Phnom Penh 100315

I spent three nights in Phnom Penh at my fellow Malaysian, Ajin's house. I met this guy on couchsurfing as I posted my trip on the website and he responded by saying that he kinda did a kinda similar trip in 2013 and he had just recently finished his travels after two years and now, settling down in Phnom Penh. Now I was like WOW!!! I gotta meet this guy. Initially I wanted to head to Laos but my plans changed because I just have to meet Ajin for his experiences and tips on the traveling. This would also be my first couchsurfing experience and Ajin would be the perfect first host for me, as he is from Malaysia and also an extreme traveler.  I arrived at Ajin’s place in the morning by motor taxi or they call it ‘xeom’ in Cambodia. These kind of transport was cheaper than a ‘tuk tuk’ but there’s only a seat for a person, so it was suitable for solo travelers.  It was about a dollar or two to move around town. In this country they still use US dollar and Cambodian Riem for small change. Their currency is so low, so you must understand how the country is.

Any way’s, Ajin also had another couchsurfer from Germany, Laura that I also met that morning. When I arrived at 830pm – I can tell that they had a late night yesterday. Ajin also have two other housemates. Laura broke the ice by bringing out her Ukulele and sang her beautiful voice out and put me into singing mode. It was awkward for me at first because this was my first time staying at someone’s place randomly and which we only met online. Couchsurfing is a hospitality exchange and social networking website. The website provides a platform for members to "surf" on couches by staying as a guest at a host's home, host travelers, or join an event.  And later during the day after I had my catnap, we went to Aeon Supermarket. Suprisingly there are many companies from Malaysia are taking opportunities at uprising Phnom Penh like Maybank & Chat time. Even the KFC are from Malaysia and it is Halal. Ajin are having a BBQ later tonight and we are doing the groceries. We went on bicycles and it was nice to go through the unorganized somehow tolerant traffic.

The BBQ night was mostly Expats of Phnom Penh, friends of the house and travelers. Most of the people didn’t know one another. I’ve met people, Expats who have been here for only 3 days, a month and a year and also met travelers who were in the midst of their travel. Laura had 4 other German friends that were travelling with her but she chose to couchsurf instead. Being around all these people made me feel like Ajin & Laura were the closest people and we just met that morning.  All in all, it was a great night and they left behind a big mess for us to clean up the next morning.

Laura left to another couchsurfer the next day. Ajin and I just hung out at home on a Sunday. I was kinda demotivated by my travels at this moment because I couldn't find the right angle to document my travels because I focused too much on trying to make it into a documentary film. I was physically & mentally drained and I felt like I’m treating it like work. So, Ajin gave me some good advices and we talked & discussed the possibilities. I also found out that we had a mutual friend who was coincidentally settling down on my next location, Saigon, Vietnam.

On the third day of Phnom Penh, I went to the national museum and the Tuel Sleng Genocide Museum that was originally a school turned into a prison. I was curious about Cambodia and how come they were so left back compare to the rest of South East Asia. It was mostly because of the Khmer rouge. The Khmer rouge was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea in Cambodia. It was the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The organization is remembered especially for orchestrating the Cambodian genocide, which resulted from the enforcement of its social engineering policies. Its attempts at agricultural reform led to widespread famine, while its insistence on absolute self-sufficiency, even in the supply of medicine, led to the death of thousands from treatable diseases such as malaria. Arbitrary executions and torture carried out by its cadres against perceived subversive elements, or during purges of its own ranks between 1975 and 1978, are considered to have constituted genocide. They were responsible for the deaths of up to 2,000,000 Cambodians, nearly a quarter of the country's then population, during the "killing field" era between 1975-1979. And the left overs of the Cambodians were not the smart ones. So they had so many of these school turned into prison throughout Cambodia. And Tuel Sleng was responsible for 20,000 killings.

It was great being in Phnom Penh, mostly because of Ajin. He shared his experiences and we had opinions & discussions regarding the trip that I’m doing. It was actually sad to walk through Cambodia, as you can see the poorness of the country. On the bright side, you can see so many uprising buildings, shops & international companies and I can feel the future for Phnom Penh. There’s just so much of opportunity here and I can imagine how it will be like in Phnom Penh in 10 – 20 years time.

I made a day trip to my next destination by bus on my last day, crossing the border to Vietnam and into Ho Chi Minh City. Good Morning Vietnam!