Happy Belated Khmer New Year

Khmer New Year was exactly one month ago. I love that there are some Cambodian Buddhist temples in the DC area we can visit and have a place to celebrate that little country we love so much.

It was the first hot day of the year, so we hung out inside the wat with fellow Peace Corps volunteers we served with. And I got to see the little guy in the picture below who's birth I was able to be a part of.

We're so lucky that we have such a good group of former volunteers in the area that we can see and hang out with.

We found some of our favorite treats for sale from the booths. Bong Moan Ang is my favorite favorite Cambodian treat, it's like deliciously spiced grilled eggs; and I'm so sad to say that in the craziness of our move, we forgot to eat these. We also found some Nom Jake, which was a staple in our diet in Cambodia. We'd get them freshly fried and oozing deliciousness.  This Nom Jake wasn't as good as what we ate all over Cambodia, but talking with the woman selling it in Khmer for a minute made it all worth it.

Happy Khmer New Year

Last week was Khmer New Year.

I'm so lucky that there is a Cambodian Buddhist Temple in Maryland where I could go celebrate in what felt like I was back in Cambodia for a few moments, with people I love and served with in Cambodia.

We got to see the Wat (temple). We got to see more Cambodians than I ever knew lived in Maryland. We got to speak Khmer, and drink sugar cane juice, just like we did in Cambodia. And we got to dance. We got to Khmer dance. It felt like I was going to see my Cambodian family any moment. It was just hoping to experience. I've missed Cambodia so much and it was so wonderful to see Cambodian culture alive outside of Cambodia. I'm so glad that I was able to go and experience, if only for a moment that I was back in Cambodia.

The two videos at the bottom are one my friend took of us Khmer Dancing to a live band, and a video google automatically put together from pictures and videos I took that day. Don't mind the cat picture in the middle, it was just fun to see the compilation of pictures and videos together.

Guest post on Lost In Travels

Today is a lonely Valentine's day. My flight was canceled today, and I can't get home unto Sunday because of the weather. Today is my first Valentine's day alone since I was 16.

So instead of being bummer city with me, go check out the post on Chelsea' amazing travel blog, lost in travels.

Chelsea traveled to Cambodia a little while ago and asked me some questions about what it was like living and doing service in Cambodia; so go see my answers on her blog here.

And please enjoy the picture done of my students sent me for Valentine's day. It seems like we were just together making Valentine's.

We've Been Home A Year!

Today we have been home from the Peace Corps for exactly a year. Man, this year has just absolutely flown by. The rest of the volunteers from our group will be coming home in three weeks. I remember exactly how they felt. Like there was just never going to be enough time to get all of the things you wanted done. You only have one shot at being a volunteer like that, at that point in your life and you have to make the most of it.

I remember being so excited to come home, and yet so sad to leave my new found home, the place I had come to love. And now we've been home for a year and it feels like Cambodia slips further away every day, which I hate with my whole heart.

So in honor of being home for a year, I thought I would share some fun things that I never posted about back when we were in Cambodia.

FIRST is a video that I just love to death. My assistant school director was a woman, which is really unusual in Cambodia. She was an awesome lady. She invited Hal and I to watch dancing one random day. We weren't really sure what was going on, but as volunteers do, we accepted. It ended up being that she taught apsara dancing to some students and they were getting ready for a performance, and they invited us to watch a practice. Some of the girls in the video were my students and were pretty psyched I was there to watch them practice.


SECOND. My very last day of teaching my private class I decided to do something fun. I had recently seen this video and decided to teach my students how to say it. Perhaps some day I'll splice their individual attempts at saying it, but here is us all together trying to sing the word very slowly.


THIRD. I miss me some monsoons. I didn't realize how much I missed them until we had a mini monsoon in Utah after not having rain in so long. Hal and I went outside and just watched it and let it spray us in the face. I saw the most amazing monsoons while in Cambodia. I picked this video, not because the monsoon is fierce, but because who doesn't love amazingly cute Cambodian kids as well as unintentionally spying on your neighbors?


