Strange Phnomena

We said our goodbyes to Bianca in Phnom Penh, but not before loads more food and drink, and we're sure we'll catch up with her again in Vietnam.

More food

Cocktails at the best little gay bar in town,
with Mark and Evelyn

It feels odd that the city is so much like some of the South American places we visited: slightly mad, frantic, hot, dusty, with scruffy street markets and vendors everywhere.

There are millions of tuk-tuks and mopeds here, instead of thousands of cars, which makes for better traffic-flow, even if it is all in one big two-way lane.

Temples replace cathedrals, Buddhas stand in for Madonnas. Often it's only people's faces and street signs that mark a difference from La Paz or Quito.

The King

From the superb Narin's guesthouse, we took a 'daytrip' to the Killing Fields and Toul Sleng prison (see my rant on another post), another to the Grand Palace and Silver Pagoda, and did lots of ambling.

Central Market

There were plenty of sights and sounds to keep us occupied, from the huge old Central and Russian Markets (Kim bought a nice rucksack, I got a fancy shoulder bag) to the brand new air-conditioned shopping mall, with lots of arts, crafts and interesting architecture along the way.

A couple of the girls - who shall remain nameless - thought Phnom Penh was awful and dirty. We thought the reverse, and found much friendly charm under the craziness.