Cambodia (Part 2): "Sidenotes" from Day One

In most of my blog posts, I include "side notes": parts of the story that help you get a better feeling about my experience in Vietnam, but probably aren't worthy of a paragraph of their own.  This post will be nothing but "side notes."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spend a day in Ho Chi Minh City, and you're sure to see some remnant from the Vietnam War.  It could be an older amputee, or simply a really dated propaganda poster.  If you fly into or out of the Ho Chi Minh City Airport during the day, you'll see probably the most interesting artifact from the war: American military hangars.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The flight to Phnom Penh is short.  The flight is only 35 minutes, and if everyone gets to the gate before the departure time, they board you early and send you on your merry way.  They also don't give a hoot about turning off your cell phone or other electronic equipment.  That's lucky for you, because I was able to take some pretty cool pictures of the Mekong.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Landing in Phnom Penh is hilarious.  You fill out your visa application on the plane, and hand it in when you arrive.  No one in my group had a passport sized photo, so we each had to pay $1 "to get our picture taken to complete the visa application."  Of course, that means they don't take your picture - I literally saw my Customs and Immigration officer pocket my buck.  You then pay $20 for them to complete your visa application.  The process takes about 10 minutes, but they don't even look at your passport.  They merely put a visa stamp in the first blank page they see.  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the airport there are hundreds of "tuk-tuk" drivers, waiting for your business.  Mark, Wes, Eric (AIM's new Ho Chi Minh City Manager) and I took one to our hotel.  

Phnom Penh is significantly hotter than Vietnam.  I love the heat (and humidity!) so I was in heaven.  

Cambodia is also a lot "dirtier" than Vietnam.  Whereas everything in Vietnam is either flora or mud, everything in Cambodia is either flora or dust/dirt.  Cambodia is so hot that the ground doesn't stay muddy for long.  It almost instantly becomes dirt.  This picture shows what I mean pretty well.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phnom Penh is totally unlike Saigon.  In fact, all of Cambodia is totally unlike all of Vietnam.  Perhaps I've grown accustomed to living in Saigon, but I really don't consider it to be third world.  The eel beatings and fish beheadings in the middle of the street in Saigon aren't really spectacles to behold anymore.  Phnom Penh is a different story.

First off, there are monkeys.  I thought monkeys would be cool.  They aren't.  All they do is throw trash at people.  I thought it was funny until one threw a banana peel at me.  

Second, elephants are considered a legitimate form of transportation.  There are a few jungle elephants near Da Lat, Vietnam, but none near Saigon.  Elephants can easily be seen on the streets of Phnom Penh.

Third, you see sights commonly associated with the third world: an overloaded truck with people hanging on the roof, or a political advertisement car with guys inside them, driving through the city.