A bit like India
Trip Start
Feb 13, 2006
1
27
62
Trip End
Aug 14, 2006
Phnom Penh,
Cambodia
Saturday, May 6, 2006
we're in cambodia! arrived yesterday after a day of flying. left kuching in the morning, had a major panic at the airport thinking our plane was delayed. we had another flight an hour and half later and didnt want to miss it. we're been sitting for ages outside the gate and there were no signs of the air asia staff. then they strolled on an hour or so later and didnt even offer an explanation. went over to ask if they give any compensation for delayed flights and the lady said but the flight wasnt delayed! taken aback i asked her what time it was and it was infact an hour earlier than we had thought! i felt so stupid! but relieved that i was so so wrong! haha! crisis over but my pride left worse for wear!
another flight later and we arrived in phnom penh. it feels like an oriental india! had some really vivid flashbacks on our time in india whilst staring out of the taxi window on the way to the guesthouse. its the least developed se asian city and no mc donalds in sight! theres a lot of streetlife and people are sitting around everywhere, eating, working, chatting and just lazing around. its quite a shock to be in this environment after spending so much time in westernised asia. makes me realise just how india is such a different world to what we know, its crazy. cambodia feels more familiar to me though, oriental faces and chinese writing dotted everywhere. less intimidating in that sense, we dont stand out so much here.
the guest house we are staying at is really nice. a couple we met in JB reccomended it to us, its only US$5 a night for a room with a cold shower and fan. it even has a tv with 60 cable channels! havent had a tv for ages and ages, stayed up till late last night watching the music channel! took it farly easy yesterday, went for a wonder in the local area and popped into a huge bookstore with really good quality photocopied books! at really good prices! the stationary department was massive too and had a huge range of supplies, for some reason i had the impression that it would be hard to find things like that in cambodia.
afterwards treated ourselves to dinner in a nice chinese style restaurant. thought we'd play it safe for our first night until we'd had a chance to get our bearings and work out the good and bad places to eat. still only cost us $7 each, very good considering.
going to sign off now, i hear its getting warm back at home, its bloody baking here, would be nice to have some mild weather for a change!
x
