the lake act like a giant
reservoir and provides 50% of the flow of the Mekong during the dry season and a
huge amount of fish. There is a statue of King Norodom on a horse beside the Silver
Pagoda which is actually a spare statue of Napoleon that the French had lying around
with the King’s head on it. Some traditional music was playing as we walked round.
We also went to Wat Phnom, the artificial hill (Phnom) that Phnom Penh takes its
name from. The Penh refers to a Mrs. Penh who found four statues of Buddha floating
down the river in a tree and erected a shrine to them on the Phnom. She has her own
small but glamorous shrine on the site and is never short of gifts of afterlife necessities
such as scarves and nail varnish. When we visited someone had poured her a nice cup
of tea as well.
Our hotel room here is enormous. The hotel was nearly empty when we arrived so they
upgraded us to a room with its own dining room and separate kitchen. I’m sure we
won’t get the same treatment when we come back here after Siem Reap and we may have
to let the cook and the footman go.
1st November - Phnom Penh
Our friend Hollie arrived yesterday so we can put our brains into low power mode
as she will be our guide for the next couple of weeks. Hollie has been to Cambodia
before and is keen to show us the sights. She has a particular interest in all aspects
of misery. After taking us to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek and to S.21, the school
turned prison / torture centre by the Khmer Rouge we’re ready for something a little
lighter.
Cambodia has a similar dual-currency system to Vietnam except it’s easier because
the ATM’s give you dollars here and you only ever see Cambodian Riel when your change
includes a fraction of a dollar (4000 Riel = 1$). The Khmer Rouge abolished money
in 1975 and Cambodia had no currency at all for five years. Dollars became the de
facto currency when they were widely used during the UN peacekeeping operation in
1993.
We went to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club for a happy-hour drink. It’s an expat
magnet that serves such Khmer specialities as Fish and Chips and Beef Nachos. As
you can see from the photo the FCC, like most pubs and bars around the world, keeps
one bar stool (arrowed) free at all times just in case Dick should call in. You may
think this would have an adverse effect on profits (“Sorry sir - you can’t sit there,
that’s Dick’s stool”) but everyone knows that a single evening with Dick in his stool
will repay them handsomely. For the same reason, all pubs and bars keep a barrel
of Marston’s Pedigree in peak condition at all times. It’s not available to the normal
punters of course so most people never hear about it.
Max the Cat
Whatever has happened to Max the cat? He gets mentioned three months ago but then
nothing...
We’re sure you will be delighted to know that he has settled in well with his foster-family
(thanks Tim, Ruth & Ellie) and, although he’s not as keen to be friends with Molly
the dog as Molly is with him, he is happy enough to be in the same room as her:
