Phnom Penh

Since Nick and Katherine covered Angkor, I'm skipping to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and a city where nothing sits still for very long. Amy and I arrived yesterday morning and went to visit the National Museum, which covered the Angkor period as well as more recent history (up till the turn of the 20th Century). An impressive collection for Cambodia. From there, we went to a restaurant called Friends, not to be confused with the TV program. This one provides employment and skill training to street youths, and makes some pretty awesome food in the process. I, of course, bought the cookbook. You can learn more here: http://www.streetfriends.org/.

From there we went to the National Palace, and FINALLY Amy experienced a brief period of being uncomfortably hot. Women are not allowed to have bared shoulders or thighs, so no tank tops and shorts. I had a light cardigan for this purpose, but she only had a rain coat. The palace is incredible, particularly in contrast to the staggering poverty surrounding the palace. This picture is of the palace grounds. Note the dark clouds in the background.










We quickly hoped in a tuk tuk, a scooter with a trailer that has two bench seats, and went back to our adorable little hotel. It POURED on the way, and as I looked out the balcony, I noticed all of the moto drivers had lined up under the gas station roof:

Today we went to the Killing Fields, which I'll spare you the details of for now. We then breezed through the Russian Market, which has almost nothing to do with Russia but is a great place for getting good deals on souvenirs (note to LBI crowd: Dominoes purchased!). Amy and I then had fantastic massages and met back up with Nick and Katherine for a "sunset cruise," which was in fact a ride on a boat around the time the sun set, but there was not much more to it than that.

Then, Amy headed home in her first moto ride:

Tomorrow we're off to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon.