Hopped on a bus this morning at 7am and arrived in Phnom Penh at 2pm...i am about to grab a quick tasty Cambodian curry called Amok and then will take a moto to the airport to meet up with Adrian! The food in Cambodia has a lot of influence from China but also Thailand and Vietnam, so you have a mix of noodle soups, curries, spring rolls...tasty! The fruit is awesome and SO cheap...25 cents for a full mango or pinapple cut up and ready to eat in a bag! The food is not spicy, which is too bad, but there are new flavours and spices and smells that are really growing on me :)
You can pretty much eat anything under the sun here: dog, frog, tarantulas, fried bugs, brains, crocodile, rat....really anything (this list comes from what Ive seen so far... I will start sampling interesting things and post pics later...not sure I want to do dog tho...hm, or rat if I can help it).
It is VERY different here from Siem Reap: there were $200 hotels in Siem Reap, restaruant strips that made you feel like you were in europe, an interesting mix of older couples with backpackers, shiny giant gas stations with mini marts that sold only western food (chips, cookies, ice cream, beer, burgers, american shampoos and other products) and a cambodian version of starbucks! Its like Siem Reap was disney land with angkor wat as the main attraction instead of mickey mouse! Seriously, bus after bus after air conditioned bus of japanese, german, french tourists pouring in and out of Angkor...in the end it was my least fav site of the entire place! (My fav was Bayon). I am staying in a cheap, local area here far from the tourist area by the river. It is around the corner from the market....dirty, busy, food stalls everywhere, cambodian people....more like real life. I hiked here with an english guy I met on the bus who was also looking to get away from the lonely-planet-tourist trap areas (which just also happens to be where the dirt cheap digs are). After about an hour walking, we found a really really sketchy place for $3! I would have taken it, but Adrian was on his way and from experience, after travelling for so long on a plane--jet lagged, melting in the sweltering heat, overwhelmed and tired--all you want is a comfortable bed, a clean shower and air con (none of which this place had..actually, I prob would have been hesitant to leave my bag in the room). I said goodbye to my friend and shelled out the $7 for a less sketch place with a fan and satellite tv (wierd!).
Adrian and I need to get vietnam visas, so we will be here for another day while they process...will probably go see the S-21 museum, killing fields and famous knock off market tomorrow while we wait then off the next day to the beach coast!
cheers!
