Hanging out in Phnom Penh

After a somewhat frantic arrival in Phnom Penh, where we are crowded down by moto and tuk-tuk drivers at the bus stop (so much so that a local policeman intervenes to get them to back off), we head to a nearby Thai cafe for some much needed food. While the kids and Lee chill over some iced lime juice and phad thai, I take off on the back of a moto to find a hotel. Now I know I usually have quite a fixed opinion about motorbikes. I'm happier when there's helmets involved and we have been careful about when and where we have used this form of transport. But throwing caution to the wind, I zip across town enjoying the breeze in my hair and watch with fascination as somehow the traffic just seems to slot together. They come at these junctions from all directions and there are times where it feels like a kamikaze mission as the bike just strides out into crossways traffic, but a steady pace seems to allow all the drivers to anticipate each others direction and location and somehow, amazingly, it all just slots together. Another interesting experience with PP moto drivers is they mostly don't speak English, so despite the fact that they nod their head vigorously at you, they have no idea where it is you've just asked to go. My request to go to the Royal Palace (to scout some nearby hotels) ends up with me arriving at The Royal - some hugely expensive Raffles like hotel on the other side of town. No matter - we engage the translation services of a tuk-tuk driver outside the fancy hotel and much to everyone's amusement, he explains I want to go to the Palace, and not actually stay there.

Once at my destination, I check out a few hotels, but they are either full, or grubby or too expensive. Another moto driver asks me if he can help and I say ok - and let him take me to a hotel that has rooms for under 10 dollars. The Royal Highness Hotel sounds alot nicer than it is. It's ok but is undergoing building work so we have had various incidents involving early morning hammering, water cut offs and the best of all - when the roof almost caved in during a monsoonal rain storm. Luckily, we were in, so we rescued all our stuff off the floor and no damage was done (apart from the caved in ceiling of course). The staff are friendly and helpful though and it's a good location (with a free pool table) so we have stayed put. It's also a fascinating spot for some 'rear window-esque' people watching. Our hotel has large reflective glass windows so you can watch the world go by without anyone noticing you. Opoosite, there's a row of chinese shophouse style buildings - where the ground floor is a shop, cafe or laundry type place and the upper rooms each house entire families in small 1 or 2 roomed apartments. Each little room has a balcony and the the families wander on and off the balcony going about their household tasks. Children climb precariously on the balcony walls, women clean and do their washing, men sit and watch the world go by or play with their children. I watch them get ready for work or just lazing around in the afternoon swelter. When the rains come, it's a scramble (as much as Cambodians really scramble) as people bring in their washing or grab things from the balconies. It rained so hard the other afternoon, the street became a river and you could just watch the people watching the rain. There's not much else you can do when it rains like that.

We've not been up to much here in Phnom Penh. We've wandered about, making the most of the excellent range of eateries (had a cracking 2 dollar thali lunch at Chi Cha's Indian cafe yesterday) and been on shopping expeditions with the kids for birthday presents. We now have a remote control car and a range of barbie-like dolls and accessories to carry, along with lots of new gameboy and PS2 games (which we have promised to buy the children on our return). We also bought a huge cake which they somehow managed to eat over the course of 3 days. We had several unsuccessful attempts at meeting up with our old Indian travelling buddy Nat, but it obviously wasn't meant to happen and we'll have to see her back in Blighty. We also did the tourist bit - and visited the Royal Palace and the rather spectacular Silver Pagoda (so called as the floor is covered in silver tiles). The National Museum was really interesting and the children were brilliant at spotting various artefacts and picking up on where they were from and what they related to. I think it's best to come here after visiting the temples around Siem Reap, as it all makes alot more sense having seen where much of the stuff comes from.

A note about the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and Tuel Sleng Museum. No we haven't visited them but we have thought alot about it. We decided the children are too young to take in something that is so unbelievably horrific. It would give them nightmares and they don't need to face up to something like that just now. Yes, Lee and I might have gone if it was just us but even then, I had my doubts. I'm not someone who needs to place myself in front of such memorials/mass graves/torture chambers to feel how profoundly depressing Cambodian history is - I've been doing alot of reading and I can picture the true horror of what went on (and have shed some tears over it and have spent a great deal of time trying to get my head around Cambodian history). For some, being there helps bring it to life in their minds, and I'm sure I would be overwhelmed with such feelings if I went there (perhaps too much so). But it not something I feel I have to see - I'm certainly not turning a blind eye to it because I have been thinking about it alot while I've been travelling here. We just decided not to go and I think it was the right thing for us to do.

On a lighter note - how can I forget - we also went go-carting for the children's birthday! Now I'm sure there are rules against 8 year olds having so much fun in the UK. But this is Cambodia. The staff propped them up with a few extra cushions so they could reach the pedals, a decent helmet fitted and zoom.... they were off in a puff of dust and smoke. Lee and I obviously had to go too so we could keep an eye on them. We were really quite stunned at how well they both drive having had no guidance or instruction although we had to keep reminding Tevo that it wasn't a computer game, and crashing might hurt a bit end. Great fun.

So having whiled away a week in Phnom Penh, we are now heading south to the coast. The beaches of Sihanouk Ville and maybe some nearby islands are next on the agenda. It's a weird time for us as we are due to return to the UK in about 2 weeks or so. We plan to enter Thailand via the fast boat from Sihanouk to Trat. We then plan to have a final week 'on holiday' in Koh Chang - a national marine park off the east coast of Thailand, before flying home from Bangkok. we have alot of mixed feelings about coming home. Excited yes, and looking forward to all the things we've missed - friends, family, food, our own home but very apprehensive and sad too. It feels very sad to think of this as the last chapter of our amazing journey, and our apprehension at what our lives will be when we return home. What will we do for work, which direction will we take now? - not wanting things to be the same anymore and wanting to try new things. It's quite overwhelming so we don't think about it too much just yet. We'll just take it as it comes and see where we end up. After all, isn't that one of the things that travelling teaches you. There is no plan - it is what it is - there are no mistakes.

For now, it's back to the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh and I'm off in search of a green Krama.