July 14th, 2014
Was a tuk tuk a good idea?
At certain moments we weren’t sure…but overall, the adventure was worth it. We woke up around 9am this morning….so as you can see we are way over the waking up too early thing 😳
Just got to breakfast and ate in time before they closed up at 10 am. By noon we had made the decision to try and get ourselves to Udong Hill where there is supposedly a fantastic climb with a temple at the top. It is about 45 Km’s outside of Phnom Penh. I asked at the front desk and was told that a taxi would be $40, and a tuk tuk would be $35. I had read on the tripadvisor website that folks had taken tuk tuks for $15-20 or maybe as much as $30. So we decided to try to find a tuk tuk on the street that would take us for $15-20. If not we were going to wander down to the river and do a river tour maybe?
Well the opening offer was $35 from the tuk tuk driver. So we walked….he followed us and said “how much you pay” ahhhhh, now we are talking, we play along, Troy looks at me and says “how much did you say?” and I said “well I saw on the Internet $15-20” Troy says to the guy “$20?), the guy looks at his buddy, hums and haws for a few seconds, then says “OK”. So we are off for $20. This seems like a good enough deal since it is at least 1.5 hours drive each way. I ended up giving him $22 cuz I felt a tiny bit bad about the $20 (no idea why), then find out from Vanna that we should/could have paid $15 😳😳 now I don’t have to feel bad anymore. I feel generous!
So after the ride yesterday out to the killing fields, I knew better than to wear my contacts today….the dust on the roads here is too much to bear in the open air environment of a tuk tuk. The ride was fun….I think that is the word I will choose. Our driver’s tuk tuk was not in very good condition, there were no signal indicators or rear view mirrors (although there was evidence there used to be) and it made a lot of strange noises. There was a open gallon jug behind the driver that had a little hose running out of it. We were not totally sure what it could have been, other than it was not gasoline, because we stopped for gas a couple times (2 litres at a time) and they didn’t put it in there. So it was either coolant or water or something else more dubious?? Matters not because it only splashed out all over the seat every time we went over a bump THE ENTIRE WAY! Hahahahahahahaha. Pretty sure he filled up when we were at the temple too…..
The roads we travelled over were horrendous. I don’t know what to say about the roads here, they really are not good. As we ride along, there are huge potholes, places where they are washed out, construction, mud, all kids of exciting things and I think the tuk tuks are the most vulnerable, cars, vans, gas trucks, garbage trucks, dump trucks and busses and coaches all barrel down on us with insistent honking (that basically means get the H out of my way or I will run you over). The driver always dutifully gets out of the way if he can, but without the ability to scoot around like a plain motorbike, it gets a little dicey sometimes. Nevertheless, we made it back just fine obviously. I just think the ride was way more exciting in a tuk tuk than in an a/c taxi 😉😉
The temple was indeed a beautiful climb (509 steps!!!) with a fantastic view of the area. The warnings I read before we went was that there would be a lot of children begging there and to be prepared. It is hard to prepare yourself for the begging children here. There are physically disabled adults who beg and the elderly who beg everywhere, but I find the children the hardest to see and deal with. I know I can’t give them all money but if you give one money, then it starts something that just gets too big. I remember that from when we were in northern Cambodia three years ago. I also heard about the “teen guides” who want to walk you up to the top and tell you everything you need to know in English. So two teen boys latched on to us and despite the fact we didn’t say even one word to them the whole way up and avoided eye contact, they stuck with us, fanned us, complimented us (Troy mostly), offered to carry him up (good lord!). So we felt on the hook to give them a little something. Despite my attempts to be discreet about it, a couple little girls saw and they hung on me saying they would sing their school song for a dollar. Over and over….sigh
Beautiful view….
Saw many different homes on the way there and back. Some I could live in, some I couldn’t. I’ll let you decide which is which.
So how about the power poles here 😳😳😳😳? Yes that is a power pole! And so are the twigs strung together down the road…..
Also to note is the sheer amount of garbage that is everywhere here. I though Laos had a lot of garbage, but I think Phnom Penh is the dirtiest city I have ever been in. There are piles of it everywhere. There was a pile growing since we got here just down the street from our hotel, I was starting to get concerned. Most of it was loose garbage, not in bags or anything, so how possibly does this get picked up?? I dunno, but when we walked home for supper tonight Troy remarked “Margory is gone” and sure enough the whole pile (that was big enough to be named) was indeed gone. So they either come with shovels of a backhoe or something. I should have taken a photo, but I did get a couple other random pictures today. These piles are simply everywhere here. We have not seen any rats (other than the one super flat one we saw in the road yesterday afternoon). 
We stopped at Happy Phnom Penh pizza for supper tonight. I wanted to try the lok lak dish Troy had last night, but he had pizza. Both were good! I think his dish was better last night, as I missed asking them to substitute the “beef” for pork or chicken. But it was tasty if only slightly chewy (beef is not their strong suit here).
I did think about having the fungi pizza, or maybe the happy PP pizza….but nope, not tonight 😀😀
I must include a photo or I don’t think you would believe me that the was fungi pizza
We are off to Kampot tomorrow, catching the bus at 2:45. It will be a “3 hour” drive….so likely close to 5 if things are like they usually are in SE Asia. Supposedly a VIP bus, with A/C and wifi, but we will see. Wondering what it will be like to be one of those ginormous coaches bearing down on the tiny little tuk tuks on the “roads”…I hope our driver is nice.
