Entries about phnom penh

Day 295: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 21/07/2012

Hmmm, an interesting morning to say the least. I run from breakfast to try to change some dong to dollar. Step into a travel agency - the only place that seems to be offering currency exchange - hand over four and a half million dong and wait, seemingly forever, for the dead presidents to come back to me. Well, when they do arrive they feel a little funny and the gut feeling says something is wrong. When the two dollar bill makes an appearance the alarm bells really ring and I seriously question the legitimacy of the notes. Argue for my dong back (that sounds so wrong) but with our bus departure looming large, we end up losing about a pound for their 'exchange fee'. Oh well, better than a bunch of fake money. Return to eat my cold, shit omelette shaking with rage. Gemma is nowhere to be found. She emerges half an hour later, having been to the shops.

Eventually manage to get hold of some US dollars and the bus picks us up. When I say bus I mean a little man comes, grabs one of our bags and walks us the 300 metres to the bus office. Here the bus picks us up...oh no, turns out to be a taxi taking us to the other office. Eventually find ourselves on the real bus. A nice easy journey back to Phnom Penh and we soon find our way over the Cambodian border very easily and hassle free (Poipet take note). Arrive in Phnom Penh, stumbling across the road on which 'our' hotel is and persuading the bus driver to pull over. We get to the hotel and the staff seem horrified to see us back.

Day 296: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 22/07/2012

Awake, back in one of our favourite cities of the trip, ready to seize the day and see our favourite market, even swinging past some of the other shops we thought were great previously but which seem to be really quite poor. Check the market for a new backpack as Gem's is on the way out and whilst it is not quite as exciting as previously the market proves a great way to while away some time.

We continue the healthy eating regime by taking on at least fourteen thousand calories in the shape of a mammoth ice cream before heading back to the room and I attempt to fix some of the damage with a gym session. A nice dinner is followed by a Sunday night skype and a nice little surprise that came in the post for me.

Day 297: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 23/07/2012

A reasonably early morning is spent strolling to the Chinese Embassy, which is fittingly located on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard. Proceed to the consular services office where we pick up a load of forms to fill out and discover we need to have some hotel reservations sorted for the visa to be granted. Ballache.

Head back to the room, grab G's backpack (we are going to try to have it fixed) and get a bite to eat. We take a tuk-tuk to the market and discover that the bag can be fixed for an extortionate $5. We get lost in the market despite it being about the fifteenth time we have been there and with a few hours to kill before the bag will be ready we decide there is only one thing for it and have a beer or two. I head back into the maze of the market, grab the bag (after asking at the wrong stall) and find the bag is now better than new. Have a couple more bottles, and feel more than tipsy after a grand total of about four pints. A takeaway for one in the room with sleeping beauty away with the fairies.

Day 298: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 24/07/2012

Our idea of waking up early and getting the visas for China issued and stuck in our passports works out well. Gemma is severely hungover and it must be said I also wake up with a fuzzy head...(should this blog be called 'Around the World in 80 Hangovers?'). I take the plunge and brave the elements and head to the consulate down on Mao Ave. Here I am treated embarrassingly rudely and I leave empty handed as a visa requires a full itinerary and proof of funds to be submitted, in addition to an official looking hand written A4 sheet outlining our intentions here. Back tomorrow then for a third visit!

Back at the room G has made some progress in beating her 'illness' and we head out for a spot of lunch at a very nice restaurant near Tuol Sleng before taking a stroll around the town centre, even taking in some parts we haven't been to yet! Stop for a drink in a rather odd coffee shop, where the message 'Merry Christmas' is adorned on every wall - in the type of tinsel and plastic decoration outlawed by my mother in the 1980s - amidst brown formica and further strange decorations and mod cons, including a huge remote controlled helicopter suspended from the ceiling. In a neighbouring shop, a child asleep on a bed in the middle of the shop floor opens his eyes and looks around, sees us two and flops straight back down, face first into the pillow. Know the feeling kid. Gemma certainly does today...

The evening is spent planning China and ensuring we have everything we need for the visas to be issued.

Day 295: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 21/07/2012

Hmmm, an interesting morning to say the least. I run from breakfast to try to change some dong to dollar. Step into a travel agency - the only place that seems to be offering currency exchange - hand over four and a half million dong and wait, seemingly forever, for the dead presidents to come back to me. Well, when they do arrive they feel a little funny and the gut feeling says something is wrong. When the two dollar bill makes an appearance the alarm bells really ring and I seriously question the legitimacy of the notes. Argue for my dong back (that sounds so wrong) but with our bus departure looming large, we end up losing about a pound for their 'exchange fee'. Oh well, better than a bunch of fake money. Return to eat my cold, shit omelette shaking with rage. Gemma is nowhere to be found. She emerges half an hour later, having been to the shops.

