Well, had a shitty nights sleep. Breakfast was good, tho.

Right off this morning, I went to the main attraction in southern Cambodia,  the S-21 prison and the Choeung Ek genocidal center (the killing fields). I made a FB album of just that so you don’t have to see it.

Awful. So awful. Do some Wikipedia research if you want your heart broken.

After that, I cooled off with some AC and a good FB chat. That helped, and so did a visit to a temple.

Wat Phnom is very near to my hostel, and just beautiful. In the heat of the day, there were just a few tourists so we had a nice, quiet visit.

It’s close to the Central post office, where I sent a postcard to some Maricles.

Lunch was bad. My time-tested ordering technique failed. Normally, at lunch, I try to try something new. I acheive this by sitting at a table at some streetcorner joint. Being a foreigner, half of the time I just get brought something. Then I eat it. And its always a surprise, and usually pretty good. The other half of the time,  I stare at what other people are eating, and just point at what looks edible. That…was a mistake today. What came out was some kind of stew? made of fish bits, that was served cold, white rice, and vegetables new to me. I’m sure that it was ok, just not yummy at all. I took several tastes to give it a chance. No bueno.

I sat and read for a good while, then had my afternoon walk. Along the waterfront,  some foreigners were giving out presents to children. Most of the children were streetkids, and my lord it made me happy to see their little smiles. I watched while a little girl unwrapped a doll. She was so excited! I got a little teary-eyed.  

I caved at dinner and had Mexican. And it was delightful. You’d image nachos in Cambodia would be just awful, but you’d be wrong.  The only non-legit thing was they used pepperoncinis instead of jalapeños. 

So, had an emotional but good day. Think tomorrow I’ll just do some mindless sightseeing.

Have a great Tuesday 

Well, got up nice and early for no reason at all lol, but it felt amazing to be moving on. I’ve seen Sai Gon and then some.

The long distance bus stop was very close to my place so that was great. I got to sit and relax and read all day. The actual border crossings were a mixed bag. Just leaving Vietnam was strangely difficult. After lunch, entering Cambodia was normal. Wait in line, pay, fingerprint scan, you’re done.

I got the impression that some of the people on the bus had e-visas. This really slowed things down. After all day thinking, the problem is is: there’s no room for the bribes with an e visa. Some of the money you give your bus guide is bribe money. They call it a “processing fee” which is adorable. If you remove cash from the equation by paying for your visa online, how is the bribe money paid? Anyway, some on the bus also refused to pay since they already had actual visas. Lol

 Anyway we finally were in Cambodia.

The traffic situation is just as awful. I look forward to getting to a smaller city in a few days. Phnom Penh is actually worse in a way because the roads are narrower and there’s more cars.😐

My hostel is much more lively than the one in Sai Gon. That’s good. The location is amazing, right on the main waterfront street. I’m 5 minutes from the royal palace!

I had a nice post bus ride walk and a pretty good dinner for 5000 riel, that’s about 1.25$

A beer was one dollar.

Goodnight All 

Ok I slept pretty good last night. My mood is a lot better, thank goodness.

I have been dreaming about pancakes. So today I resolved to find them. 

At a very upscale cafe here in District 1 they have authentic diner food. It’s spendy, but oh man. Real, fresh blueberry pancakes and real maple syrup. 

Now that was taken care of, some coffee and walking until the temperature hit 95. I hid in my hostel after that until dinner.

My resolution for this year….unknown. I’ll try to be a good person,  to mind my own business, to be active. That’s all I can say right now.

Mary

I didn’t do much.

Happy New Year!!