Monday 18 March 2013

Taking forbidden photos, not wearing the right clothes + drinking with prostitutes - yup just another day in the Maura + Xtina diaries!

So we awoke for 11am, our tuk tuk driver was super eager and had been waiting since 8.30am. We got him to drop us off at Laughing Fatman to get a new room, the bonus was that we A. had a balcony and B. could make use of the pool next door as it was his friends place. Score!

We then set off on our city tour, first stopping at two temples, Wat Phnom, which was named after Lady Phnom, and Phnom Chisor, both nice temples, we chatted to some tuk tuk drivers who seemed nice and were trying to sell us a tour to S21 and the Killing Fields but we told them we already had a driver but still wanted to chat to us which was nice as they weren't just trying to sell us stuff. 



We then headed to the National Museum, which was the most boring place ever! It was interesting for the short film on Angkor City back in it's heyday but it was just loadsa uninteresting descriptions of rocks and parts of old statues etc. But we decided to make it interesting by taken some forbidden photo's in the Museum (you aren't allowed to take photos). So true to our constant rebellious natures we waited until groups or the guards disappeared and then, snapped away! The only stunning thing about the museum was the museum building itself and the courtyard - made entirely of terracotta in true Cambodian flourishing detail!


It was then off to the Royal Palace, via the Independence 
Monument, which was erected after gaining independence from the French, but now also served as a Memorial to all those who fought and were murdered during the Khmer Rouge and Civil war. We couldn't stop here as it was basically the central roundabout in Phnom Penh but we took some pictures as our tuk tuk driver slowly crept around it.

When we arrived at the Royal Palace, we were greeted by two Indian/UK girls who we'd met on the bus across the border...who were being told they couldn't go in dressed as they were (they were wearing long skirts and scarves over their shoulders) as apparently, scarves are not suitable attire and can be taken off...woops! As that was all we had bought with us!! The girls had to pay $3 for some skanky, dirty Royal Palace souvenir t-shirts, but luckily for us there were none left. So we tried some tricks of our own. I decided to hike my current sleeveless top up over my shoulders and use my scarf as a long skirt to cover my stomach and knees - I looked hilarious and everyone looked at me like I was mad! Next it was Maura's turn - I wrapped and double knotted her scarf UNDER her long dress so that it looked like a top (well it didn't really). Then we headed to the ticket booth in the hopes they'd let us in...the strange thing was, even though I looked ridiculous they would let me in, but not Maura!! Haha, crazy! 


So we decided, sod this, our hotel was nearby so we'd get Tuktuk guy to drop us back and we'd get some suitable clothes! So he did and when we returned low and behold they let us in...woo...or so we thought. Half the place was closed so we could only go in 3 buildings and see the Silver Pagoda and we'd paid $6 for this!! So we decided again to take loadsa photo's including the 'Cambodia Pose' we'd nicked off a little boy who did it moments earlier! We were then photo-bombed by a load of Cambodian men in one of the buildings, and we decided to be rebels again and take our clothes off (the ones covering our knees and shoulders - don't worry, we weren't naked!), to show that even if not wearing a scarf 'that could be taken off', you can take clothes off too! 

We then headed back to the Fatman to rest and shower, and who did we bump into checking into the same hotel?! Kristen from the Sleepy Gecko back in Hoi An!! She'd just come back from a trek in the Mondulkiri region of Cambodia, with a new friend, Lisa from Canada and were going to stay for a couple of days, also wanting to do S21 and the Killing Fields the next day! Score, we had a group together to save money on the tuktuk! 

We were going to meet them for dinner but we missed each other, so instead me and Maura took a motorcycle taxi to another area of town for food and then headed back to the riverside to check out the 'happening' nightlife of Phnom Penh - which it wasn't! We checked out a bar/club which I'd read in Laura and Laith's blog to be good - it was seedy! So we ended up doing something totally random instead...we took a wrong turn down the red light district!

But it turned out to be the right wrong turn, as we met a girl at Pussycat Bar who invited us in for drinks and a few games of pool! Trust us to end up drinking with Cambodian prostitutes! It ended up being an awesome night and the girls were so lovely, but such a shame they had to leave us halfway through the night to 'entertain' the western men that had just come in who started groping them in inappropriate places almost immediately. We even heard one girl say, 'why wait, let's go to bed now so I can get paid'. So we paid up, said our goodbyes and left, getting some weird looks from the tuktuk drivers waiting outside, one even double took as if he was thinking...they just came from WHERE?!

Then we headed back to Fatman and called it a night as we had to get up early for a full day at S21 and the Killing Fields tomorrow.

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