After a few hours of sleep we got up and met a couple relatives of some friend of Leslie's family in PA. They took us to see a school that was built by a group of donors in the Philadelphia area in 2006. We are happy to report the school is fully operational with over 500 enrolled students. We enjoyed seeing a part of the city we probably would not have seen had we not visited the school.
We spent the afternoon in downtown Phnom Penh visiting the Royal Palace, National Museum and the central market. The architecture was beautiful and so different from what we saw in China last week. The contrast between these two countries is drastic. Cambodia is very similar to much of east and west Africa (except the asian population of course). Over the past fifty years Cambodia has suffered much hardship and oppression, leaving many scars which will remain for many years.
Since arriving almost twenty four hours ago, we have learned several valuable lessons about the country. After getting off the airplane we withdrew cash from an ATM only to find US dollars dispensed from the machine. We soon realized that the US dollar, although not the national currency (the national currency is the Riel), is accepted and used by everyone in the country. We also learned quite quickly that we can ride a tuk tuk almost anywhere in the city for about $3 USD; so different from Beijing.
Breakfast at the hotel
School building built using funds raised in PA and by the local community
This sign indicates that the school was built because of a cooperation between the locals and those in Philadelphia
School
School
National Museum in Phnom Penh
Cool quote on the wall of the used book store next to our hotel
Royal Palace - currently the king's residence
Palace building
Leslie and I at the palace
The Kings personal Temple
Cambodian architecture from 1860
This statue looked like a giant drizzle sand castle.
Temple
Crazy traffic. There are so many motorbikes and tuk tuks
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