Eventually manage to get hold of some US dollars and the bus picks us up. When I say bus I mean a little man comes, grabs one of our bags and walks us the 300 metres to the bus office. Here the bus picks us up...oh no, turns out to be a taxi taking us to the other office. Eventually find ourselves on the real bus. A nice easy journey back to Phnom Penh and we soon find our way over the Cambodian border very easily and hassle free (Poipet take note). Arrive in Phnom Penh, stumbling across the road on which 'our' hotel is and persuading the bus driver to pull over. We get to the hotel and the staff seem horrified to see us back.

Day 296: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 22/07/2012

Awake, back in one of our favourite cities of the trip, ready to seize the day and see our favourite market, even swinging past some of the other shops we thought were great previously but which seem to be really quite poor. Check the market for a new backpack as Gem's is on the way out and whilst it is not quite as exciting as previously the market proves a great way to while away some time.

We continue the healthy eating regime by taking on at least fourteen thousand calories in the shape of a mammoth ice cream before heading back to the room and I attempt to fix some of the damage with a gym session. A nice dinner is followed by a Sunday night skype and a nice little surprise that came in the post for me.

Day 297: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 23/07/2012

A reasonably early morning is spent strolling to the Chinese Embassy, which is fittingly located on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard. Proceed to the consular services office where we pick up a load of forms to fill out and discover we need to have some hotel reservations sorted for the visa to be granted. Ballache.

Head back to the room, grab G's backpack (we are going to try to have it fixed) and get a bite to eat. We take a tuk-tuk to the market and discover that the bag can be fixed for an extortionate $5. We get lost in the market despite it being about the fifteenth time we have been there and with a few hours to kill before the bag will be ready we decide there is only one thing for it and have a beer or two. I head back into the maze of the market, grab the bag (after asking at the wrong stall) and find the bag is now better than new. Have a couple more bottles, and feel more than tipsy after a grand total of about four pints. A takeaway for one in the room with sleeping beauty away with the fairies.

Day 173: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 21/03/2012

Up early for our bus from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh. We grab a tuk-tuk to the bus stop, get a noodle soup for breakfast and I am told to eat it outside by the bus driver. I manage to wolf down the piping hot broth in record time, managing to only spill about two thirds of it down my shorts and take my seat next to Gemma, who has already made herself comfortable. Our travelling companion for the day is a rather portly young man of about three, who is overweight, hyperactive, disobedient and hilarious in equal measures. His mother has absolutely no control over him and he returns to the bus a triumphant man after the food stop, grinning to us as he shows off his snack for the next ten minutes - a healthy six boiled eggs.

After a brief nap, during which I repeatedly headbutt Gemma as my neck fails to support my lolling head (sorry!), we arrive back in Phnom Penh and take a tuk-tuk directly to the same hotel we stayed in before. They seem amused to see us so we must have made an impression first time. A trip back to the market sees me purchase some fine fake Louis Vuitton ankle socks to wear to the gym, which I visit whilst Gemma stuffs her face in the room. We watch a good couple of hours of Fox Crime channel and then head for some dinner, Vietnamese tonight where Gemma drinks bright green, deep heat flavoured Fanta. Bed.

Day 174: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 22/03/2012

Our last day in Cambodia today, so we make it a good one! A visit to the Russian Market (virgin territory) results in a fine bag made of an old cement packet being purchased, which we have wanted for a while now and us getting lost in a real maze of market stalls, selling everything from noodles to clothes to motorcycle parts.

Lunch today is a bit posh, in a social enterprise cafe across the road from Tuol Sleng, red Cambodian curry and something 'deliciousy' for Gemma (chicken baguette), a term she has been bugging me with as we have searched high and low for something to fill this description for days. Dinner at the Vietnamese place again after another gym session and I end up with a dinner that I think was intended for two given its size. Get online to update the blog and we experience a power cut so straight to bed.

Day 159: Phom Penh, Cambodia 07/03/2012

Awoken by Gemma, who tells me that it is half eight, thinking the bus leaves at half nine. I however, remember the bus leaves at nine, so make a mad dash to the shower, throw everything together and before long we are running to the bus stop to see a coach just pulling away. Fearing it is our bus, we ask at the desk and the woman tells us that the one just pulling in is the 8am service. This cannot be right surely, the buses always run on time, not an hour behind, this is not Engla...oh hang on, I take a glance at the clock behind the woman's desk and sure enough we have had another bout of the inability to tell the time as it is in fact 7.55am. WE HAVE TO STOP DOING THIS!

