Day 70 - Boat down the Mekong to Cambodia and Phnom Penh

My day started off with a bowl of congee full of unidentifiable innards. It was really tasty despite the internal organs floating around in it. By the time I knew it, it was time to catch the boat.

The boat ride was very pleasurable and took about 4 hours. The people that I had booked transportation with helped everyone get their Cambodian visas on arrival for $22. So much cheaper than in Laos which was $42. Once we got to land and got our visas, we had to change boats to go up the Mekong to catch a bus to get to Phnom Penh.

Along the Mekong, Cambodia is distinctly different than Vietnam. This second boat ride felt like it was taking forever. We were due to arrive in Phnom Penh at 4 pm but didn't get off the boat until 5 pm. The bus took 2 hours to get to the city and dropped us off at a hotel they wanted us to stay at. We decided that we would go and find our own accommodation.

The first hotel we saw was absolutely disgusting. The rooms were full of mold and they wanted $20 for a double room. No freaking way. On the way out, I noticed a lot of older European men with Cambodian women coming down the stairs from the rooms. Next I overheard a couple asking to rent a room for an hour. How freaking gross. This hotel is basically a whore house. It was a good choice not to stay here.

Around the corner we found a great place, enough to accommodate 4 people with a TV for $10 a night. It was clean and in a good location. I knew there had to be a jewel among all the crap.

Dinner consisted of taking a tuk tuk for 6000 riel ($0.75) to a place called Khmer Borane Restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. The food was expensive and really horrible. My meal was $5.50 for over cooked fish, rice and a coke. Way too expensive for Cambodia in USD. On the way back to the hotel we were offered weed and harassed by tuk tuk drivers as we continually saw really old western men with Cambodian women at least half their age. All of this was followed by really poor people begging for money on the street being passed by rich people in vehicle that say "LEXUS" in big letter across the entire side of the car. So already my impression of Cambodia is not the best with prostitutes, expensive meals and extreme poverty among really rich people. I'm not sure how long I can stay here.