Wandering Around the Waterfront Area of Phnom Penh

I had decided to head into Vietnam from Phnom Penh. But in order to go to Vietnam, as a Canadian, I had to get a visa beforehand. I arrived on a Friday and put the process in motion, but I had two options. I could either get a 15 day visa and have it by Saturday evening, or I could get a 30 day visa and wait until Monday evening. Not sure whether I would really like Vietnam or not, so unsure if I would end up regretting only a 15 day visa, I opted to wait for the extra couple of days. But that meant a couple of extra days of finding things to occupy my time. There are a number of interesting things in the riverfront area. I thought I could make one day of it.

I headed down towards the waterfront, trying as politely as possible to decline the offers from the tuk tuk drivers to take me places. The riverfront area was nice during my first visit to Phnom Penh, but it hadn't been very developed yet. It has been now. Actually it is in process. It is being transformed into a nice walking area. There are numerous cafes and restaurants and it is becoming quite attractive. Instead of turning towards the king's palace and the other attractions, I turned the other way along the water's edge towards the less developed parts of the waterfront. This is something that I seem to do quite often. I guess I prefer the more true to life areas of a place that I visit, where I can the real life of real people. This is not to say that the people who live and work along the developed waterfront area aren't real, but they are affected by the tourists and aren't as authentic as what you find in other areas.

Down the waterfront, I had seen a bridge spanning the river and thought I might try to get to it. I could maybe see the river from above and get a better bird's eye view.

I also saw some boats up the river a ways.

On the way back I found a really odd sight. There was a coffin shop sandwiched between two music/software stores. “Would you like a pine box or an elaborate walnut home for the afterlife? And after you have made your choice, you can select some appropriate music from one of the shops next door. Don't forget to get a feel good movie as well, to cheer you up.”

Then I headed the other direction down the riverside. Just past the royal palace there is a large monument that seems to represent the friendship with Vietnam.

Then I found another monument, this one to independence from France.

From the independence monument, I walked to the river again. As I reached the river there is a massive area of development. One part of the area is a hotel/casino. Hey, maybe I could apply for a job and come to live and work here. Nah!

Near the hotel, there is an island, on which there is a quite new looking convention/trade show building complex. It's not exactly a convention center, as the convention centers I have seen usually have large hotels associated with them, and the hotel/casino just didn't seem close enough.

Also on that island, called Diamond Island near as I could tell, is a large area of fairly posh looking houses going up.

And there are plans for an exclusive set of residences as well. Who needs 7 bathrooms anyway? And in a 6 bedroom house, who is the extra bathroom for? The pampered dog? Apparently the very rich have nothing better to do than rub a poor country's nose in it by having this kind of ridiculously expensive house.

On my way back to my hotel, I passed a shakedown. It seemed that in that part of the city motorbikes are not allowed to be parked on the side of the road. Or maybe that's a city-wide sort of rule, but they chose this spot and that time to enforce it. Or maybe they just felt like it. But the police came along with a flatbed pickup truck and started collecting motorbikes. Some of the people who owned the motorbikes were sitting on benches right in front of the motorbikes while the police were scooping them up. They were directed to the window of the pickup where they talked with one of the police inside. Then most paid some money and then got to get their motorbikes and drive away. There were some who were either not present, or did not have the money to spring the motobikes. These were put on the back of the pickup and impounded. I wonder how much of the money from the “fines” actually made it to the police coffers. Second and third-world countries can be so interesting. As long as it's not happening to me, that is.