Kingdom of wonders – part 1

The best bargain in my 4 days to Cambodia was the 5USD Lonely Planet Guide. In P. Penh, we come across the street kids selling those touristie items….He wanted 8USD for it. We (3 of us) refused and bargained our way down to 5. The kid would not agree. Paused. He suddenly propose to us for a game of rock scissors bag. His rational if we loose 8USD is the price to pay. My best friend was on our behalf, 2 wins out of 3 and the kid kept being pretty persistent.

Our 5USD copycat went a long way. I did at the end gave it away and thinking I gotta get a real copy. After all a good book should worth more than 5USD.

We all took Thursday and Friday off and set foot on a short journey to the ‘land of wonder’ – Cambodia claims itself. Our first stop was Phnom Penh. I was in the city early Jan 2009 so I took the chance to become the ‘tour’ guide for my friends.  We arrived around after lunch at the Pavilion and cramped into a room with double bed and 1 extra bed. Immediately we were ‘room serviced’ with 3 glass of lemon juice and 3 fresh cold towels.  It was good of them but then they did not come back to clean it up. Odd.

We had to skip the palace and headed for lunch at Friends first, then off to National Museum. The place remained unchanged with all the display of what was a might kingdom of Khmer stretching from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao. And its civilization artifacts and aftermath are exhibit here at the museum. No pictures are allowed inside the display area but tourist might want to snap around the courtyard. And tourist I meant….some with minimal photography skill.

and  here is my Vietnamese Italian friend….totally in black.

We walked along the water front and stopped by Metro for some drinks & my friends listened to me talking history & telling stories….extracted from the Lonely Planet…and of course trying to figure out which is the best way to tackle Angkor Wat….respectably and tactfully.  I must say again Im still amazed by the quality id cocktails and drinks there compare to Saigon – where finding a decent cocktail is like catching the moon.  Metro is on my ‘regular’ list of P.P now….and so was Amber. I quickly snatched a dark blue floral/pussy shape bag, one pair of earrings and a smile.

It is advised to not eat at Romdeng if they’re too crowded because the food served will be cold, and your order might not come out in time. We did however enjoy the Angkor Beer & tried to remind myself that I’m doing a good cause and I shall not yell at the staff just because the place is full.

We ended the night with a quick ride around the city center on the tuk tuk of course – the best mode of transport there is in town. Back in our bedroom, I cant help but laughed at the ‘useless’ bed mosquito net in the room.

Nighty night.

(hotel room at Pavilion)