Asia Adventure

Several months ago, Rich and I decided that we wanted to take another trip to Asia. Two years ago, we took a trip to Hong Kong, which we thoroughly enjoyed. (Some of you may remember my blog from that trip). I am doing a shortened version of this Asia trip,which I will expand on later, after our return.

Today starts with day 1 of the trip, which actually took us to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The travel time was admittedly grueling (27 hours from LA, which made us wonder if we are getting too old for Asian travel. This is, by the way, the first time we have done a trip with a tour group.

These are my general thoughts about the trip so far:

1. You meet nice people in tour groups, and it can be fun to do things with them. Downside of tour is that you are constantly scheduled!! It is meeting at 7:00 am for a bus or plane trip and constantly re-packing your suitcase.

2. Phnom Penh has the worst traffic in the world.! You can sit on a bus for 30 minutes and it doesn't move!! Our guide says that there are no traffic rules in this city except for "common sense" driving

And I must say it doesn't work.

3.The  city has very  nice people. But this is a poor country, with thousands of people either walking, riding a motorcycle, or sitting in traffic.

4. The Royal Palace is lovely! And Cambodian food is tasty, with lots of rice, veggies,beef, and chicken. Oh, the fresh papaya is delicious.

5. The"killing fields" that thousands of Cambodian people either suffered through or were killed was a horrible experience. I greatly admire the Cambodian people's spirit.

6. If you leave your hairbrush in Santa Monica, you will  some bad hair days until you get your flat iron working.

7. Great news: I have experienced no squat toilets in Phnom Penh. This city is fabulous!!