Return to Phnom Penh

Today we took the bus back to the capital. Four hours on the bus cost us just $4 per person. We were too scared to eat breakfast, worried about needing the bathroom while on the bus :) So we arrived pretty hungry. As the bus pulled into the station, it felt like a wave went through the people outside. "There are tourists on the bus." They immediately saw a chance to make some money. There were so many tuk-tuk drivers outside that we couldn't even get off the bus. One was shouting louder than the next. Total chaos. We picked a tuk-tuk driver who took us to a hotel he recommended. Of course, that means he gets a commission, but whatever. It turned out to be a nice hotel—just $10 for a double room. We just went down to the Riverfront to grab a bite to eat. There are tons of vendors and beggars here. Suddenly, you find yourself surrounded by poor people begging, children selling books, and folks with illnesses that change their appearance in ways we never thought possible. The diseases here are some of the wildest you can imagine. People are poor and can’t afford to get help or be treated. That means you see people crawling or walking on their hands while their legs stick out in all sorts of directions. One man has a forehead that has grown so large it hangs down over one side of his head. A huge flap of skin just droops, pulling his hair and eye down dramatically. It’s really heartbreaking, but what can we do besides give a little money? The worst part is that it almost makes you feel sick just looking at them. It feels terribly wrong to us, but... Several times we had to pinch ourselves and say, “Is this really what we’re seeing?” We had dinner at a really nice restaurant. We got a bit stingy and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu. $6 for a main course—more than that, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to spend :) They had a happy hour. Two drinks for the price of one. That offer, however, we could definitely get behind. There was a massive thunderstorm in the evening. It poured down rain, and the sky lit up with all the lightning. But it was also kind of cozy sitting in a tuk-tuk on the way back to the hotel, hidden under a rain poncho. We jumped a few times when the thunderclaps got too intense.