Its my first day in Cambodia and I am pleasantly shocked!! I assumed Phnum Penh (PP) was going to be another Saigon or Bangkok, both of which i hated, so I prepared myself for another mad city!! indeed, it goes without saying that it is busy, but not on a scale seen in the other 2 places. The people here also seem a lot lot nicer, and in general the place seems a lot better organised and less chaotic!
It's a welcomed relief following a rather hectic start to the day!!
I got the night bus last night from Dalat as mentioned before, and promptly bought a ticket for PP - incredibly it only cost $6!!!
The bus again was extremely confortable and I slept the best part of the way to the border to make up for the lack of sleep that night. I was also joined by a couple (guy from Singapore and lady from Saigon), and a guy from Iran. All of them spoke English really well which was nice - it was also the first time i had spoken to a Siagon local so managed to get an insight into Saigon life from the horses mouth as such!!
3 hours later we reached the border, which was an interesting experience to say the least! Chaotic is how I would describe it, but seemed to work nonetheless. Sadly, our Iranian friend wasnt allowed in Cambodia (apparently they dont accept Muslims?!?) so he had a rather wasted trip, but luckily the rest of us sailed through. I must admit though, I did panick somewhat when my passport disappeared for 1hr, but i had expected as much. Still not nice though.
After crossing the border, i got to see the real Cambodia en route to the capital. The countryside is not too disimilar from that in Vietnam, but you can see a distinct difference in the standard of living. Its very poor, and moreover the countryside seems to littered with skinny cows and stray dogs! Its very sad.
Much to suprise though, PP doesnt seem to be as poor - the people are dressed smartly, the streets are relatively clean, and for once there are quite a few cars on the road! Maybe im in a nicer part of town!?!
So tomorrow I take another 6 hr bus ride (really packing them in!!) up to Siem Riep. Im going to use the city as a base for the next few days for visiting the temples and Battambang which is just south. From there, Im tempted to fly down to Shinoukville for NY, and then spend the rest of my time on the coast exploring some of the beaches/ island and national parks.
Hope all is well in sunny england! Im slightly cooked after a day hiking in the Dalat hills yesterday ( i climbed the 2nd largest peak in Nam yday), so glad to be a away from the sun for a bit :)
xx
