First Impressions – Phenom Penh
As Richard says – There are third world countries, and there are fifth world pissholes; this place qualifies as the latter, and it’s both sickening and sad.
In every city I have ever arrived in by means of the airport, there are always the best taxis waiting to serve incomers outside the terminal. As I walked through the terminal, I was quite impressed by the new and very nice structure. When I walked outside, I was ushered to an old beat up taxi. The driver put my main backpack in the trunk, but couldn’t close the lid. After several other drivers assisted him, he was finally able to close it. I got into the backseat as he attempted to start the engine: Nothing. I got out and said I’d take another cab. While they wanted me to remain in that chunck of metal on wheels, I pressed hard on the trunk and it popped open in a fashion that only Fonzi can rival. I grabbed my bad and headed to the next in the queue.
Normally there are many nice hotels hear the airport, and the zone is kept pretty clean due to incoming tourists. This place was filth. There was litter all in the streets and covering the sidewalks. There randomly dumped pieces of contrete all along the road; it look as though a builder had removed concrete from elsewhere and simply dumped it in the closest convenient location.
Loads of bicycles and motorscooters raced along at a moderate pace. The few vehicles on the street were hindered by the two wheeled traffic. Many of the motorscooters were stacked three and four people deep on the small seats.
As I mentioned in the previous entry, I didn’t make hotel arrangements prior to coming because the Thai travel agent wanted to ‘stick it to’ Mr. Round-eye Randy. I told the cabbie that I needed a hotel that was cheap and close to nice restaurants. After I told him ‘cheap’, I recalled the cheap hotel I’d stayed in the previous two nights in Bangkok; 3am found me applying mosquito spray, and the mornings found my naked body under the extremely cold flow of the shower. (never stay in a hotel which advertizes "Hot Water!" haha)
When we arrived at the hotel, I was quite impressed. There was a very nice dining area, and the place looked very clean. I was taken to my room where the bellboy flipped through the English channels which, among other stations, has ESPN!! I took a shower and discoved TOO MUCH hot water! Ahhh…there was even a mini-fridge! Then I laid on the bed…and sank almost to the floor. haha! I think my body will possess the imprints of the springs for at least a month or so…still, a very good trade off for ESPN! NASCAR HIGHLIGHTS WERE ON! Hell, give me a spring and a sheet and ESPN, and I’m happy! I took a nap for an hour or so, then walked into the Central market.
The Central Market is situated in and around an extremely large turn about. A turn about is a circular thing…can be an elevated section of the road, a fountain, statue; it’s used instead of our American 4-way intersections. As you enter into the ‘circle’, the vehicle coming from your right has the right of way. There is no four way stop, flashing light, or traffic control device present. Anyway, the markey is in the center of the circle, which is in the middle of the intersection. The get to it is like playing ‘frogger’, only it’s real. haha! the rule I used was – only jump forward when the approaching vehicle is something that is small enough to damage you, but not large or heavy enough to kill you. After making it to the middle, I walked through the shops towards the interior of the market. The place smelled like a long abandoned Dairy Farm in riral Michigan. I was amazed that the people weren’t nearly quite as harassing as they are at the markets in other places.
Following the market experience, I jumped on the back of a motorscooter taxi and told him to show me the city. It was very disheartening. There were people begging everywhere. There seemed to be less trash strewn on the roadsides in the poorer communities. Many houses were metal structures which only had a large tin metal sliding door as the front door…much like a storage shed in someone’s backyard in the States. In the poor areas, there were scores of brothels with working chicks out front. We stopped twice for drinking water and were mobbed by beggars at both stops.
Following the excursion, I had the driver drop me in restaurant row which is across from a local river. As I sat in an Italian restaurant, what I read on the internet came true…loads of young kids ranging from 10-13 would walk by begging while carrying infant sibblings. I am actually amazed that the inhabitants of this place would create off-spring intentionally. It is obvious that there is no hope for these poor souls, yet I’m quite certain dreams remain alive for a few…dreams which are as vulerable as a candle in the wind; I’m quite certain dreams are snuffed out in this place more than are matches lighting cigarettes. Very, very sad and sickening.
I think I can sort of compare this place to Afghanistan. Believe it or not, I think Kabul is more sanitary than this place. While I have the horrible habit of biting my fingernails, I shall not be doing that here. I realized that I was holding my water bottle very close to my lips prior to removing the cap, quickly creating an airtight suction around the top, then quickly returning the cap to the bottle. It’s absolutely horrible here.
While I was eating, I read a couple of items from a map book I’d picked up. One thing metioned was that the illiteracy (God! I hope I spelled that correctly! haha! the world’s worst speller here…) is more than 30%. An interview conducted with a tuk tuk driver revealed that he is highly paid while averaging $5/day! The best day of his life earned him $30. Nuts.
I am amazed by how many expats are here. I have no idea how they can make money. I paid $4.50 for a large pizza a bit ago. I have NO idea why a European or American expat would relocate to this hell hole.
Also as I dined, I looked through several postcards for sale and noticed that I had already taken all but one of the shots when I was in Siem Reap a month or so ago. The biggest tourist attractions around here is The Killing Fields. Nutty.
I’m going to bed early.
Peace