I hope that we can continue to remember the wonderful things we experienced in Cambodia, and that we can make it back there before we forget all of the language. Cambodia just stole my heart and left my with an undying love of adventure.

Expat Diaries: Shoebox Apartments

Today I'm linking up with Chelsea from Lost In Travels for her Expat Diaries. Today's post is all about shoe box size apartments.

Hal and I know a little something about living in small spaces. Where we lived in Cambodia could qualify has a bombin place for one volunteer, but for two volunteers to live in...it was just too small. Now when you look a the picture below of our family's house, you're going to be impressed. And you should, from the outside it looks pretty impressive. Most of the house is actually just open space with nothing in it. Our room was off of the living room.

Yes, I said room.

We shared essentially the master bathroom in the house. Not bad if you have any space that's really yours outside of a bedroom. That was the biggest problem. We shared a room and a bathroom, we had no where to go to get away from each other and our host family.

This is our room. Our bed was actually bigger than the one we currently sleep on.

 And for some perspective of the size of our room, here's Hal in his kroma (traditional Cambodian scarf with 1,000 uses) trying to push back the birds nest that lived in our ceiling and constantly got feathers and icky stuff on our bed. To the left you can see the door to our bathroom and the edge of our clothes line. I am standing outside of our room to take this picture. At least the ceilings were really tall to help the place feel bigger.

Our bathroom. Our bathroom was the best part of our entire existence. We had a flushing toilet. We had running water. You just can't clean yourself well with a bucket shower (dumping small buckets of water on yourself in place of running water). And that butt sprayer, bidet type thing is amazing. Most the time I didn't miss toilet paper. I know, you all just had your mouth drop. Hal and I totally wish we had one of those on our toilet here.

Our bathroom was also the laundry room. See that black bucket on the edge of the picture, that and our two hands were our washing machine.

 Here's our kitchen. We had a small corner of the kitchen that was ours, and the rest was our host family's. We had a small gas run, one burner stove. Essentially a camp stove that we used to cook everything on. Again, running water = way easier to do the dishes. We were SO lucky to have running water. And really, sharing the kitchen was nice. Our host family always invited us to eat with them, even though that wasn't in our rent agreement, and sometimes they would even try the westernish food we made.

Here's our tiny toaster oven. This was a Christmas gift and was amazing to have. It used a lot of electricity to use, so we only used it on special occasions. We didn't have constant electricity, and it was really expensive and generator run in our town, so no one had fridges. Saves space, I guess as a positive. We had to go to the market everyday to get fresh food.

 That open door behind me is our bedroom. Everything I'm standing next to is everything we left our site with. We lived off of all of that stuff for over a year. Not all of this came back to America with us, some of it was left for other volunteers. When you have such tiny living quarters, you learn to not need a whole lot.

It was obviously a little drastic living in such small living quarters, and sometimes I just wanted somewhere to go, that I could call my own and be able to get away from anyone else. But for the most part, it forced us to interact with our host family a lot, since they were right there the moment we opened our door. We had a good relationship with them probably because of that.

But we found a bigger place for the new volunteers that replaced us in our town.

Happy Khmer New Year!

Today is the last official day of Khmer New Year, but that doesn't mean the festivities will end today. Cambodians know how to make a vacation extend as long as possible.

In honor of Khmer New Year and all of the people who will get bags of water and baby powder thrown at them today, and all of the volunteers who will get little to no sleep thanks to all of the music blasting throughout the village, I decided to post some of my favorite pictures that we took of Cambodia.

A year ago today Hal and I were returning from our trip to Scotland through Thailand. As we rode in our overpriced holiday time taxi to our village we watched children on the side of the road throw bags of water at people on motorcycles followed by bags of baby powder. Everything shuts down for Khmer New Year, everyone goes back to their villages and parties for like 3 days straight. I can't believe it's been a year already!

Sou Sdai Chinam Tmai!

