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Early start yesterday as we had to catch the Blue Cruiser fastboat from Chau Doc to Phnom Penh at 7am.
There was only 10 on the boat plus 3 staff so we had plenty of room to spread out. The poor locals are all struggling with the weight of Pat's bag . I did tell one of them it had a body in it and he gave me a strange look but I might have to think again as someone could believe as I think that couple in Bali a couple of months ago did that to the mother of one of them and left her in the boot of a taxi !!
Anyway the boat ride was good. Had to get off twice on either side of the border for visa and passport checking . We already had our visa so there was a lot less stuffing around for us.
We arrived in Phnom Penh at about 12.30pm so just over 5 hrs on the boat.
The Mekong is massive in parts - I reckon at least 1km wide by my measurement. Lots of people living in shacks that look like they are just about to fall into the water. One thing I noticed though is so many had satellites for TV or antennas so they must have power in them at least .
We got lots of waves as the boat went past by the kids. All playing and swimming and some helping their parents . The water of the Mekong has a lot of floating plants which look like water lily . There is also a lot of garbage in it unfortunately . I got so pissed off with one tourist who was part of a large group in the other boat as the first thing he did when he got on the boat was toss his empty cigarette packet overboard. Dirty filthy pig. Really - just don't get some people!!!
Anyway we got to our hotel which is in a great position close to everything. We can see the palace and museum and a bit of the river from our room too. The riverside looks like it's the hub of everything here. Today was also Cambodian Independence Day so we headed towards the Independence monument which looked like there was some sort of ceremony there as there were heaps of wreaths. We ended up catching a tuk tuk back which is motorbike with a carriage that can take 4 people. Cost $3 USD. US dollars is the currency that is used here . The local currency Riel is only given as small change and is pretty worthless from what we gather. You can't get it outside of Cambodia and can't cash it in after you leave so the challenge is just to get rid of it when you get it.
Dinner was spent at the Riverside and we got to see a massive fireworks display for Independence Day which went for ages. Loads of people everywhere having picnics in front of the Palace as well. The riverside is pretty much all restaurants so we'll be checking a few of them out while we are here . Cambodia looks like it will be more expensive than Vietnam but still fairly cheap. Dinner cost us $15 which also included a huge Tiger beer. Quite liking a lot of the local beers so will have to try a Cambodian beer .
Anyway we walked back to the hotel the same way we went which was through the local market which can only be described as walking through a garbage dump. By the end of the day it was putrid. We will find a different street to walk to riverside next time I think.
Looking forward to seeing the Genocide museum and Killing Fields today as they define what this country has come from and so much of their horrific past .
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