Phnom Penh

27/03/10

Phnom Penh. A bit of a shock after gentle Laos and small Kratie. But it is a friendly shock. There is something within this hustle bustle of 6 million people that is very human. It happens every time I come to Cambodia. I feel like I can feel the heart. The Lao are gentle and cool. The Cambodians are warm and friendly.

I am sitting in the restaurant cafe of the Royal Guesthouse. I chose this guesthouse on the recommendation of an 84 year old Australian woman that I met last year, She was heading north in Vietnam and I was heading south We crossed paths on a tour to Myson out of Hoi An. She gave me the card. I missed it last year but here I am a year later.

The bus ride was long but not unpleasant. It was a local bus. I was the only foreigner. We started at 9:30 am and arrived at 4:30. The tuktuk drivers crowded around me as I stepped off the bus.

My room is another box with no window. An expensive box with a few perks: cable TV. Hot water. AC, which I have yet to find the remote for.

I sit in front of the street. The cars and motorbikes zoom by. It is a busy street. Just in front of me are two older Europeans. Scandinavian or German. One balding. Both easily my age or older. With them, 2 young and beautiful Cambodian girls. They are not the type, these Europeans, I would have thought. But who can blame them? These girls are beautiful and smiling, eager to please. Every man's dream. The men do not meet my eye. Either I am invisible or perhaps there is a trace of shame. I will finish my soup and leave them to their courting dance.