Sep 29,2004
2 o’clock in the morning, couldn't get into sleep. I felt something was biting me all night in bed. And the noise that old shabby air conditioner made was driving me crazy (I just turned it off.)... A thunderstorm outside... got up to play with my handheld as I am awake with wide-open eyes... Gotta find another hotel tomorrow morning...
It’s been a long night. Yorn came to pick me on time in the morning. Searching for a hotel again. Checked several hotels and finally found this Asia hotel. It looked a formal and nice hotel. They had great single room with frig, air conditioner, hot water, TV at $15 with breakfast. They made a discount for me to $12. I paid and moved in.. The staff here are so nice and friendly...seems all the people here are so nice. There are always some locals saying hello to me with big smile wherever I go.
Went see the royal palace right after then. The palace didn't interest me much as it was quite the same with that of Thailand, but smaller. The national museum was good, helped me get a rough idea of the things in Angkor. Saw some people with no leg begging around ( landmine victims they claimed to be). Sad to see this and I gave them some hundred riels. Strolled along the riverside a bit seeing the local people fishing there. Lot of kids wandering there with no school and seemed no parents around. That was quite sad. They loved the stationery I gave them.
Went see the Russian market later. It was a place selling souvenirs and some local goods. Felt starving after that. Wanted to go eat at a flying elephant restaurant but couldn’t find it. Ate in the Arising Sun instead. I got spaghetti and banana shake at $4.5. The shake was delicious but the spaghetti was not that good. But I was so hungry and ate it all….S-21 prison in the afternoon. The quiet former school was used to imprison and interrogate the revolutionists during the Khmer regime. It was hard to imagine some of the human could be that cruel hurting another human being in that way... I watched through the pictures and documentary carefully. Just made you feel sadder. ... Exhausted after all those and obviously I needed some sleep as I didn't get any sleep last night. So I asked the driver to take me back to the hotel early. Jumped onto the internet before I went up to my room. Emailed home let dad and mom know I was doing fine here and told them I was not calling that night.... Shower then went to bed at 7:00pm. Got into sleep quickly. Woke up by my cell phone at about 11:00. It was my mom. They didn’t check the email... But I got into sleep again soon....
Sep 30, 2004
Got up at 8:00 o'clock in the morning. I had slept for 13 hours last night!! Went to the restaurant downstairs for the breakfast. I ordered milk and apple pancake. They got me a cup of cocoa instead and insisted that was milk...anyway, I made do with that as they did think that was milk.
Set off to the killing field at 9:30. That was a long trip. Sitting at the back of a motorcycle running on the muddy(it rained at night) and bumpy road under the strong sun... Had dust all over and got sunburned seriously. Many kids along the way waving to me and yelling hello and bye-bye with big smiles... This was so impressive.
Killing field was far away from town in the quiet countryside. People were killed massively here, and most of them were kept in the S21 prison which I just saw yesterday. Piles of skulls and bones there. It was not a very pleasant experience to walk through such a place alone. And it was sad to see all those…
Came back from the killing field. I went check out some bookstores. Bought some postcards. And ate at the California 2. Great fish taco at $2.75, yummy! But the banana shake there tasted weird. Got on the internet a bit at an internet cafe after lunch. Decided to go to the shooting range and check out the cart racing place Sawka mentioned in the afternoon. The shooting range was pretty far from town. Got 8 bullets for handgun at $18(expensive!). I’d used rifles for a couple of times before in the military training camp but never used a handgun. Haha, missed all as I didn't put on my contact lens and had no glasses with me!
Went to the lake area to check out the flying elephant after. Seemed they didn't serve food at that hour as it looked very quiet. Strolled around that area a bit then left.
Later in the afternoon the motor driver took me to a really nice place (a restaurant by the river in preak leak) to see the sunset. Sooo relaxing lying in a hammock by the river drinking coconut juice and watching sunset....
Leaving for Siem Reap tomorrow. Bus ride leaving at 7.00am by Mekong express. Need to get up early to catch the bus. Gotta go get sleep.
