18 July 07 Phnom Penh - In 3o minutes I'll board the Mekong Express bus to Saigon:
This is my second leg of what they bill as the limousine bus, guess its all a mater of interpretation. For example on the first leg from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh a young Cambodian dressed in a traditional Cambodian silk shirt handed out cellophane wrapped wipes (they called towels) with tongs from tray, served a sandwich in a plastic blister pack and passed out warm bottles of water. They advertise extra soft seating which turn out to be polyester (very hot to sit on) cushions originally designed to be slipped over metal folding chair backs, cannibalized from the kiddie movie promotion of "The New Sea Story" what ever that was. It also seemed these seats were smaller with less legroom than on the normal bus. Anyway, on this last leg I won't have to have a very large Cambodian lady with her 7 year old son ridding on her lap in the seat next to mine as on the bus from Siem Reap. Actually I shouldn't complain, because it was only for a short duration as a tiny Cambodian lady gave up her front row seat and moved back with me so I would have more room.
Phnom Penh, hot and humid with crazy traffic and desperately poor people living on the streets, droves of motorbike and tuk tuk drivers, beggars of all ilks who invade your space like a swam of bees. I'm way over stimulated, always have been easily distracted but all the activity and noise here makes it really tough for me to keep my self together.
I never got around to seeing much the famous Phnom Penh night life but spent an enjoyable evening at a place by the river named the Riverside Bistro. Started raining so I popped in for food and a drink until the rain stooped. Then ended up spending the evening drinking with guy from Holland who just finished building a greenhouse project in Australia and a cute young Cambodian bar tender named Molly. For reference, loads of gorgeous wait staff here and excellent European food. The breaded pork chops are the best ever!!
The past few times I've stayed at The Bright Lotus guest house, centrally located a block from the river, over looking the National Museum and the Palace. Corner room is the best bet at $ 18.00 a night, it has a little sitting area outside, AC, hot water, cable TV, frig and decent beds but you have to request a top sheet. Down side is the stairs are steep and narrow and its noisy. Good Internet cafe across the street with high speed Internet access, Vietnamese Pho restaurant also close along with a used book store with a good selection of English language paper backs.
