Maybe it was the combination of a few different things that made our experience in Phnom Penh seem so not great. Like it was really hot, the area is in a drought, and we had just left the elephant jungle where we had a great experience.

Phnom Penh was the first place we experienced what happens in an area with a lot of people who used to have mostly motorbikes but somewhat recently acquired enough money to purchase cars, and like America, you want to get a big old fancy car like an SUV to represent how well you’re doing. Or maybe you just like SUVs. This is one place where we saw more Lexus SUVs then anywhere else we’ve been, including cities in America. So the roads that used to have motorbikes flowing all around them in every direction are now choked by people driving SUVs like a motorbike. Forget traffic laws or lanes. Need to make a right hand turn from the left lane during traffic packed rush hour? Sure, go on ahead. We’ll all just wait.

His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni is wrapped in lights in preparation for the Khmer New Year celebrations. His image appears on various buildings across Phnom Penh.

The first night in town, we had a chance encounter with our friends from EVP. After walking around the city the night we arrived from Mondulkiri, they sat down at the table right next to us. The world is so small sometimes! It was great to see them again and share a meal together. We also made plans to see the Killing Fields and S-21 Museum the next day.

We’re not sure what caused Ryan to get sick - we eat a lot of the same things and some people had been sick at the Elephant Valley Project right before we left - but he picked up a stomach bug somewhere (and maybe was disgusted with the city and would rather stay in our air conditioned hotel room watching soccer rather than see places like the Killing Fields and S-21 Museum).

The view of the growing garbage pile outside our window wasn’t exactly encouraging exploration.

A view of the trash pile outside our hotel room window.

The trash pile grew up a little more before we left town.

I imagine the city of Phnom Penh looks and feels a lot different during the wet season. In the hot drought time of the dry season the water is super low in the river and it makes the garbage piles stick out more. People visiting will often take a boat cruise between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap but the water was too low for the boats to operate while we were there.

We did take a one hour boat cruise with our friend from EVP. Ryan was feeling well enough to join in on the cruise.

I think this ship was probably too big to sail up and down the river with the water being so low during dry season.

A nice, sweaty boat ride down the river in Phnom Penh. The man with the scabby knees in the background played the steel drum thingy. That was nice.

After Phnom Penh we took a van down to Battambang for Khmer New Year. This was our fourth New Year celebration since we left for our trip.

Women perform traditional Khmer dance as part of the New Year celebration in Battambang. The holiday takes place over three days and most Cambodians travel home to celebrate with friends and family.

Since it was a three-day holiday, the town of Battambang was basically empty. Each night we were treated to fireworks and folks hanging out by the market but during the day the streets were pretty quiet.

There were a few sites we were interested in visiting so we hired a tuk-tuk driver through our hotel and arranged for transportation to see Banan Temple, the Bat Cave, a bamboo train, and Phnom Sampeou. It was really hot when we were here! So we would leave early in the morning to visit one place, maybe two then retire to our hotel room and try and recover in the AC.

There was an interesting mix of people who lived at Banan Temple and visitors exploring the site.

Little kids will follow you up the 300+ stair climb to the top of the temple, offering to fan you the entire way.

The kids were interested in what I was looking at and photographing. Later when Ryan and I sat down to draw, a large crowd of children and adults stood around and watched us work. Anonymous Celebrities I guess.

After adventuring at the temple we took a ride over to the Bamboo Train. The Bamboo train is just as horrible as it sounds. To Ryan, it sounds like an amazing adventure! To me, is sounds like a stupid death trap. But I want to try new things or whatever so off we went.

Taking a break from the heat in the river. We saw this view from the bridge heading towards the Bamboo Train. The locals call it The Golden Gate Bridge of Cambodia. The bridge is blue.

Notice Ryan's laughter and the ridiculous way he films what is happening. One of us was having a great time!

The next day we decided to visit Phnom Sampeou in the evening as it would be cooler outside and you can see a million+ bats flying out of the cave at dusk. As mentioned, it was Khmer New Year and part of the celebrations include water fights, where people stand on the side of the road with water guns, buckets, water balloons, etc. waiting to soak you as a sign of good luck. Our tuk-tuk driver had the slowest, saddest motorbike you've ever seen. It was rigged together with a water bottle and a tube that he used as coolant for the engine. (Water is not good coolant for engines, FYI.) OUR TUK-TUK WAS SOAKED! At one point Ryan was nailed by a water balloon that left a giant purple welt on his side for several days. Ryan will be very lucky this year. And I guess getting soaked did help us to stop sweating, temporarily.

Covered in baby powder on our faces, applied by kind strangers and soaked from the water fights along the way, we watched a lot of bats fly out of the cave behind us.

A view from the top of the temple, you can see how hazy and probably dirty the air was while we were in Battambang. Also, the fields look very dry.

Temples + Tourists = Monkeys in Cambodia.

Detailed image of part of the temple at Phnom Sampeou. I really like the combination of white, gold and blue used here.

The terrible Khmer Rouge did terrible things to people on the site where Phnom Sampeou is located. After they were done torturing people they would throw them into the caves leaving them for dead. You know, if the fall and previous torture didn't kill them.

These sculptures were completed recently and depict the sorts of things that happened here while the Khmer Rouge were in power.

A view of the cave were people were pushed to their deaths.

Monks and Buddha sit watch at the bottom of the cave. There are piles of human bones in a cage on display here. As if bat caves weren't scary enough already.

A view from the top of the site where the Bat Cave and Phnom Sampeou are located.

It was an amazing experience to be able to visit Cambodia during the Khmer New Year. People are very kind and celebratory. Getting whacked with water balloons when it's 100+ degrees outside isn't so bad. However, sites like the Killing Cave, Killing Fields and S-21 represent what people (men) are capable of especially when they have money, power, and access to guns. The signs at these places say things like, "We hope you take away from this experience what happened here in the hopes that it doesn't happen again in the future." But I'm pretty sure it is happening in other places today. And tomorrow. Perhaps the answer is that despite the awfulness, people are able to recover and move on.