7/26 Golden Phnom Penh

Time to depart for Phnom Penh!

Though both of my soles almost burst from all the walking yesterday, I was still very satisfied with the journey and exploration of Angkor Wat, so big and majestic.

There were many rides to Phnom Penh, about one per hour, so I decided to take my time slow and set out for the 9am bus.

Capitol Bus Station was only an alley away from where I was staying, I moved with ease and at a peaceful pace, got a 6.25 USD ticket easily.

At a little past nine, the cashier told me to get into a van that was waiting outside, it was really small and only 3 people were on board. I entered anyway and found myself shivering from the cold air conditioning.

Just when I took out my earphones and laid my head against the head rest, the van stopped and told us to get off. What?

I was at another bus station and there was a big red bus with people crowding around it, so I guessed this was the real bus that was going to Phnom Penh.

There were so many more people than the seats on the bus, luckily I got myself a spot before any of them could take it away from me. There were many other locals who were standing in the aisle and leaning from right to left by the time we set off. Not one backpacker on the bus by the way.

The roads were dirty and full of holes and bumps, so the bus was bumping up side down through the whole journey, just like the Knight's Bus in the Harry Potter Movie XD

We stopped three times on our way to the destination, and rested for about 30 minutes each, most of the locals would go wander in the stores or buy something to fill their stomach, but I was more like a total stranger who gaped into the air blankly and just waited for the bus to move again.

Eventually, we arrived at Phnom Penh, and it was a real golden city full of yellow dirt everywhere, on the surface of the building, the mud in the streets and on the faces of pedestrians.

Most of the people threw queer looks at my outfit and big bags, tuk tuk drivers were starting to gather around me, trying to negotiate a bargain. I tried my best to reject them nicely, follow the GPS on my phone and was fast on my feet.

I need to locate the hotel that I was going to stay, the Yolanda Hotel, but it really was far from the Capitol Bus Station I had been dropped off.

There was one small incident that threw me of the track, I followed exactly where the GPS directed and entered a small muddy street. It was very crowded with low sheds hanging by the side. You could even see some furniture and people with bare chest moving inside. There were many kids running around without any clothes on, and you could smell some kind of stink coming from the surroundings. I was a little scared, for all these people looked hungry, weak and unfriendly. They were staring at me with fixed eyes and tensed like a cheetah on a prey. It seemed to take me a whole bunch of hours to cross the street, and I was so relieved to have gotten out of the area in the end.

It was like a gathering of slum dog residences.

Finally, almost two hours of trekking in the mud and soft soil, I saw the Yolanda Hotel, tall and beautiful, but located at a remote location so far from the center of Phnom Penh.

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I checked in, told the lady that I had a booking through Agoda, and she was pleasant to inform me that due to some reason, the hotel had promoted my room to luxury double-bedded room, but still remained the same price of 17 USD per night!

Perfect, and I would be staying here for 3 nights in a row

For dinner, I moved out and tried my best to travel to the Sovanna Shopping Mall that wasn't supposed to be very far from where I was staying, I was starving from not having eaten anything the whole day.

I hadn't changed any USD into riels, and was glad to find that US dollars worked just fine in the supermarket. (Cambodia used USD for bigger purchases and returned the small changes in Riels)

I bought three bottles of juice, one yogurt drink, another fermented milk to celebrate my arrival, but only to find that the fridge in my room had broken.

What a disappointment.

I had also been looking for the SD card for the camera since using up all the memory in Angkor Wat, but so far to no result.