2017-10 first night in Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

Rice paddy between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh

Today, we drove all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. The drive seemed interminable, even on a nice public bus. We also experienced the border crossing between Vietnam and Cambodia. Pre-paying for my visas ahead of time on-line and bringing along copies made the experience that much smoother. See links at bottom of page to apply for e-visas.

Crossing the Mekong River on the Neak Leoung bridge

Along the route, we crossed the large Neak Loeung bridge over the Mekong River. It's over 2 km long and has only been in existence for one year. Before that, everyone had to take the ferry across, even though this crossing is on the main highway route between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh. The bridge was funded by the Japanese.

Video of the cyclo ride

Once we arrived in Phnom Penh, we were rewarded with spacious hotel rooms in the heart of the city. Our evening activity included a cyclo tour of Phnom Penh. The cyclos are bikes with a seat in front of the cyclist, over the front wheel. The brakes are a lever that the cyclist pulls just behind their seat to break the back wheel. Riding in front of the bike, waiting every moment to rear end a motorcycle or scooter, car or bus, was a bit nerve-wracking. The organization that runs the cyclo tours works with drivers, who are often poor, to raise their standard of living. We were to find that there are many non-profits within Cambodia that have been established in order to train the under-privileged for a better future, most often within the hospitality industry.

Phnom Penh Post Office

Our first stop on the cyclo tour was to an French colonial section of town where the Phnom Penh Post Office occupies a grand old building. (I came back the following day to buy stamps and mail some postcards.) Across the street, another building was filmed in the movie City of Ghosts.

Statue of Grandmother Penh

Hopping back onto the cyclos, our drivers pedaled us over to a statue of the lady that Phnom Penh is named after, Duan (Grandmother) Penh. 600 years ago, in the 15th century, Grandmother Penh saw a huge tree trunk in the river. Some men pulled out the tree trunk; and, inside they discovered five statues of Buddha. Grandmother Penh kept them in her home to worship and allow anyone else to stop by and worship. But, her house was too small. So, she built a public stupa. The King at the time heard about what Grandmother Penh had done and built a temple for the statues. This still stands today at Wat Phnom. The original name of the city was much longer but has been shortened to Phnom (hill) Penh, or "hill of Grandmother Penh".

Independence Monument

Our next stop was the Independence Monument in the middle of a round-a-bout. I thought driving a car through a round-a-bout was stressful. Try riding in front of a cyclo in all that traffic! Across from the monument, there was a prominent photo of the king, King Norodom. He is a monk who has ruled since 2004, when his father, King Sihanouk, abdicated the throne. King Sihanouk was king both before and after the Khmer Rouge, serving as king from 1944-1953 and again from 1993-2004. Since King Norodom has no kids, the next successor to the throne could be one of his brothers.

Fireworks celebrating King Norodom's coronation day

Our evening ended with a meal at a non-profit training under-privileged youth how to work in a 5-star hotel, Friends. Just after we ordered, there was a large boom. The waiter across the room looked up concerned. Then, someone mentioned fireworks; and, I could see his face relax. Most of us left our seats and headed outside and a block away to see the fireworks in honor of King Norodom's coronation day, October 29th.

Royal Palace

After dinner, we walked over to the Royal Palace and enjoyed all the families out and about in the square in front of the palace. Our guide even bought us some street food to try. The sticky rice in bamboo was delicious. What a great way to end the evening!














Quick notes:
- Vietnam evisa: https://evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/en_US/web/guest/khai-thi-thuc-dien-tu/cap-thi-thuc-dien-tu
- Cambodia e-visa: https://www.evisa.gov.kh/