Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Palace of gold, riding in a tuk-tuk, and $4.50 a night hostel!

Tuesday was my last day in Bangkok.  My flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia was at 13:20 so I had time in the morning for siteseeing.

The Grand Palace, Wat Phra, and Wat Pho are the number #1 and #3 attractions in Bangkok in my 10 ten guide book.  Luckily they are both close to each other and to my hostel.

Joy, the hostel receptionist, advised me to take a metered taxi to the Grand Palace to save time.  She emphasized metered because taxi drives in Bangkok are notorious for ripping off tourist when they don't use a meter.  Some taxis even have faulty meters that still rip you off!

When I got to the entrance of the Grand Palace, a lady told me I would have to change because of my "shorts".  I was really wearing capri length nylon pants that reached below my knee.  Joy had warned me that they might not let me into the Palace with that dress.  The reason is that the king is really respected in Thailand so you have to dress modestly when entering the Palace.  To digress, I have never seen a country with so many pictures of their leader.  It seems like on every corner there is a huge, larger than life size portrait of the king, or his wife.  I wish President Obama could decorate the U.S. like that.  :D

As it happens, the Palace provides free skirts and shorts for people like myself who arrive inappropriately dressed.  I changed, then got a ticket and an audio guide.

I was not prepared for what was to come.

Gold.  Tons and tons and tons of gold, everywhere!.  I have never seen so much gold in all of my life!  "This must be what heaven will be like!" I thought.  Everything was covered in gold or precious jewels. It glistened in the sun.  It made Buckingham palace look like Cinderella's dungeon!

Large Guardian Giants greet you as soon as you walk in.  They are probably 5 times my height and are covered in jewels of all color.  It was a site to behold.

Though I followed along in my audio guide, I couldn't help but want to skip ahead to the bell like structure in front of me that was again covered in gold.  Its the Phra Si Rattana chedi which holds relics of Buddah.

I climbed up the the chedi and walked around to get views of several structures:  Hor Phra Nak, which is a mausoleum that has the shes of prices; Phra Viharn Yod with Budda images inside; Hor Phra Mopnthiem Dharma which is a Buddhist library; and Phra Mondhop.  There even was a model of Angkor Wat in the center!

I've come to learn about the close relationship between the Siamese (or Thai people) and the Cambodians.  The Siamese were so impressed with Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Cambodia, that the king wanted a replica built in his Palace!

I made my way around the palace and admired the Phra Asada Maha Chedi or the eight prangs which are dedicated to different Buddhist precepts.

Then I got to the Rolay Chaple which houses the most revered Buddha image in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha.  Like at other temples, I took my shoes off outside, and took of my hat.  Suspended high above the floor, sitting on a throne, was a tiny image of Buddha.  It looked about 1 foot tall and to me ghastly since it was eerie green color.  No photography was allowed.

Several people were on the mat in front of Buddha, sitting down, never with their feet facing towards the Buddha, praying with their hands clasped, and bowing down until their face touched the floor.

Its amazing to me being Christian with only one God to see people bow and dedicate so much time and energy to man made Buddhas.  One temple can have hundreds of Buddha images!

I exited the grand palace, and walked to the Wat Pho, famous for its reclining Buddha, over 150 feet long!  I quickly walked though the palace because it was nearing 11am, the time Joy said I needed to leave.

Joy told me to take a ferry across the river, and from there take the sky train to the hostel.  I went to the ferry, paid 3 bhat, and quickly crossed the river.  I realized that I was in the wrong place.  I needed to travel down the river and not across it.  So I took another ferry back, and then was directed to the correct ferry.  It was about a 20 minute ride down the river.  Most of the stops along the way were at large luxurious hotels.

I got to central station and made it to my hostel to pick up my luggage and take a taxi to the airport.  I was so exhausted, I fell asleep for during the 1 hour ride.

The flight to Phnom Pehn was just over an hour.  I booked a bus to Siem Reap at the airport, and on my way to take a taxi, saw a sign with my name!  A driver had come for me from my hostel!

Most roads in south east Asia are populated with tuk-tuks.  A tuk-tuk is a small carriage that can hold 2-4 people, pulled by a motobike.  Most tourist get around in tuk-tuks.  Then the people drive motobikes, smaller than a motorcycle, but similar.  I've seen what looks like children, girls or boys maybe 14 or 15 riding these motobikes.  People squeeze on motobikes such that behind the diver is a mom holding a baby in front of her, and another passenger behind the mom.

Look at the little baby!

Young girls driving a motobike

The drivers in Cambodia follow no traffic rules.  Interestingly, their stoplights have digital clocks that countdown how long a light is green or red.  Even as the clock reads 0 seconds, and then switches to red numbers to indicate how long the red light will remain, the driver will still pass through the light.  Who cares if there is a tourist on board!

The other interesting thing about Cambodia traffic is that drivers drive on the right hand side of the road, just like America!  This wasn't the case in Thailand or Japan.  Skipping ahead to Wednesday when I met a girl from Siem Reap, she explained to me that its because several years ago, Cambodia imported cars from a few countries which had the driving wheel on the right side of the car.  So at this time drivers drove on the left side of the road.  Then as Cambodians developed their economy and could import cars from more places, they started importing cars with the driving wheel on the left side.  Fascinating.

I'll digress once more to say that all ATMs in Cambodia give out US dollars.

I got to my hostel, U-Baan Guesthouse, and couldn't believe the looks of my $4.50 a night dorm room.  It was a large room with mats spaced about a couple of feet from each other, each with a mosquito net and a fan.  I couldn't believe that there weren't any beds!  That's a first!  Then there was only 1 shower on my floor for, oh 10 or 12 people.  And the shower didn't have hot water.

The next day I joked with my hostelmates that I couldn't believe the hostel had a rating of 82% on hostelworld.com.  It deserved a 60% !  Still it was clean.

Martin, the manager, gave me a quick introduction to Phnom Phen.  "Don't walk around with your bag.  They will grab it and drag you with it.  Otherwise, its rather safe" he told me in his Brtish accent.  He told me that the Riverside was a 5 minute walk from the hostel and had great restaurants and bars.

It was about 8pm at this time and I was starving so I put 10 dollars in my bra, and made my way to the river.

Along the road, I saw several street venders who sit on the road.  They had large containers in which were hundreds of fish.  One of them even flopped out of the container!  Now that is fresh fish!  I even saw what can only be chopped up snake for it was slender and had scales of a reptile.  I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any pictures.

Martin suggested that I try Amok, which is a classic Cambodian dish.  I found a restaurant and was shocked at the prices!  $2.50 for an entree!

It also happened to be Christmas Day.  A couple of restaurants had Christmas decorations out.  But it did not feel like Christmas at all.