It took 4 forms, $25, 14 stamps and 2 hours queuing to get through Cambodian immigration and customs before we met our soppy new guide for the drive to the capital Phnom Penh.
On the drive on our guide pointed at a beautiful hotel and said we were over there. What he meant was we were behind there in an average 5 storey hotel, but at least it had a swimming pool.
We left a couple of the girls sat enjoying the poolside whilst we jumped on a tuk tuk and went shopping in the Russian Market.
Lots of companies such as Gap, Gucci and Louis Vitton make their clothes in Cambodia and a certain amount slip off the back of a lorry and into the market so you can pick up authentic shirts, bags, wallets etc for $2-5, except the designs all looked a bit too dated to actually consider purchasing. More enticing were the DVD box sets – for example all 6 series of The Sopranos for $5.
Due to massive inflation Cambodia has seemingly given up on it’s own currency (the riel) and prices everywhere are listed in dollars. Easier for us, but seems a shame.
Dinner was better than usual fare, with a cheese fondue to share. We also had our first taste of the local Angkor beer. It was chemically with an unpleasant after-taste, a shame after the excellent quality and taste of the BeerLaos and Saigon lagers.
With it being beer o’clock we started looking for a decent bar. After accidentally walking into brothels twice (to a very enthusiastic greeting from the assembled girls) we found a bar that was hosting a wedding which looked like fun. After loitering for a while we didn’t get invited in so slummed it in the super modern Chow bar complete with roof terrace and infinity pool.