Grab a baguette for breakfast and are allowed onto the slightly earlier bus, which results in quite a hot experience as the A/C packs in halfway through. We arrive in Phnom Penh at about 2pm, with my shirt well and truly stuck to my back. Walk around to find a hotel and eventually find one via a tuk-tuk for $10 a night.

Go for a bite to eat and on the way Gemma's flip flop breaks. Try to find a shop for some new ones but this seems to be an area selling only motorbikes. Luckily, the girl at the restaurant glues the flip flop back together, giving us time to get to the Central Market, which is now closing. We take a walk around for a bit longer before the flip flop breaks again and it is time to go back to the room.

Day 160: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 08/03/2012

Wake up and we both go to the gym a few doors down. Bizarrely, after the fifty cents entry fee, it is another fifty cents for every ten minutes you want to use the machines. No such charges in the free weights section and I end up very, very sweaty. Gemma does too after her ten minutes on the treadmill. After a much needed shower, we head for lunch, opting for an incredible Vietnamese soup called pho. Mine includes crab meat, liver and kidney. Nutritious.

We explore the city for a few hours - we visit the market in the daytime before it shuts this time, where there is lots and lots to see and buy. We then visit a tattoo shop and have a quick hour in there. More grounding to follow no doubt. First impressions are that Phnom Penh is a very nice city and there appear to be some really nice places to eat and drink. We head for a quick drink - a glass of wine for me, Gemma orders what she thinks is a cocktail that turns out to be a shot! Go for a beer round the corner at the Sports Bar, where it is happy hour. End up staying well beyond happy hour, eating there and playing pool.

On the way back, quite well oiled now, one of us (who shall remain nameless) remembers the karaoke bar opposite the hotel. To cut a long story short, we politely decline the services of the 'hostesses' who usually accompany people, with me instead belting out a couple of classics on the stage like a true pro. I then head for some food, somehow end up with boiled eggs and locked out of the room by the now sleeping Gemma.

Day 161: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 09/03/2012

Do not feel good upon waking up, ready to throw myself out of the top floor window. After trying to resurrect myself whilst playing down the shame of the karaoke performance, we go and get some good food, which instantly helps lift my mood. Visit the market again, seeing it properly this time and taking our time to spot some good bargains and come away with a couple of armfuls of shopping. It is absolutely huge and something of a maze, with us miraculously ending up back at the same spots time and time again. Upon leaving the market we stumble upon a huge shopping mall, where we enjoy the air conditioning and share an enormous Snickers ice cream. The mall gets better though as on the top floor there is a cinema, an open balcony area where there are some pretty impressive views of the city and also, as its piece de resistance, an indoor skate park/roller disco. Absolutely no doubt where we will be going tomorrow.

We go back to the room, have a shower and go for dinner at a very posh restaurant, which is very nice. Oh and there is the small matter of asking Gemma to marry me. Luckily she agrees. It must have been last night's singing that swayed it.

Day 162: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 10/03/2012

We wake up both over the moon and grab some quick breakfast noodles before heading to the city centre for a day of fun. We go to the cinema for the matinee showing of a film called Hugo, which stars a load of British screen legends and is in fact very very good. It is in 3D and the experience is improved by the guy next to us getting very excited and making all the right noises at each and every scene of mild peril! Hilarious, and the popcorn is quite sumptuous.

Next, we move onto the rollerdome and don the rollerblades for a session in the skate park. Luckily they have a pair big enough for me and we are able to relive my youth together on the ramps. Safety is clearly a big issue here as there are fans that spray water into the arena, making for a slippery surface.

We head towards the night market near Wat Phnom, where there is a Mr Motivator style class going on, which is highly entertaining. Dinner is some incredible food off the food stalls, eaten in a kind of picnic area. We then spend a record amount of time on Skype and are congratulated by all the folks back home.

Day 163: Phnom Penh, Cambodia 11/03/2012

A little unsure what to do today and after considering a trip to a nearby wildlife sanctuary we opt for staying in the city, visiting Tuol Sleng, or S-21 as it was known, the main prison used by Pol Pot for interrogating and killing thousands of prisoners. An excellent exhibition and although it is a very harrowing experience was definitely worth doing. We have a lazy day after this, and just in time for our bus journey to Sihanoukville tomorrow, I start to feel unwell...