Battambong

I adore Battambong. It's the second largest city in Cambodia, but it has a Cambodian feel that Phnom Penh nor Siem Reap have. If you want to have a glimpse of what living in Cambodia is like, and don't have time to visit a smaller village, visit Battambong. Battambong has some good Cambodian restaurants, and some lovely western restaurants, along with great tailors if you want to get some clothing made, for cheaper than Phnom Penh prices.

How to get here:
-From Phnom Penh: Battambong is located 6 hours by bus from Phnom Penh straight up National Road 5. It costs about $5 to get there by Capitol or Sorya bus companies.
-From Thailand Battambong is about two hours away from the border town of Poipet and costs about $2.50
-From Siem Reap Battambong is also about two hours away and costs about $3.75

Things to do:

1. Bamboo Train: Please go do this quick, because soon you won't be able to do it anymore. A Train hasn't existed in Cambodia for quite some time, so they have set up these bamboo trains which is just a bamboo slat with a motor and wheels to get around. Now tourists can ride one. Hopefully you run into someone on the tracks, because whoever has the lighter load has to take their little train off the tracks and let the others pass before putting it back together. When we rode it we had to get off once, and once people had to get off for us. Do not pay more than $5 a person to ride. Haggle with them if you can.

2. Battambong Bat Caves aka Phnom Sampov: I haven't actually been here, but a volunteer lives in this town and I've heard it's amazing. Something like at 5:00 every night tons of bats all come flying out of the cave. If I'm not mistaken it was also used as a killing field during the Khmer Rouge

3. Walk along the river. Battambong is centered around a beautiful river, and it has a wonderful walkway all along the river. It's perfect for an evening after dinner stroll.

4. Visit ancient wats (temples) such as Wat Banan, a 10th century temple often considered similar to Angkor Wat, or Wat Ek Phnom, this is a temple built on top of a mountain and has spectacular views.
5. Phare Ponleu Selpak: also known as the circus. My friend teaches English at their little school so go support them and see their cool circus.
6. Check out the art scene: Battambong has a huge art scene and they sometimes do gallery strolls so go check out their art galleries.

Places to eat:
1. Chinese Noodle: ($2.50) I don't actually know the name of this place, it's just what volunteers call it. It's located just a few doors down from White Rose. It's super cheap and you can watch them make their own noodles and dumplings. SO GOOD.
2. White Rose: ($5) This is a good local restaurant and is hard to miss since it's big and on a street corner. I've never had a meal here, but I've heard it's good. I go there for their ice cream or fruit shakes for $1. Yum.
3. Cafe Eden: ($5-10) I love this restaurant. It's some of the best western food you can find in Battambong. it's run by the sweetest woman from washington. They really give back to the community. They often have music nights on the weekends so check their website.
4. Gecko Cafe: ($5-$10) Two Words...Snickers Blizzard. They're a little more spendy, but they're also really yummy.
5. Green Mango: ($5) It's hard to find good baked goods in Cambodia. The owners and workers of this place are the best.This is the place to go! It's a great organization where they are teaching young village girls how to cook, so go support them and eat a cinnamon roll for me.
6. Espresso House: ($2) This is my favorite place to eat in Battambong. I'm going to attempt to tell you how to get here. Go to the main market, Centreal Market(touches the river and street 113) and walk west. You'll see a giant cell phone store with a giant green sign, Smart Mobile. Walk down that street and on the right hand side will be Espresso House. You have to look for their little sign. It's just a few doors down from the Royal hotel. Please go give this family your business. They are the greatest and always throw in a plate of fruit or an extra dessert to their nice customers.


