Phnom Penh

Well, if you've been reading Rach's blog (see the link on the right-hand side) you'll see we had an interesting day yesterday. If you've not been reading it, shame on you. Finish reading this and then go and read it... (but in a nutshell, we went to S21 and the Killing Fields - nasty nasty and then went and helped out at an orphanage which was eye opening to say the least)

Phnom Penh is a really different city. It feels right out on the edge of civilisation. This is probably helped by lots of 4x4's with aid agency stickers on the sides, the decrepit nature of alot of the buildings and the fact that there are entire families living out in the parks surrounding the Cambodian Royal Palace, National Museum and National Assembly building. But despite that, the people are amongst the friendiest I've met and there's a really relaxed atmosphere to the city. We've spent today wandering around some of the sights (after getting over a hangover. We met up with Andrea and Tom whomn we first met on Phu Quoc. I always seem to have a hangover after going out with them!) and some of the markets. They're very interesting. The food areas are... well I'm surprised I'm still a carnivore after seeing and more importantly smelling them! But the other areas are wierd. In one market there's an entire quarter devoted to Moto parts. You could easily build a moto-scooter if you knew what parts you needed. And the clothing's quite interesting. There are alot of garment factories surrounding Phnom Penh for Gap, Columbia, American Eagle and the like. It's amazing how much stuff 'ends up' in the markets...

But after having a few days here, we're moving once more tomorrow. We're off to a remote part of the country in the South called Kampot to go up into some mountains for a few days. Hopefully it'll be a bit cooler up there!

Some Stats.

Number of Gekkos that have decided to jump off the walls onto me - 2
Most Monks seen in a van at one time - 10