The Cambodian capital

The Capital of Cambodia, a place with some serious history. The city itself has a really good vibe. Once we arrived from our long day of travel the 5 of us (the four brits and I) together with our luggage into a normal sized tuc tuc. Impressive no? We were on our way to #9 hostel on the lake side. A place that turne dout to be full, but was recommended on high authority by Ane-lise. We were only dissapointed for a second as #10 guesthouse did have rooms, and as you guessed, that was right next door. Settled and got a beer downstairs. A joyfull evenening. When Jo and I went to scour the streets for some food, we ran into Becky, an Australian marketing guru who had just arrived from Singapore. Once we got back from our scrumptuous meal she had joined the group and we were making plans for the following day.

I had planned to take it easy for day one in Phnom Phenn. So I did. Since the others had overstayed their bedtime by a few hours the vening before, and were far from awake at 7:30. It was Becky who was the first on the hotel deck. I was figuring out how to go about my walk , and Becky with some tips hapily decided to join me. We walked for miles, an awesome walk. Seeing the 26 meter high mound, the museum, the palace (not the inside though), the river and the central market. Which was probably the cleanest market I had ever seen, and even though there was a lot of meat and fish, didnt smell... at all! Really cool.

Brutal pig meat

Awesome

Snouty

The evening was spent watching the Killing fileds Flick and a visit to the #9 deck.

Day two was the sightseeing day, and unlike normal sightseeing trips. This one would be a heavy one to process. The killing fields and the S21 prison are hard to process. The skulls and faces of all those killed by the Khmer Rouge genocide are hard to describe. It leaves you speechless.

On a lighter note though and possibly immoral in some way, day two was also the day that I fulfilled my long time boyish need to fire the gun of all guns. The gun that has changed the world in more ways than any other. the Kalishnykov 47. The tuk tuk driver took us to the gun range, a place where if you lose your guard you will be throwing grenades and firing RPGs into a field. So many temptations to fight off. But I had my mind set on the AK-47, and was then tempted into a Colt .45 hand gun. The hand gun was a bit of a dissapointment, its like a brick that kicks back after it fired. But the AK... wow, that was awesome. I got 25 rounds and managed to hit the target a fair amount of times. The power and the sparks that a squeeze of the trigger create is mesmorizing. Its easy to imagine why men get the way they do in violent situations. The power trip that an AK creates is phenominal. My heart now racing I had emptied a whole clip, and it felt good! So, I have now fired the gun of all guns, the AK-47. I thought of you Jared, I know how much you would have wanted to be in my shoes! I missed you man! Your Etiopia adventure went through my mind a lot that day!

The ubfamous AK, soon to be fired by me

The AK Clip

Awesome

That night while all of us were sitting around sharing gun stories. Jo had shot the M16, the other Jo and Stu the AK, Kerri a handgun, the Austrians from Vang Vieng suddenly turned up! Its a small world here in Asia! This was to be my last night in Phnom Phen, as the next day I wanted to go either North to Kratie or South to the Beach. I eventually decided at 23:52 and booked a ticket... South.

written by

ourindochina on January 29, 2008 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

from the travel blog: The Indo China Adventure (incl Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia)

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nee pieter... dat eten!!! GATVER!! urgh... word er helemaal misselijk van! BAH!

looking super hardcore with the gun though! hehehe..
x x x

written by Soph on February 9, 2008

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