Crossing the Border

Welcome to Cambodia!

Sunrise from our hotel room balcony

Hopefully not a Cambodia Coast Guard ship!

This morning is the first time we have to do a "mass transit" option - we take a speedboat up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  There's about 40 people on board and a little bit of a breeze inside the cabin, but the sun makes it very warm.  I'm grateful for my $1 paper fan!  We travel for about an hour until we reach the border, where we go through immigration.  At the passport control office for Cambodia, we disembark and wait in the shade while the on-board courier takes care of getting our visas-on-arrival.  Apparently, the officers don't like our photos for the visa. They're printed on computer paper, not photo paper.  However, it only cost $1 to bribe them to accept it - that's what our guide says she had to pay.

This is what's weird sometimes about communicating with different cultures. She says she had to pay because they would not accept the photos. We immediately say we will pay her back - how much is it? She says $1.  So we give her the dollar and then she says $1 per photo. What's strange is she didn't seem to come over trying to get money from us, but then asked for more. Why not just tell us $2 when we asked?  

Cambodian countryside

We're all clear, so it's back to the boat for the remaining three hour ride to Phnom Penh.  The country side looks consistent along the way - some crops and water buffalo grazing.  Occasionally we see people working or other boats along the river.

Not our guide, but cool hat!

When we arrive at the dock Steve is getting our luggage while I look for our guide for the city.  While looking around at the waiting people, I see a familiar sight - a Masters golf hat!  I go over to say hi and ask about the hat.  He said he bought it off the street yesterday.  It's still fun to see a reminder of home.




We find our guide, and go to our hotel.  It's mid-afternoon and we've seen a lot the past few days, so we decide to relax for the rest of the day.  I'm excited to see the beautiful tile floors continue in Cambodia - even our hotel room has them.

This would make a nice Christmas quilt!

Love the border designs, too!

My view on the tuk tuk.

The hotel is associated with a spa, but it's about 5 minutes away by vehicle.  It's a wonderful chance to take the local transportation - a tuk tuk!  We ride through town, and I see lots of food carts and "kindergarten" seating, just like in Vietnam.

Steve's favorite kind of seats - not!

Before our guide dropped us off, he warned us to be careful with our cellphones (again, being in a "big" city) but he also told me to watch out for my (inexpensive) earrings.  Hmmm....I think I just won't wear any while I'm here.  I'm starting to get an idea why our Vietnamese guide, Autumn, isn't fond of Cambodia.  I carefully sneak my phone out to take some photos while we're in the tuk tuk, but I also watch out for the moped drivers that are nearby.  I do get a picture of my first monk!

random monk walking down the street

The spa is beautiful and very similar to nice ones in the US.  It only cost $65 for 3 hours of treatments (massage, scrub and facial, for me).  Not quite as inexpensive as Bali, but still a great price!  Oh, and the currency is US dollars here - they have their own, but they only use it for change - amounts less than $1.  It's almost strange to not have to do conversions in my head any time I want to pay for something.

Independence Monument (and a miscellaneous car)

On the way back to the hotel, it's dark, and they have the monuments lit up.  It's hard to get a good picture, even though the tuk tuk isn't moving too fast.  It's pulled by a motor bike, but I feel a little more comfortable riding it than when riding on the back of the moped.

Enjoying tuk tuk riding