The extra mile: more videos from thursday...

Apologies for the bumpy camera work; the roads aren't smooth, and I'm holding the GoPro in my hand...

Part of the ride to Phnom Penh airport...

Tuk tuk ride along main highway 6 in Siem Reap

Here's the approach to the Villa Siem Reap Hotel, just off the main highway...

Thursday the 23rd, the Old Embassy and Siem Reap

We had a much simpler breakfast this morning at Villa-60s Frangipani than we did at their sister establishment, the Living Arts Hotel. Dad went with the eggs, I opted for the noodles.

We called our tuk tuk driver, San, and set out for our best guess for the location of the old US embassy. Google searches had left out anything definitive; some sites even suggested it was now a hotel called "The WHite Mansion Hotel", etc.

Fortunately, Dad's information was correct.

Although it has a different roof now, the building is now an Administration building.

We pulled up out front, and our tuk tuk driver spoke with the guard, who didn't seem to mind us walking straight in. 

The front lobby when you walk in.

We strolled around the very empty building, fortunately it's some sort of holiday.

The roof is now an a-frame, and the top floor some sort of storage area now. No room for a helipad anymore.

Around back, some aspects of the building are the same, with the addition of air conditioning, while new areas have been built on. Not to mention the skyscrapers in the distance.

I posted a lot of pictures of the old embassy, as my understanding is there might be some interest.

Also, in case anyone is interested in the cafe in the domestic terminal at the Phnom Penh airport...

this is it. What you don't see is the chicken club sandwich and coconut smoothie we polished off. More apparent is that woman in the back left who thinks I'm taking a photo of her. 

 Cambodia Airlines, the Southwest of the the Far East.

"I could fly that". 

Of course I'm sure it's easier with no one shooting at you. 

Could someone please inform Stirboy that my dad finally landed at Siem reap Airport. (Again, some other person has sort of ruined the context here by turning around and looking at us, so....

Here it is clean.

Siem Reap is a much different city than Phnom Penh. Here's a taste of the ride from the airport...

We checked in at the Villa Siem Reap, and I hitched a ride with our new tuk tuk driver, Sambath, to the Cambodian War Memorial. Loz, fyi I got a good education on mines from a tour guide who had, unfortunately, first hand experience with one. I've got a slew of pictures of old Russian tanks and AK47s and M16s and Howitzers, but I'm not sure the Internet connection at the Villa Siem Reap can support it. But here are a few for posterity...

We grabbed an early dinner near the night market in Siem Reap, where some threatening looking clouds were about to turn our somewhat dry trip into the "lightning bolt" that the weather channel had predicted...

This turned into this...

... in a matter of moments. This was an excuse to polish off an extra Angkor beer before wandering back towards the hotel.

That's enough for today. I'm noticing that my wrists are sensing a mild electric current when I lean them against the laptop. Not part of the keyboard's function, I don't think.

Woke up to a quiet morning after a good night's sleep. We crashed around 8p, both sitting up in bed with the tv on. I think we both thought the other was still watching.

Half-clear skies from our room this morning, but the anticipated thunderstorms were absent.

A quick walk to the Russian Market as it was opening. I tried to get some photos, but the pictures that early all suffered a ghosting from the humidity and fogging on the lens.

I didn't attempt any pictures inside the Russian Market itself. It was even muggier than outside.

We did have our first experience trying to cross a busy street. We eventually learned to just get out there, though we did follow on the heels of a brave woman carrying her wares. She didn't even look left or right.

Some very clever electrical work.

We moved to another of Frangipani's other hotel, Villa-60s, hidden behind this lovely shade of green growth.

We took a tuk tuk ride to get some lunch, and I brought the gopro with me to record a taste of it. This was a relatively tame ride...

We actually stayed on our side of the road for a majority of this excursion. 

We visited Tuol Sleng, the genocide museum where the Khmer Rouge tortured thousands of people. It was a very sad visit. The KR took a photo of every individual taken there, including some of their own cadre. 

It was very overwhelming, only 7 people imprisoned there survived to talk about it. 

Tomorrow we're going to track down the old US embassy, and then catch a flight to Siem Reap.

Another from the Taipei connection yesterday...

While at the airport in Taiwan, Dad thought he recognized another flight check pilot...

And this one's for Claire: breakfast at the terminal...

After a relatively uneventful 13 hour flight to Taipei, we went thru a very efficient customs to a view of a very hazy Taipei morning overlooking the runway. It was nice to have the terminal to ourselves, the few who had connecting flights that early at 5.30a. It was just us and David Beckham's smiling portrait, holding a glass of scotch in our direction. What's with the David Beckham thing over here btw?




They had the elderly cued in their wheelchairs. We thought of ducks in a pond for some reason.


As we passed over Da Nang, Vietnam, some serious cloud formations came into view.

A quick cab ride, negotiated to $11 from $12 (which we were assured is the new normal).



Bikes and motorcycles and cars weave down the roads together here in what is best described as comfortable chaos. How we didn't witness an accident, I don't know.








We were informed by the hotel staff at the Frangipani Villa-90s Hotel that our rooms were unavailable but we would be moved further south to their sister hotel, the Frangipani Living Arts Hotel. I said I had been advised to stay north of Mao Tse Tuong Blvd, upon which he reassured us that the area is "much better than it was".



So a quick tuk tuk ride south to our new hotel gave us an even closer look at motor transport in Cambodia...

Yes, this is our driver on the wrong side of the road. Yet, it completely made sense at the time.











We're off to get SIM cards for our phones. The first storm came and went faster than I could take a photo, but the thunder strike sounded like a truck driving into our shower.

Bags? Check.

Old hat? Check.

Camera? Check.

Immodium pills? Check.

Glare from reflection of sun coming in window....
Check.

Note to self; must figure out how to say "wine" in Cambodian...

t-minus 60 hours

Here's the link, Dad. I don't know how "clever" or "professional" this blog is going to be (which is an excuse for me to skip the spellcheck), so share at your own wisdom. If I manage to keep this old laptop dry, that alone will be a success.

Because, as you know, our forecast looks something like this...

I know you told me not to worry, the rain's not constant, but I think most of us in CA have learned to just stay inside when there's a lightning bolt on the weather forecast. And sustained lightning bolts imply some sort of  natural disaster, and we should start stocking canned chicken broth and bottled water. Crystal Geyser, please?



So now my underwear is rolled up in ziplock bags.