Places to stay:
1. Paris Guesthouse: ($6-$10) Their rooms are a bit small, but my friends got a double room with a balcony with AC for like $10. Prices may be different in the high season, or during the really hot season. The staff were nice and the hotel had nice hot water. Stay here if you're backpacking and are going to cheap and functional, but not fancy
2. Seng Hout Hotel: ($12-$20) This hotel is a little more spendy, but it's obviously a lot nicer than Paris. The rooms are really nice and if you don't get AC they'll give you a fan for your room. I've stayed here twice and the staff have always been really nice and accomodating. Stay here if you're looking for a decent place to stay, but are on a budget.
3.Bambu Hotel: ($75-$100)I haven't ever stayed here, but I've heard of volunteers staying here with their families since it's nicer with a pool and is definitely a step up from the other two hotels. Stay here if you're looking for something really nice and are fine paying an american price for a hotel room.

Kampot

Kampot is one of my favorite cities in Cambodia. It has such a laid back relaxed feel to it that almost no other large city in Cambodia has.

How to get here:
-From Phnom Penh, Kampot is located about 3 hours south of Phnom Penh and costs about 12,000 riel, or $3 to get there.

Things to do:
1. Play in the river: If you aren't afraid of the water, get in. It's nice and refreshing after or during a really hot day, which is almost every day in Cambodia. You can also do sunset boat tours on the river, or kayak on the river.
2. Bodhi Villa: To go along with playing in the river, in the evening to got Bodhi Villa. They have a diving board and a dock that you can play on. They also often have live music in the evenings.
3. Hike to the ocean: Kampot is located pretty close to the ocean. I've never done this, but I know a volunteer who did a hike to the ocean. I think it took about 2 hours one way.
4. Bokor Mountain: Whenever you tell a Cambodian you went to Kampot they always ask if you went to Bokor Mountain. On the top is a beautiful waterfall, and apparently home to a beautiful ruined casino. Seriously, go look at that website and it will make you want to go.
5. Get a $5 massage: There are ton of little massage places around town that you can just pop into to get a quick massage for a nice relaxing time.

Places to eat:
1. Sisters II: ($2.50) This is my favorite place to eat in Kampot. SO Good. Go there for breakfast and get a veggie omllete with their homemade bread, or their pumpkin pancakes. I dream of their pumpkin pancakes now that I'm back in America. They also have a location in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.
2. Rusty Keyhole: ($10) This is most people's favorite restaurants in Kampot. It's located right along the river, directly across the market they're building from the Hour Kheang Guesthouse. Go there the night before you want to eat there and tell them how many racks of ribs you want the next day. These are not american cut ribs with only a little meat and you're chewing on the bone. These are chuncks of meat falling off the ribs and you'll probably have to share a rack with someone. They also have some amazing chicken dish.
3. Rikitikitavi: ($5) This place is pretty good and they give a discount to volunteers. Others said they had good drinks and they also have really good ice creams for dessert. Also a guesthouse
4. Mea Culpa: ($5-$10)The building is beautiful and the food is to die for. They use a wood fire oven to make the yummiest italian food. It's worth the little walk out there, their food is that good.

Places to Stay:
1. Paris Gueshouse: ($12-$16) I really like this hotel. Be careful though, they might give away your reservation if someone chooses to overstay their reservation. Their rooms are really nice and their little bit more expensive rooms have the most wonderful bay windows that offer great views of the city. The bathrooms are pretty darn nice for Cambodian standards and have hot water.
2. Hour Kheang Guesthouse: ($10-$18) I like this hotel. The staff were really nice and fun to joke around with. The rooms were reasonably sized and they even have a few with king size beds in them. I would probably stay here over Paris, but if you're looking for something a little nicer you should stay at Paris.


Not too far from Kampot is a little town called Kep that's worth a visit for fresh crab! It's worth splurging on a stay at The Veranda Hotel to swim in their pool and eat their buffet.

Siem Reap

Siem Reap:

Most tourists go to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. You should go, but that's not all you should do. If that's all you see then you're missing out on the real Cambodia. Go explore other cities!

