It's been well over a day and despite walking all over the city, seeing some of the major attractions and trying like crazy to find a silver lining, sorry to say that this place did next to nothing for me. The saving grace has been the weather, which for the second day in-a-row, was overcast and at times, very bearable. I'll focus on that silver...
The killing field museum was not the emotional wallop I was expecting, though not to be confused with anything remotely entertaining. I think (and hope that in the future) that it is developed more to make it more visitor-friendly. The first thing that greets you is the tall tower (pictured) that houses thousands of skulls that were unearthed on the property. Behind it are dozens of mass graves that have been emptied, but are still open pits. The thing that is truly grizzly are the many, many bones protruding from the ground along with articles of clothing. The museum has purposely chosen not to hide these things for good reason: It's hard not to be moved when the evidence is literally underneath your shoes.
The hotel where I am staying is a very friendly place run by young Cambodians. They were really helpful. I told them I needed a bus ticket and a Vietnamese visa and presto! The thought of locating the Vietnamese consulate in this city was not something I was looking forward to. My room does not have A/C, nor hot water! Despite that, I slept pretty well in my mosquito net-draped bed and the cold shower felt absolutely perfect...seriously. They also have a cafe on the premises and the food has been very good there. It's $12/night...clearly the highlight of PP without a doubt.
So I am hopeful that Kampot will be nice. I suspect it will be. It's a laidback place near the coast. I will spend my last three Cambodian nights there before heading to Vietnam. So I am hoping that it's a winner because I want to leave this country with a good taste in my mouth. Speaking of things in my mouth, tomorrow I have to take my third anti-malaria pill...my fingers are crossed that some of the things I've witnessed the past couple of days in the museums I've visited don't work themselves into my dreams.
And I forgot to mention the dead skin-eating fish in Siem Reap. Yes, it was true and wacky all at once. Dangled my feet in a shallow pool and within seconds, hundreds of these weird fish about 2 - 3 inches long were nibbling on my dogs. It didn't hurt at all. It mostly tickled and felt very, very strange. The reactions of some of the other folks who took the plunge were the highlight. One woman from the U.K. could not keep from getting absolutely hysterical. She was great. So after about fifteen minutes, it was done. To be honest, my feet didn't really feel any different, nor look any different, but I can claim to have done something that I doubt many of you can...or would want to.
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