Day 6

Today I was up at sunrise. I had breakfast at one of the noodle shops, and discovered the bliss that is iced red tea with milk. Of course, "milk" here refers to sweetened condensed milk. It was a heavenly beverage.
I walked to Wat Phnom, the city's namesake temple, where the morning sun fell through the leaves and branches of big shade trees, making soft hazy patches in the air and on the ground. There were a lot of students and families in the park around the temple, just sitting and taking in the morning. There were monkeys, too. :)
I walked past the French-Colonial style National Library and Hotel de Royales on my way to the Central Market.
In the afternoon I went by motorcycle to Cheung Ek, the Killing Fields. Another very sobering experience.
Too tired to blog extensively. Wish I could share my pics, but the internet connection here is too slow right now.
Tomorrow will be my last day in Cambodia...

Day 5

This morning I got up at 7 and walked to the Independence Monument, where I bought a baguette sandwich at a street cart for breakfast. Then I walked to the Royal Palace. The blue flag was flying to indicate the King's presence, so some of the buildings and grounds were off-limits. The palace was impressive - not as sparkly and grand as the palace in Bangkok, but still worth the tons of pictures that I took. The heat was oppressive all morning, but I tried to stick to shady spots. After seeing the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda, I went to the National Museum. It's a big, beautiful, strikingly red, airy building, which encloses a courtyard and houses an impressive collection of Khmer artifacts. Just behind it is the University of Fine Arts, and opposite to that was a street of amateur art galleries that was fun to look around. I had lunch in the same area, at a place called "Friends", which is run by an organization that helps educate and house orphans and street kids. The sour sop & coconut shake I had there was spectacular. I don't know how I'm going to give up all this fresh, cheap fruit and go back to Korea, the land of expensive produce. :-/ haha.
I took a long walk back to the Russian Market on the far side of town again; this time all the stalls were open and busy. A little old woman talked me into buying two small watercolor paintings. Maybe I'll hang them in my office. By the way, does anyone want anything from Southeast Asia?? Put in your orders (if they're small)! :)
I wish I could bring back mangosteens and fried bananas, but Customs just wouldn't go for it...

Day 4

Hello blog-readers. :)
Banana pancake and coffee for breakfast at the guesthouse this morning. Do I write about food too much?? I can't leave it out - it's one of the best things about traveling..!
This morning I took the bus to Phnom Penh (the local 6-hr bus, NOT the 4-hr "VIP' bus!). There was an adorabl little 1-year old on his Daddy's lap in the seat next to me. He kept giggling at me and trying to shove his chunk of bread into his Dad's mouth. I divided the travel time between lookng out the window (at fields, houses on stilts, cattle, temples, shops, huts, people) and reading the book I picked up in the market, "First They Killed My Father", the story of a girl and her family during the Khmer Rouge period. At one of the two rest-stops, I bought a sour mango, which came with a packet of crushed chili pepper and salt to sprinkle on top - quite an interesting and powerful combination of flavors! :-o
I studied my map and guidebook on the bus too, so I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to go and how to get there when we pulled in to the terminal. I had to walk about a block away from the buses and hoards of tuk-tuk and moto drivers to find a driver who gave me a decent fare. I was looking for a popular backpackers' guesthouse called "TAT", but mistakenly walked into the nearby guesthouse "TAT-TOO". However, the guy showed me a nice room and said he'd give me a discount if I stayed there instead, and it's a nice place so I took it. I haven't paid more than $5 a night on this trip yet!
I dumped my heavy bag in my room, then walked to the Toul Sleng Museum - an old school building that the Khmer Rouge regime turned into a prison for interrogation and torture. Such a horrible and disturbingly moving place. I was literally nauseous walking through the rooms with the bedframes and shackles still left nearly as the Vietnamese soldiers found them, and seeing photographs of the bodies that occupied them hanging on the walls. The documentary that they showed was equally moving; it tied together everything that I've been reading in Loung Ung's book. I had to just sit and be still for a few moments after it ended.
After a couple hours there, I walked across the street to the veranda of the Boddhi Tree Cafe (which supports and trains local street kids) for a coconut rice and curry dinner. Then I wandered down to the Russian Market, but the stalls were closing up for the day. I took a rambling walk back to my guesthouse, where I finally cooled off, updated this blog, and will now curl up with my book.

Day 3

This morning I got up at 4am. The power was out in the guesthouse, so I had to stumble around in the dark, washing my face, getting dressed, and gathering my things. It rained last night, so I walked in and out of puddles to the old market area, where I was lucky to find someone to open up their shop-front and rent me a bicycle again. I was definitely their first customer of the day! There were just enough street lamps to make the ride out to Angkor do-able. It was beautiful and calm when I got there, then bunches of other tourist started coming in by tuk-tuk, taxi, bus, and van for sunrise. Still, the overall atmosphere was tranquil, and the temple itself was grand in the dew. I explored until 6:30, then biked to Bayon before the crowds got there. Had a short, pleasant conversation with some monks there. Biked back to Angkor Wat and had noodles for breakfast at a stall across from the temple entrance. I was back to Siem Reap by 9am. Too tired for more biking and sight-seeing, so I paid $5 to use the rooftop pool at one of the nice hotels by the riverside. Lazed away the rest of the morning there, had lunch, then lazed away a good chunk of the afternoon reading back at the guesthouse.
When it was cool enough to go out again, I rode my bicycle across town and returned it. Then I spent the entire evening doing one of my very favorite things - wandering. Up and down side streets and main streets; in and out of shops; through the old market, the central market, the night market; stopping for street food and fruit juice; talking and joking with strangers. Just soaking up the atmosphere.

Day 2

I slept in until 6 this morning, which means I'll have to try for sunrise at Angkor tomorrow.