How to get here:
-From Phnom Penh on a bus it takes about 6 hours straight up National Road 6 and costs about $5
-From border of Thailand it takes about 2- 2 1/2 hours and costs about $3.75 or 15,000 riel

At Bayon temple, my favorite of the ones I visited

Things to do:
1. Angkor Wat: ($20) Go Do it. They say to actually see the temples you need 3 days. If you don't
have 3 days, go at least 1 full day. They're amazing. A Tuk Tuk will charge around $15 and they'll wait for you, or just tell them what time you want to go back. Always negotiate price before you get in and hold firm, they might try to hassle for more when you leave. Here's a post about when I went to Angkor Wat. You can go at 5:00 for sunset and get in for free to explore until the sun goes down.
2.Other Temples: Angkor Wat is only one temple complex, but in the area there are tons of other temples. Bayon was my favorite and Ta Prohm was also wonderful. There are many other temples which are a bit outside of Siem Reap that I've heard are worth the visit, they're less crowded, and more jungley. Many tuk tuk drivers or hotels have maps of all the temples in the Siem Reap area, so you can decide where to go.
3. Visit a Floating Village: If you have a tour guide, they can take you, or your hotel can set it up. Definitely go visit a floating village. I'd highly recommend going with a local guide. They will likely take you on a smaller boat, and take you to more interesting places.
4. Get Massages: You can get an amazing hour long massage for prices that will blow your mind. Hal and I got an hour long couples massage for $8 each, and it was wonderful. There are a ton of places around Siem Reap, and most of them are great.
5. Crocodile Farm: These are really cool, and they're all over Siem Reap. If you meet a nice Khmer
person, you might ask if they know someone who has crocodiles and you can go see them for free.
That's what we did, and it was pretty cool. There is a huge main one, so if you ask a tuk tuk driver
that's probably where they'll take you.
6. Silk Farm: I've never been, but it seems really cool. It's about a 20 minute ride outside of Siem
Reap. That way you get outside of the city and get to see a hint of what the rest of the country is
like.
7. Visit Modern Wats (Temples): I love visiting different wats, they're all different and all beautiful. The monks are always happy to have people look around. Wat Thmei has an area memorializing the Khmer Rouge and killing fields. Wat Bo isn't too far from the western part of Siem Reap.
8. Shop: There are endless markets all over Siem Reap. There is a large one inbetween the river and pub street. My favorite one is directly across the river from the western area. The Night Market is open late and is good too.

This is inside Il Forno

Where to eat:

1. Il Forno: ($8)This Italian restaurant is pricey by volnteer standards, but isn't by western standards. This restaurant has the best Italian food I've ever had. You should make reservations as they're often

very busy, but it will be worth the hassle, I promise.

2. Viva: ($5) This is great Mexican food, and often very cheap. Their happy hour is practically all day, so you can get cheap drinks and $1 tacos.

3. Le Boulangerie: ($5) This french restaurant is run by a Khmer chef trained in France, and it shows.

Such good food! You can build your own sandwich for $4, and my my my, they're delicious; hands

down the most delicious sandwich in Cambodia.

4. F For Falafel: ($5.50) This place is great, you can get a giant Falafel sandwich with all the fixins for

$5.50. This feeds two of us it's so stuffed with goodness. They also make fabulous smoothies. I

recommend the Mango Passion fruit with yogurt.

5. The Maharajah: ($5) I always eat at this place when I am in Siem Reap. An Indian friend of ours recommended it and it did not disappoint. You get free rice with your meal which is uncommon for Indian restaurants in Cambodia. Get the chicken marsalal. It had chuncky veggies and a friend who doesn't usually like Indian food likes this dish.

6. Ivy: ($3) This is such a good restaurant. It's just down the street from the Riviera Hotel. On Fridays they do $1 tapas. It's not traditional tapas, but it's still delicious. Get the mini chicken burritos, or the beef medallions with green beans and please please get the pumpkin flan. They're also a guesthouse.

7. Blue Pumpkin: ($2) Ok...this is a time where I don't want to tell you of this goodness, because I

want them to run out :) They have amazing ice cream! If you have a group, it's cheaper to buy a tub...and you'll eat it all. But the real secret here is their baked goods. They have amazing cheesecake and macarons, but this is the hush hush part, get the mille feuilles. Get it and you won't be sorry, just make sure there's one left in the case for me :)

You can always hit up Lucky Supermarket or Angkor Mart for some western groceries.

