Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Border crossings across the world are always interesting, though in our experiences fairly uneventful, and Cambodia was no different. Before leaving Vietnam we lugged our backpacks around Ho Chi Minh City for a good two hours, (we really need to throw stuff out, but what?). The bus station our taxi took us to was the wrong one, so we walked to the correct station, walked to get lunch while we waited for them to reopen after the mid-day break, walked back and then walked for what felt like miles to go back past the original station we started at to the pick up spot for the correct bus. Sound confusing? It was. Dripping and aching we set down our packs and made friends with some Cambodians in Vietnam for business, then piled into the bus and got comfortable for six hours of blaring music videos and semi-reckless driving. At the border we were dropped off at the Vietnam departure station and quickly had our fingerprints verified. Then we got back on the bus, drove 100 yards to cross the border and got out again at Cambodian arrivals. After verifying our e-visas we were back on the bus and on our way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. At a river crossing, two small boys missing limbs crawled on the bus and started speaking Khmer, their big eyes sad and empty. As they sat on the floor of the bus, one without arms holding a sack for money, the bus became quiet, sad and uncomfortable. (There are an estimated 40,000 amputees in Cambodia because of landmines, the highest number of any country in the world). Ignoring homeless or disabled beggars is hard enough as it is without them being small children. 

Shortly after, our bus pulled up to rows of tuk tuk drivers waiting to whisk us to our hostel. Luckily, we had one arranged through our guesthouse so we didn’t have to haggle for a fair price or deal with explaining an address. A tuk tuk is a motorbike with a carriage attached to the back wheel.  While they are used in many developing cities around Asia, India and Africa, it is the most common form of transportation for both visitors and locals in Cambodia. They’re fun to drive around in too. You get the breeze and thrill of scenery flying by, without the fear or danger of the motorbikes. Zipping through Phnom Penh our first night we were surprised at the ornate buildings, vibrant lights and modernity of the city. We expected Cambodia to be the most rural, least modern place we would visit in Asia, but driving by the US Embassy, (the flag at half mast the only sign this half of the world that it was the tenth anniversary of September 11th), we could have been in any American city. We were even more surprised to go to an ATM five minutes later and receive US dollars, the currency most used in Cambodia, and even more shocked to find almost everyone speaks perfect English. From taxi drivers to street vendors to government workers, everyone learns English in school. Looked like this was going to be an easy week for us!