In honor of the 4th of July, I started my day with a walk to the old market for a double Americano at a place called The Blue Pumpkin.
Then I sat by the river for a little while and collected my brains for the day, before scoping out a cheap place for breakfast. Ended up at a rice porridge stall with no English menu and a few Cambodians who laughed at me (nicely) for not knowing how to order. The porridge was delicious - broth, rice, chicken, bean sprouts, basil (I think), a splash of hot sauce, and little plain airy pastry things chopped up into bite-sized pieces and added to the bowl until slightly soggy. The whole meal was less than a dollar.
After breakfast and a walk, I rented a bicycle for a dollar and started off for Angkor Wat around 8:30. I did a six-hour loop, taking in most of the major sites and a few minor ones, with stops along the way for dragonfruit, pineapple, and sunscreen re-applications (alas, to no avail! terrible burn lines...). I met a group of Korean university students (from Cheongju) at Angkor, and practiced speaking with them for a little while. At the Preah Khan ruins, a young Khmer guy appointed himself as my guide and took me through all these amazing side passages and chambers, telling me stories and history and pointing out interesting carvings, inscriptions, and archeological features. At the end of the tour, he asked me to marry him. When I said no, he asked me to sleep with him tonight. When I refused again, he asked me to pay him a couple dollars for the tour. THAT, I agreed to. :) We then had an interesting conversation about why he likes foreign women better than Cambodians - basically, according to him, because Cambodian girls will rarely sleep with a guy before marrying him, but American girls always will. Sad perception.
Got back to Siem Reap, returned the bicycle, and had a late afternoon meal of spicy banana leaf and shrimp salad, with an ice cold, fresh, coconut shake. 2 dollars for the whole dealio. I love southeast Asia.
I took a much-needed coooool shower back at the guesthouse and a tiny cat nap. Then I journaled while it poured outside. The rain seems to have cleared up now, and I might venture out again this evening, depending on how my tired and sunburnt body feels after I get some dinner into it.
Thanks for reading! :)

Day 1

After a long day of flying (with a dull 5-hour layover in the Beijing airport), I made it to Bangkok around midnight. Unfortunately, the airport shuttle buses had just stopped running, so I took a taxi to the Hua Lumpong train station. It was dark and creepy and there were homeless men sleeping out front everywhere...but my little guesthouse - The Train Inn - was just around the corner and it was bright and cheerful and welcoming.

(Plane wing, and the book that got me through my flights)

(Train Inn lobby, and welcome refreshment)

(Room at The Train Inn)

I crashed for about 4 hours in a well-air-conditioned room, then was up at 5am to board the Aranyapruthet-bound train at 5:30. The train didn't actually leave until 6:30, and it was 1 o'clock before I tumbled off of it - hot, sweaty, and frizzy-haired, but not the least bit rumpled in spirit. ;)

And then things really got interesting. Thankfully I met a guy, Matt, on the last stretch of the train-trip who had done this border crossing several times. He let me tag along with him, which ended up saving me a lot of money and hassles. First we took a tuk-tuk to the Immigration Office in Poipet, where I got a visa-on-arrival with relatively little pain and walked across the border into "The Kingdom of Cambodia."

I had only had a bottle of green tea all day, and it was nearly 2 in the afternoon, so Matt suggested that we buy coconuts on the side of the road and slurp the yummy milk through straws while we negotiated a fare for the next leg of our journey. We ended up getting a fantastic deal. Usually it costs around $45 to hire a share-taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap. We got hooked up with a driver who was headed home to Siem Reap for the day anyways, along with 4 of his friends, and they let us squish in with them for $6. It was a hot, sticky 2.5 hour ride with 7 people, several backpacks and bags, and a ukulele crammed into the little car.
We stopped for a snack on the way out of town - and by snack, I mean a bag of fried beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers. Mmm. haha.

Then we stopped at a little restaurant about halfway through the journey for a meal of chicken tom-yum soup and beef & rice (luk-luk?). I had the rare (and hopefully never repeated!) experience of having a chicken's eyeball juice squirted all over my lap when Matt popped it into his mouth. Thankfully there was only one eyeball in our bowl of soup, so I was spared having to try one for myself.
We go to Siem Reap around 5:30. I checked into my guesthouse ("Home Sweet Home"), took a cool shower, and walked around the Old Market and the Night Market. Had eggplant & pork soup for dinner. Siem Reap has a really chilled out feeling, with pretty lights along the river at night.
I'll add pictures and videos when I find a computer with a USB port - this one at the guesthouse is ancient.

***Update: pictures and videos have now been uploaded. :)

My Packing List

Like any backpacker, I'm planning on taking 1 bag only (carry-on). If anyone's curious, here's what I'll be carrying with me for 4 weeks:

essentails & documents (passport, e-tickets, emergency contact numbers, itinerary, guesthouse and hostel addresses, extra passport-sized photos for visas, cash, and a credit card)

a guidebook

my Bible and a journal and pen

a novel (to read and then trade/sell on the road)

camera and charging cable

a cheap digital watch (with alarm clock!)

basic med kit (hand sanitizer, tissues, band-aids, benadryl, tylenol, pepcid ac)

zip-lock bags (always handy for storing, organizing, and keeping stuff dry)

basic toiletries

hand-towel

sunscreen

bugspray

deck of cards

lip gloss and mascara :)

sunglasses

pad-locks for my bag's zipper and for hostel lockers

clothes (swimsuit, sarong, 2 pairs of capris, 3 tops, and a light long-sleeve hoodie)

...and a sturdy pair of walking sandals!

Am I forgetting anything?? Probably taking too much...

What would YOU take/leave on a 4-week backpacking trip?