Places to stay:

1. Angkor Park Guesthouse: ($7-$12) We always stay here when going to Siem Reap. The prices are
very reasonable, the hotel is clean, the two sisters who own it are awesome and it's very close
to the Pub Street area. This hotel is cheap and very basic, with hot water, a tv and comfy beds.
2. Tanei Guesthouse: ($20) This hotel is lovely and a step up from Angkor Park. They have a great
little pool and you can get breakfast included for very cheap. The staff is very nice, and the guesthouse has it's own tuk tuk which can pick you up for free. They also have bikes you can use for free.
3. Golden Banana Hotel: ($35) This is where we go swimming when we come to Siem Reap. The hotel is gorgeous, and reasonably priced, but out of our price range. The staff are very nice and the pool is fabulous.
4. Terrasse des Elephants: ($100) I've never stayed here, but a friend did and highly recommended it
if you want something really nice. The hotel rooms have mini waterfalls and ponds in them. The hotel has a pool on the roof. The price of the room usually includes one dinner at the restaurant.

A Note on Siem Reap: Because there are so many tourists here there are also a lot of beggers, especially children begging out at night. Please do not just give them money, and please do not let them trick you into buying them formula for their "sister". They will go right back and return it and take a cut from the store. Try giving them food or anything other than money and they get very angry.
I am more likely to buy something from a child who is selling something. I've met some very sweet children who have lost one parent and use the money they get from selling things to pay for English school. The children who are out on the street just begging don't need you to give them their money, it perpetuates their parents making the children beg to support them.

Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh:

Phnom Penh (pronounced Puh-nom Pen) is a dirty place...it's definitely a third world country capital, but don't let that stop you from coming to visit. Don't expect it to be like Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh. Cambodia is much poorer than all of its neighbors and it's visible. But the city can be truly wonderful, and of course draws me in with its fabulous food.

Getting here: Phnom Penh is easy to reach from both Vietnam and Thailand.
-From Vietnam: Take a bus into Cambodia. You can get a visa on arrival at most borders. It costs around $10 and takes 6 hours.
-From Thailand: Take a bus to Aranyaprathet, which costs like $5 and takes about 4 hours. Don't let people mis-lead you telling you you need a visa before the border. You can get one on arrival. Drivers will lead you away to a place where you'll pay more. I think it's $20 for visa. Once you cross you'll be in Poipet. You can take a shuttle to the bus station where you can catch a bus to Phnom Penh for about $6.

What to do:

1.Wat Phnom: This is an amazingly beautiful wat right in Phnom Penh City. It's gorgeous, and the grounds around it are well kept. There is often an elephant on the grounds as well as monkeys. You have to pay to go to the top, but just walking around the grounds is beautiful. Don't pay to release the birds. They're trained to just come back.
2.Toul Sleng (SR-21): This was the main prison/torture camp during the Khmer Rouge regime, and it's in the heart of the city. It's horribly sad to see, but it's powerful and if you're looking to learn more about Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge, you should go here. They also have a movie they show, so you should look into the movie times and go when it's showing. Here's a post when I went to Toul Sleng.
3.Choeung Ek Killing Field: This is one of the largest killing fields just outside of Phnom Penh. Here's a post about when I went there. This place is very powerful to visit.
3. The Royal Palace: The palace was built in the 1860s and has been occupied by the kings ever since. It's gorgeous, and you can walk around many of the buildings and the grounds.

Where to eat:

1.The Shop ($5): This place is run by a French woman and they have one of the best menus in Cambodia. They have fresh yummy ingredients and their food is never disappointing. Passion fruit pancakes, don't mind if I do. They have amazing hummus, and their bread is baked fresh every day. Best croissant I've ever had!

