I loved my trip to Cambodia. It was probably my second favorite country. I loved almost every stop that I made in Cambodia. The Cambodians were warm and very gracious hosts. With that said, I hated Phnom Penh.
The bus ride to Phnom Penh wasn't too bad. It was long, but I was riding in a smaller van and it was fairly comfortable. A pregnant lady sat next to me and as soon as we started driving, she fell asleep and rested her head on my shoulder.
She didn't ask or say anything. She just plunked her head on my shoulder. I've never had that happen to me before. At one point we stopped for a rest break. When we got back in the van, she made a gesture like "Is it OK?" I said yes, and she went back to sleep on my shoulder.
There was also this little kid who was pretty antsy and climbing all over the place in the van. She was fascinated by the foreigners on the van and got a kick out of giving food to us.
After a long drive, we arrived in Phnom Penh and I didn't have anything booked. I figured I'd use my Battambang strategy and find a good driver to help me find a room. My luck wasn't very good and the hotel that he took me to was right in the middle of the red-light district. It wasn't too bad as the red-light district is fairly close to the tourist restaurants and bars.
During my second night in the hotel, very loud banging woke me up. Construction is common in South East Asia and I thought a crew was starting early. Then I looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:00am. The banging continued for a minute or two, then I heard a loud crash! Someone had broken down the front door of the hotel.
Next I heard someone yelling in Khmer. And someone else was pleading and whimpering. It was right outside my door! I got up and hid my passport under my bed. I looked around for a weapon, but there was absolutely nothing that I could use. No lamp, no furniture that I could break. Nothing! I was convinced that a gang was going door to door, robbing everyone in the hotel. I had no idea what the number was for the police. I just sat in the bed and decided against putting on pants. I figured I'd try to look as pathetic as possible and hopefully I wouldn't get beaten too badly.
I laid in bed, convinced that my door would be kicked down at any minute. After about an hour, things got quiet again and I had no idea what had happened.
The next day I saw that the huge glass door in front of the hotel was gone. I'd met a different driver the day before and he picked me up to take me to a restaurant. He had talked to the hotel owner and told me the story.
During the night a guest at the hotel had gotten messed up on drugs and broke a mirror at some other business owner's property. He then ran off and tried to hide in his room in my hotel. That particular business owner didn't play games and broke down the front door with a bat. Then he found the guy and beat the shit out of him in front of my room. I'm not sure if the guy who got beaten was Cambodian or a foreigner.
My driver took me to a restaurant and it was pretty good. Phnom Penh did have a lot of good food options, I'll give it that. When I crossed the street to get into the tuktuk, the driver wasn't there. I saw a crowd gathered a little ways down the road and eventually saw my driver approach.
He told me that while he was waiting for me, a tuktuk full of locals drove by. One of the passengers was looking at his phone and 2 people on a motorbike drove by and they grabbed the guy's phone. The tuktuk passenger held onto his phone and they pulled him out of the tuktuk. He fell into the street at high speed and was seriously injured.
That was 2 crimes within a short period of time. I cut my stay in Phnom Penh short and bought a bus ticket to a different city. That was enough for me. On one hand, it was a relief that tourists weren't being targeted, but on the other hand it was not the kind of vibe I was looking for.
Phnom Penh does have some charm to it, but it's such a big dirty city, it was hard for me to enjoy it. And the crime that I saw made me want to leave.
I got on the bus and took a couple of pictures on my way out. This lady was selling a common sea food. It's some sort of shell fish or cockle. It didn't seem like a good snack option on a hot day.
A few hours later I would arrive at the coast and find a place that was a lot more enjoyable.
My apologies for the short post. My stay in Phnom Penh ended up being a lot shorter than I had planned and I didn't get many photos. Next up will be a much more relaxing place with less crime.