Phnom Penh Part 2

Our arrival in Phnom Penh was rather chaotic. As soon I stepped off the bus, I was blitzkrieged by a dozen moto and tuk-tuk drivers. I actually had to shove them out of the way. One of them chased us down, repeatedly asking, "Where you go?" I was pretty annoyed, so I (rudely) replied, "Away from you!!"

We returned to the same guesthouse, which was a pleasant place. I had accidentally left a few items behind, and they returned them to me! How cool is that? It was fairly late by the time we ate dinner. I was fairly tired, as I didn't even stay awake for ice cream!

The next morning, we ate breakfast at a local cafe and watched a movie, Broken Flowers. (It was drizzling a bit, so we were hoping the skies would be clear once the movie was over.) After the rain stopped, we headed off to the bookstore. We had finished off four books, and the store gave us 10 USD credit for them. (An unbelievably good deal compared to credit at Half-Price.) We decided to eat Asian tapas at a not-for-profit restaurant. I bought another three books at the charity shop next door, as well as a new bag to replace the one that was ripping.

After we ate, we headed off to the shadow puppet theater. It was nearly impossible for us to find a tuk-tuk (they're never there when you want them to be), and the tuk-tuk driver got a little lost on his way to the theater. Fortunately, we made the show, and what a show it was! It's near impossible to describe the show, save to say it combined gymnastics, music, dance, and puppets, with the goal to entertain, amuse, and incite political activism. Absolutely fabulous.

Unfortunately, there were not many motobike drivers hanging around after the show. This meant Jon and I both crammed onto one motobike. (Three people on a moto seems the norm in SE Asia, where personal space is a vague concept. I tend to like my personal space. I don't like getting cozy with strangers, especially in the form of straddling the stranger whilst on a bike.) I refused to sit behind the driver (I was wearing a skirt), so I made poor Jon straddle him. I climbed on the back of the bike, leaving most of my bum hanging off. I knew the ride was going to be a wild one.

When we arrived on our guesthouse street, Jon asked the driver to stop. (He was a bit eager to get off the moto, and the road leading to our guesthouse was very rough.) The intrepid driver continued onward. The road got bumpier, and we were jostled about. Jon's voice jumped an octave as he asked the driver to stop once again. The intrepid (and deaf) driver continued at the same speed. The road got bumpier and muddier, and we vigorously bounced up and down on the bike. At this point, Jon stopped asking; Jon started shrieking. Jon was in a sheer panic. I couldn't say anything because I was laughing too hard. I laughed so hard, I nearly fell off the bike. Finally, the moto stopped, but I couldn't stop giggling for a good five minutes. Good times. Good times.

The next day, during our morning rain-shower, we caught another movie, The Big Lebowski. We then headed off to the markets. Not a lot to see there, but I did buy a pair of sunglasses to replace my lost (and broken) ones. We then went to a park surrounding a temple. It began to rain--yet again--so I ducked off to get a massage. (This place was another "Seeing Hands" establishment, and all the masseurs are blind.) On our way home, we walked past the temple and park. The rain had stopped by now, and a jillion monkeys had come out to play. (Okay, to be technical, there were probably only 40 monkeys.) The age range of the monkeys was incredible: there were geriatric monkeys, and monkeys that looked about five days old. As they lounged in the grass, people walked around and fed them. It was totally awesome. A definite highlight.

I went to bed early, because were catching a boat to Vietnam the next day. I really liked Phnom Penh. Though some travelers have disagreed with me, I felt very safe there.