2. Free Bird ($10): This place is spendy by my standards, but it's really good American food. I have a friend who swears by their biscuits and gravy. They also have really good sandwiches and root beet floats. They have a room in the back where you can bring 10 people and pop in a movie while you eat.

3. Flavors of India ($7): This is legit Indian food, run by Indians. $7 will get you a big thing of curry, and 2 orders of Naan, which will feed at least 2 starving people until we're stuffed. This place is fabulous. They even give you little appetizers, warm lime water to clean your hands after, and a little dessert. Mumtaz used to be amazingly delicious, and only 2 doors down, but they're trying to sell their business. Perhaps a new family of delicious cooks have bought it

4.  Fat Boys ($5): Fabulous sub sandwich shop with super fast delivery! They have so many toppings and you can order as many of them as you want. This place was started by an American and he really knows his sandwiches. Make sure to ask what the daily special is.

5. Pizza Company: If you're craving some Pizza Hut, this is the next best thing. Good pizza, a little spendy, but it will hit the spot.

6. Viva ($3) This is great Mexican food, and often you can get your food for very cheap. Their happy hour goes all day, so you can get cheap drinks and $1 tacos!

7. Casa Lika ($5) This is another yummy Mexican place right off of the river front.

8. Luna D'Autunno: Go to Luna NOW! This place lives up to it's hype. It's owned by an Italian family who also own Il Forno in Siem Reap and another one in Vietnam. This is some of the best italian food I've ever had. Their pizzas are yummy and please get their chicken and mushroom dish that is cooked in a clay pot. I dream of it at night.

9. Kineya: I couldn't find anything about this restaurant online. It's the best Khmer food I've had in Cambodia because it wasn't super true to Khmer village food. If you want to try food I'd suggest this place. It means ginger in Khmer, so that might help you find it.

Where to stay:

1. Phnom Penh City Hotel: ($15)This hotel is the basics. Nothing fancy going on here, but it's not a bad place to rest your head at night and it's cheap. The owner speaks good English and is really nice. There's a laundry mat across the street if you need that, and a Lucky supermarket right around the corner. It's really a great location in the city. Oh, remember when you tell your tuk tuk driver, it's Phnom Penh CITY hotel. They might try and take you to Phnom Penh Hotel which is big and fancy and expensive. Grab a card from the hotel and that should help clear things up. You can find cheaper places than this, but you won't have to worry about your belongings being stolen here.

2. SkyPark Guesthouse: ($10-$15) Skypark is pretty much in par with Phnom Penh City Hotel, except that the staff at SkyPark are really grumpy. All of them. This hotel is a lot bigger and has an elevator(if it's working) the Internet tends to also be spotty. They do have non ac rooms if you're looking to save a few bucks and don't mind just a fan keeping you cool. Burly is also owned by the same people and is just down the street.

3. Number 9 Hotel: ($20) I've never actually stayed here, but other volunteers have and they say it's a great hotel for visitors. It doesn't have a pool, but it does have a hot tub I think. Breakfast is included in the room price most of the time.
4. The Plantation: ($100) This is the perfect place to stay if you're looking for nice accommodations with a pool and everything. This is where a lot of volunteers have their families stay when they come into Cambodia.

Funny Friday

It's Funny Friday time. I was thinking of posts for next week and realized I didn't even have my Funny Friday post done, so I started looking through my phone for funny pictures and found this gem.

Some of you might not think this is funny.

I personally do. Maybe it's a twisted I lived in a third world country and know the culture kinda funny, but it's funny.

In Cambodia...men grow out their pinkie nails. Like grow out as long as possible. They pick their ears and nose and who knows whatever else with them.

One time Hal and another volutneer tried to grow out their pinkies, and I was all "I love you, but that thing has got to go."

Now this might be a little hard to see, so lean into the screen and get a good look. This is the longest I've seen a guy grow out his nails, and he didn't stop at his pinkie.

I hope I'm properly preparing you for this. This is a guy we saw on the bus. I acted like I was taking a picture of Hal. Sneaky Sneaky.

Sexy, no?