Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we are going to the coast! Sihanoukville to be exact. You can check it out online if you want. But, going has meant a lot of planning in a short amount of time. Since I wasn't feeling well this morning I stayed in until about noon. I spent the time resting and researching places to stay on the coast and reserving our bus tickets. We wanted an 830 bus, but it was full, so we are going at 7 in the morning. However, to get our seats finalized, someone had to go pick up the tickets at the Mekong Bus Express by 3:00 today. Since RM had to work, that left me.
All you people who know and love me will like this next part of the story...I have actually been to the bus station...it's the same company we used to go to Siem Reap, but that time we took a tuk tuk. This time, I was going to be on my bike. So I looked at the map, conferred with RM, and figured I knew where I was going, (it was in the direction of where I was wanting to go today anyway...the Royal Palace!) and off I went. I made it to the river, no problem. I found 5th street. And it didn't look at all like I remembered. Instead of a slightly crazy street lined with moto shops and gas stations, 5th street was an insane street that I couldn't even bike down because it was full of a Cambodian market place...and not the kind that caters to tourists...this kind is for locals and had all manner of things including dead chickens. I went around the block several times until I figured I needed help. I stopped in at a Dairy Queen of all places and chatted with the two guys working there. Remember, it was ninety degrees here today...I was drenched, feeling not so good, and thirsty. After the initial translational errors they realized what I what I wanted and their eyes got big...the one guy said..."it is FAR from here." We discovered what my error was. 5th street was not the same as highway 5. Sure they were both by the river, and really not all that far apart, but after riding around for a hour, I was getting extremely frustrated. I went to a store next door and bought 3 liters of water, sucked some down and headed out again with renewed energy.
Things looked familiar and then (45 minutes later) they still looked familiar and then (by now it was 2:40...remember, I had to get the tickets by 3) I realized that the things I was seeing were things that I had seen from the bus...meaning, I had passed the place. I stopped at a big restaurant and had the same conversation with different people (a man who said he had actually lived in Pennsylvania) and he said it was about a mile back the other way.
Oh guys, I was so happy when I found the place. It was air conditioned. And they had a bathroom. But the most important of all, I got our tickets for the way there and the way back.
By then it was three o'clock. I was having real second thoughts about going to the Royal Plalace, but that was my goal so I got back onto my bike and tiredly schlepped my way back to the Royal Palace. It was very hard to find the entrance but after talking to four people I finally did. I paid a dollar (a lot here) to park my bike and was finally on my way in.
Finally.
So the Royal Palace is beautiful, what you can see of it...many areas are off limits...there are also oddly curated museum exhibits that reminded me of exhibits I saw in South Africa...they look like they were put on display in the 50's and haven't been touched since. There were many beautiful outdoor bulldings, some (yay!) very old frescoes, a model of Angkor Wat (with a real pigeon resting on top), some crazy monkeys (real), hundreds of boxes in the shape of elephants, and more Buddhas than you can count, including one encrusted with diamonds. The gardens were also beautiful and many gardeners where watering them and I motioned to a man that he should spray my feet and he did. Heaven. I especially liked the little secret Buddha garden with the shaded staircases up and down.
The silver pagoda is so called because of the silver tiles that line the floor. There are thousands of them and I'm sure that back in the day it was a sight to behold, but they really need some restoration. They have a portion uncovered so you can see them, but the rest are covered with rugs. As you walk over them you can feel the poor tiles move under your feet. The really need help. The Emerald Buddha is housed in the Silver Pagoda (you aren't supposed to take pictures in there, but of course I snuck one) and it was beautiful as well as many many other golden Buddhas.
I took lots of pictures which I'll share with you all soon, then headed back into the Phnom Penh traffic to meet RM at his work so we could meet some friends for dinner. I, of course, got lost on the way, but it wasn't too bad and I was quite pleased that I ended up seeing the Palace despite the fact that I didn't have a chance to get cleaned up before dinner.
We had a very pleasant evening which hopefully I'll have a chance to tell you about tomorrow on the bus (let's hope they have wifi like they say they will) but I will leave you with the assurance that I am safe and well and conquered Phnom Penh traffic again today.
Also, I'm catching a cold. The kind with a lot of sneezing. I'll fit right in when I get home.
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