Penm Phen - part 2

Still feeling a little lethargic, we started the day slowly by going to a very high-end coffee shop to catch up on blogging and research our next moves. While wandering to our lunch spot, we were cajoled by a tuk-tuk driver who said he'd take us to Oudong, where we wanted to go tomorrow. So, we agreed on $50 with him and exchanged details. For lunch, we went to a fantastic café/restaurant that serves traditional Khmer food with a modern twist. It was amazing. We got what the waitress recommended and felt like we got a great flavor profile of the cuisine. We had Amok, a curried fish dish, and a soup (all Cambodian meals should be accompanied by soup), which had small fish and fish eggs in it and was definitely an acquired taste. The beef slices on the grill were our favorite. For dessert, we got some shaved ice with floral flavors and, weirdly, some actual kidney/black beans at the bottom. It was an interesting addition but not terrible.

We then headed to S21, the former security prison where the Khmer Rouge imprisoned and tortured people. It was also pretty harrowing and quite graphic, with images of the dead bodies found in the very room you were standing in when it was liberated. For me, the most harrowing thing was seeing the tiny spaces people were kept in and the row upon row of faces of prisoners who were tortured in the prison, especially the children. As we were leaving, it rained heavily, and we got soaking wet.

That evening, we went out and did a cocktail/beer crawl through some locally produced breweries and on to Bassac Street where the real clubs and bars are. As it was a weekday, it was quite quiet, but we made our own fun and had a great time.

We woke up early, regretting our agreed 8 AM pick-up time with our tuk-tuk driver. Oudong is a town about an hour outside Phnom Penh and used to be the old capital of the country. Our driver first took us to a shop where they made silver jewelry, which was interesting to see. The mother and owner of the business passed us to her son, who was in his late teens and spoke such impeccable English, he could have been schooled in Oxford. Although they had some nice stuff, we didn't find anything we liked, and after asking a few questions about their process, we said goodbye and went on to the sites.

Our first stop was Phreah Reach Throap Mountain, which was a long hot walk up lots of steps to get to the top. There were few to no tourists, so we got a lot of stares and hellos from local children. The temple at the top was beautifully and intricately decorated and overlooked a fantastic view of the surrounding landscape. We wandered about trying to get cool and also looked at the old temples just next to it before heading back down. We then went to the Cambodia Buddhist Vipassana Center, which from what we understood was a monastery where monks and nuns were taught. It was stunning and completely deserted.

After wandering around, our tuk-tuk driver had arranged for us to eat at a local lady’s stall. However, when we got there, she wanted to charge us $20 for an unspecified chicken meal. Given this extortionate price and the basic kitchen facilities, we declined. She then offered us half a chicken for $10 and showed us the pieces which were chicken feet, a head, and some wings, which didn't do much to convince us. We politely declined and headed back into town and to our hotel. Our driver seemed disappointed as he'd offered to take home any leftovers. After the heat and exhaustion of the day, we relaxed by the pool and didn’t venture out until evening when we sat in the main square and watched a lot of people jogging and children playing. We enjoyed our new favorite drink, a watermelon shake, and then got a second round of coconut water before heading to bed for our early start tomorrow.Baca selengkapnya