SATURDAY TREK TO SIEM REAP

The mission home is in Phnom Penh (pronounced p-nom pen).
Phnom Penh is the largest city in Cambodia with 1.4 million people.
We started and ended our trip in Phnom Penh.


Saturday (after picking Trammell up on Friday night) our plan was to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap.
We decided on a 2 pm departure, so we had the morning to go to the tailor.


The tailors' stalls line several roads.
Trammell took us to the one he had worked with before.

Everyone sorted through piles and piles of fabric searching for the perfect material for shirts and pants.
You select the material, tell the tailor what you want, get measured, pay for the material and come back next week to pick up your items and pay the tailor $3 per item.

Those of us who are normal, chose normal fabrics for normal shirts we wouldn't die of embarrassment being seen in.

Some of us couldn't help ourselves and used this as an opportunity for creative expression.
Garrett's super attractive shirts, including the one that looks like something Grandma would use for a tablecloth were a whopping $5 a piece.


We then had some time to cruise the city and see some sites.

The Royal Palace

Independence Monument

For some crazy reason, we thought it would be "fun" to travel to Siem Reap the same way Trammell did - on the bus.

The fare was $4.50.
And the 175 mile trip takes a lovely SIX hours.
The bus ride includes entertaining Cambodian karaoke punctuated by the bus driver honking his horn every 30 seconds.
He has to honk.
The rule of the road to Siem Reap is "the bigger, the safer" as it is a two lane "highway" travelled by bicyclists, motos, cars, food carts, water buffalos, dogs and pedestrians.
Most of these travellers don't have rear view mirrors and a gentle tap on the horn is necessary to let people know that you are coming up behind them and passing.