Upon arrival at the Phnom Penh International Airport, we were then met at the Arrivals Area by Mr. Kim, our designated tour guide for the day. We were then transferred to our car, in which we drove to the nearest restaurant to have breakfast!
Our first meal in the Kingdom of Cambodia!
Being in a plane for most of the night can really affect your sense of things, so at this point I was still taking in my surroundings and before I knew it, we were officially starting our itinerary for the day. First stop, Phsar Thmei, Phnom Penh's Central Market!
Souvenir shopping on the first day was overwhelming for my senses; it was a good thing I already had a list of things to buy, the problem was finding where it was located in a huge place like the Central Market! (and yeah, our guide kinda just gave us basic instructions on where to meet and at what time, so this part of the tour was just done on our own...)
Postcards added to my mom's collection
In the end, our shopping hunt proved to be a success! So vaguely I remember once you enter from the central entrance and head towards the right side of the area, you'll see the artsy finds (like paintings, stained-glass bowls and postcards). The leftmost side was where the food stuff was located, and if you passed through the wet market, you'll find this little treasure trove at the end:
Local goodies! (Palm sugar and jack fruit chips)
Our second stop was Wat Phnom Pagoda, which was a temple built on top of a hill. After climbing a couple set of stairs, you'll be greeted by the serenity of the place. We strolled around the place for a good hour or so taking pictures, and mostly for me to just absorb the fact that I'm really here in this new and mystical place!
Yes, the giant clock works. (Batteries come from China, so says our tour guide)
Turns out, Wat Phnom was our last place for that day and we would be heading to our hotel, Samnang Laor, to rest and maybe catch up on some Zzzs (yeah right)...
Lobby area...
... and that's Mr. Kim at the Reception Area
Loved the floor tiles in the bathroom!
Sky Bar / Restaurant
Indoor swimming pools + jacuzzi
Our hotel room was a lot bigger than I expected (lots of floor space), the hotel restaurant was more like a Sky Bar (which had a nice view of the city), and they also had an indoor pool and jacuzzi! (we tried it out on our last night in Phnom Penh, water smelled kinda weird though...) All these pros had a little con to our seemingly quiet hotel. It was too quiet. Samnang Laor was not located along the busier streets of Phnom Penh! Which means we had to venture out, and I sure as hell wouldn't be spending most of the afternoon stuck in my hotel room. And so here is how we found our way around the city:
Find out next week what other places we discovered as we headed to Street 240!
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