Day 1 in Phnom Penh (1/9/23): Made it to Phnom Penh. Went to Wat Phnom Daun Penh, ate at the night market, discovered these giant birds which are basically the storks of Cambodia, and stumbled on the girly bars walking around Riverside.

Days 2 & 3 in Phomh Penn, Cambodia (1/10/23-1/11/23):
-Had one too many on Bassac Lane which is basically a pub street but quite nice and expat/tourist friendly. Turns out some ladyboys aren’t too friendly when you politely reject them.
-Visited the Killing Fields and was sad to learn 10,000 people were secretly murdered and buried there. Babies had their heads smashed against a marked tree and speakers were put into another tree to play music that hid the cries and screams. Whole families were murdered so that no one could seek revenge in later life. The reasoning being, “to rid the grass you must remove the root.”
-Walked around the city and markets and they reminded me so much of my old life in Vietnam.

Day 4 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (1/12/23):
-Went to the Royal Palace, Russian Market, and the Genocide Museum yesterday.
-US dollars are a normal currency here, Cambodian riel is used more like small change.
-I don’t know why, but I go up a few points in Southeast Asia. Probably people mistake me for Vin Diesel.
-The Russian Market is like any Southeast Asian market but man I never get tired of the street food. I’m just scared of having food poisoning for the 7th or 8th time.
-In the Royal Palace in Bangkok, the rules are very strict to enter. No tank tops, no shorts or skirts, no flip-flops, etc. In Cambodia, they literally just told my friend to pull down his shorts and we had to wear a mask entering but most people, including the staff, either took theirs off or pulled them down.
-The Genocide Museum is such a disheartening experience seeing that nearly 20,000 people were tortured and killed by their own race there for the most ridiculous of paranoid reasons. Only 12 people survived. What was once a school became a prison.