After sadly leaving Sihanoukville, I headed up to Phnom Penh for what I'd been told was a totally crazy place. It didn't disappoint. Stepping off the bus, you are surrounded by touts wanting to take you to their hotel. Be sure to have a place in mind before you step off the bus, and stick to it. They will tell you all kinds of lies so that you'll go to their hotel. Oh that place is closed, it's flooded, it's very dirty, very expensive, very far away, etc. I paid a buck to be taken about a mile down the road to the lakeside where there are several super cheap places to stay. I was told that they were all flooded because the lake was flooding from all the rain. I was actually surprised to find that they weren't entirely lying. My guesthouse had piles of bricks and wood planks set up on the flooded areas, but you still ended up stepping in water. Shoes are left at the waterline. Several rooms were flooded, but mine was a few steps up, so it was fine. I actually saw a few fish and lake snails attached to some of the doors. The lake is beautiful and it's hard to believe that you are in the middle of the capital of Cambodia. It had a nice laid back feel. Several Cambodian men just hang out there all day, hoping to make a little money from tourists by giving them rides, selling them pot, whatever you want. However, they are very blasé about it. If you want something, just ask, but they don't hassle you. It's actually very refreshing. The traffic at first glance looks completely insane. People are driving the wrong way down the street, there are people pushing carts and towing huge stacks of baskets plus 2 passengers on a single motorbike. Traffic signals are merely "suggestions" to stop or go. I really don't like getting hassled from drivers whenever I step outside, so I decided to get my own wheels, I also decided to do it because I thought it would be a little crazy. It was a great time! The rules of the road are easy: Don't hit anything, and anything bigger than you has right of way. To turn left on a two-way street, you actually head over into the oncoming traffic well before your turn and get to the side of the road, then you just hug the left turn corner and maneuver your way back into the proper flow of traffic. It's surprisingly efficient and easy to learn. However, seeing hundreds of scooters coming straight at you can be a little unnerving at first. I drove around Phnom Penh for two days and never had even a close call. One of the places that really affected me was visiting the former Khmer Rouge torture site, To lung Sleng. It was a former school before the KR converted it into a horrific prison. Reading about Pol Pot and the KR, I have been staggered by the brutality and sheer numbers of people killed. Nearly half of all people living in the cities were killed. Every single Vietnamese person who didn't escape was killed. Something like a quarter of the population was killed. Insanity. The photos of the prisoners at the site are very moving. The fear and sadness in their eyes. Some of them show signs of brutal beatings. There are also relics of the torture devices, and the leg irons that were used to chain the prisoners to a long iron bar where they slept side by side on the concrete floor. Death was preferable to staying alive there. The KR took measures to prevent people from killing themselves, like barb-wiring the balconies so nobody would jump over. On the lighter side of Phnom Penh, I met a local guy who rode with me to a disco where we danced and drank expensive beers. When we left the bar later, the streets were completely flooded from a downpour. I drove home in what seems more like a river than a street. Several times I was certain that my scooter was going to stall out in the deep water, but I found my way home - completely soaked and exhilarated by the insanity of it. I'd definitely go back to Phnom Penh and Cambodia. I found the people very warm, fun, and genuinely kind. Leaving the laid-back feel of Cambodia for the crazy hustle and bustle of Vietnam was actually culture-shock. The two countries are VERY different.
