Day 1

After traveling for about 14 hours on EVA airways, we landed at the Tai Pei Airport in Taiwan. My first sightseeing had begun. I immediately noticed how clean and modern the airport was. I snapped a photo of these funny cartoon characters hanging from the ceiling. We would stay at this airport for a couple hours before taking our 3 hour flight to Phnom Penh. Upon arriving in Phnom Penh, we were immediately struck with the heat and humidity we would face for the entirety of the trip. As soon as we arrived, I faced some of the corruption I had read about from governmental organizations. We had to pay for our 30 day tourist VISA, but somehow I got charged 25 dollars instead of 20 dollars. I am sure that the man who charged me pocketed the 5 extra dollars, but I took it as I was contributing to his family! We were exhausted when we arrived, I had literally been traveling for over 24 hours by this point, but we still had to get to our hotel. As we approached the bag carousel, I noticed two men helping us out. They were Saka and his son Robert who Alex knows from his friend Darith. They helped load our luggage onto carts and into our van. There I also met Somol, a man who would come to be our guide and my friend by the end of the trip. We got in the van and headed to our hotel. As we drove, I was immediately struck by the poverty filling the sides of the streets around me. I was amazed by the insane traffic situations in the city and I just couldn't stop moving my eyes all around, trying to absorb and see as much as I could. We reached our hotel, the Indochine II and Somol helped me carry my bags to my room. I wanted to crash but we still had plans. We had time to shower and change, and then meet downstairs to go out to see the town and then go out for dinner at Le Duo, an Italian restaurant in town where a lady named Hap works. Hap is the sister of Pheany, who is my uncle's adopted daughter in Cambodia. So I took a much needed shower, changed and went downstairs for my first Tuk Tuk ride.

Before leaving on the Tuk Tuk, we met Pheany in the lobby of hotel. She would be joining us for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. She got in our Tuk Tuk with us to point out the city sights as we drove around. Pheany, as I would come to know better and better throughout the weeks, is very talkative! She explained the city to us and I already started feeling comfortable in Phnom Penh. 

I would like to talk about something I was immediately reminded of as I got to know Pheany at our first encounter. I read a book prior to this trip entitled Reflections of a Khmer Soul by Navy Phim, in which she refers to the stigma of having dark skin in Cambodia. I also had a chance to meet with her at one of our pre-trip orientations at Cal State Long Beach, in which she was able to discuss more about the idea of light skin being associated with class. Meeting Pheany and only talking with her a few minutes, the topic of skin color had already come up in our discussions. Pheany mentioned how light-skinned and beautiful Minh was. It is so unfortunate that light is beautiful and dark is ugly in Cambodia. I know so many dark, beautiful women, and it would be disappointing to know that in Cambodia, they would not be seen as truly beautiful as they are. I studied this topic a lot while getting my bachelors in Chicano Studies at UCR as well, as unfortunately the same stigma is true in many Latin American countries. The idea is that if you have dark skin, then you are a worker, out in the sun, low class. Later in the trip I would meet a Cambodian teacher who would also tell me that I looked like a movie star, with my light skin. I would also see another teacher, Soklim, cover her arms with a thin, long-sleeved glove everytime we were outdoors in the sun.  I often told Pheany and Soklim that they were beautiful whether dark or light-skinned, but they seemed to not really hear what it was that I was saying, because unfortunately cultural norms are much stronger than the words of a foreigner!

Back to our Tuk Tuk ride through the city. Well, here is a picture of what a Tuk Tuk actually looks like:

We drove by a number of temples as well as the Royal Palace and National Museum. Cambodia is a Buddhist country for the most part, so we saw a number of Buddhist structures and temples. We also saw many orange-robed monks throughout our trip in Cambodia. On our trip around the city, Pheany, for some reason, wanted us to go to the bridal convention that was in town, so to please her we stopped and checked it out with her. It was interesting to see the colorful wedding dresses and matching attire that brides and grooms wear. I even took a picture with Minh under a wedding arch/gazebo thing.  





On our way back toward the main part of the city to get ready for dinner, I saw many street venders selling all kinds of things! I saw someone selling fried crickets to eat. They were piled on a big tray that the lady was carrying and selling to people on the street. We also saw an elephant just walking down the street! By the time I could get a picture, though, I only got his backside!

Well after our little trip around the city, we got ready for dinner. We went to Le Duo, an Italian restaurant, where Hap, Pheany's sister works. By this time, I hadn't had any rest since Tuesday evening, and it was Friday evening, so I was exhausted and thought of skipping dinner, but I didn't want to miss out on any experiences during this trip, so I made myself go to dinner and ordered a prosciutto pizza which was about $6, and was much too large for me to finish as you can see! 

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to finally get some sleep! Here is a picture of the hotel we stayed at:

Keep reading to find out more about my Cambodian adventures!