I've decided to take some time out and stay a while longer in Phnom Penh, as I'm not expected in Bangkok until the 14th of April when Nanda arrives there, and I'm not really a big fan of Thailand. So I've rented myself a small apartment with cable-tv, air-conditioning, a balcony, a bathroom as large as my previous hotel room and best of all, WIFI (yes, I admit it, I'm an internet junkie)! Admittedly slightly above my usual budget, but if you're intending to stay somewhere for longer than say two, three days, it really pays to allow yourself some luxury. The apartment also has a little kitchen with appliances, so hypothetically I could end an unbroken series of eight months of delicious asian cuisine by cooking for myself. As I'm not a glutton for punishment, I think I'll pass on that though.
When I was in Cambodia last time, there were so many people who told me that Phnom Penh was just another Asian capital: dirty, traffic-congested with little to endear it to anybody passing through, so hardly worth a visit. Now, obviously not all is good about Phnom Penh. When the lights go out, as a lone male you suddenly turn into a walking invitation card for tuktuk drivers to take you to the closest brothel (or at least the one paying the highest commission). But I must admit I'm quite a fan of this place. Below I've listed my top-10 of favourites in Phnom Penh:
1. The Royal Palace
The Royal Palace of Phnom Penh is a complex of structures including a.o. the Silver Pagoda. Vaguely reminiscent of the Royal Palace of Bangkok, though less dowdy and with only about 5% of the tourists. So no need to dodge rather rotund German tourist holding their digital cameras at arms length to photograph hubby standing in front of yet another a buddha, but enough peace and quiet to enjoy the sites at leisure.
2. Sisowath Quay
This broad boulevard running along the length of the confluence of the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong is host to a plethora of restaurants, cafes, the FCC, pubs, massage parlours and various other types of shops. Groups of men playing a intricate game of footvolley with a kind of shuttlecock, flowersellers, shoepolishers, beggars, choosers. And where Sisowath Quay meets the Southeast Boulevard, crossing the street takes on a totally new meaning. Imagine a game of Frogger, but then squared, as you have a whole host of cars, trucks, buses, tuk-tuks, motors, cyclo-rickshaws and yes, even the occasional elephant (!) running along, and traffic is not just from two directions but four.
3. Central Market (Psar Thmei)
This enormous market building has just about anything for sale in all non-food, food, and they-call-it-food-but-don't-go-there categories. Steve returned somewhat green in the face from a visit to Psar Thmei after he'd seen a little girl (don't read further if you're an animal lover..) suck and gobble up an almost-born chick out of an egg. Talk about a crunchy snack!
4. Massage parlours
When the painful muscles need some tending to, you can always step into one of the many massage rooms around the riverside area. Some caution is obviously required here, as you don't want to have some half-hearted prods and punches on your back followed by an inevitable request if you require a "happy end". In my view, anywhere offering massage for under the $5 an hour is suspect, having a girls name in the name of the shop is a dead giveaway for a bad-boy-place and having the masseuses sitting outside the shop is a definitely no-no. Being invited into a shuttered-off place for a $1 dollar massage, or barring that "just a look, misteer" is the equivalent to hoisting up the "beware-of-sharks", "storm coming" and "dangerous currents"-flags all at once, as well as putting on all sirens at full volume. But for the rest, you should be safe.
5. Fitness centre at Himawari
If you need to exercise your body now and again, in order to prevent you from turning into a living laughing buddha, you can either go jogging (as I do now and again), although these days you're then restricted to the timeslot of 6:30 to 6:35 as temperatures rises towards 35 degrees pretty fast, making a jog turn into more of a swim. But if you're willing to fork out the handsome sum of $30 (15 quid), you are granted the privilege of working out at four star hotel Himawari, as well as enjoying the benefits of the pool for a week. Best money I spent so far.
6. The Riverhouse
Now here is a restaurant with some pretension. Even if it would lose out against any European restaurant serving the pan-fried duck liver with pears, the prices, though high for Cambodian standards, more than make up for it. A nice place to have a birthday meal and clock down a bottle of French chardonnay. Burp.
7. Monument Books
Just along the Norodom Boulevard, north of the Independence Monument, is a great bookstore with an astonishing array of (non-copied) books, and also a great outlet to get your hands on an almost recent copy of The Economist. What a lifesaver.
8. The Boom Boom Room:
Not quite what the salacious name suggests, but like its counterpart in Sihanoukville a shop which specialises in replenishing your MP3-player or Ipod with fresh tunes. Very very good if you've been on the road for the past 8 months with the same 4.100 songs all the time.
9. Happy Hours
It seems that each and every one of the cafes along Sisowath Quay has varying times for their happy hour, making it hypothetically possible to get increasingly "happy" (not to mention completely sloshed) from 15:00 until 22:00 as long as you shift now and again (which in the end you probably won't be). Prices for a beer are usually 50 or 75 dollarcents (which is nothing!), but I've also found a place with an "all-the-draughts-you-can-drink-for-$2.50". Probably good I didn't find it until the last day Steven and Kim were here, or I wouldn't have seen my little brother at all. :-)
10. Tuk Tuk drivers
Yeah go on then. After my initial hate-hate-(hate-hate) relationship with these scumbags, the worst filth on the planet (eight months of travelling through Asia does miracles in cultivating a pleasant view of these guys), it's now merely a hate-relationship. But when I think of it, it's probably the group of locals I have the most interaction with around here, even though that just means saying "No thank you" about a hundred times a day. Still, I've found that the Phnom Penh tuk-tuk driver actually understands the word "no" if it is said with a smile. Now if only the shoepolishers and booksellers would do the same...
That's all for now, it's happy hour somewhere so I'm out for a beer.
Cheers!
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