Back to Bangkok

My final day in Sihanoukville was largely spent on the beach with Katharina and Jens. I walked up to town in the morning to check it out, but there was nothing there except a local market that pushed my olfactory glands to their limit. After sunning ourselves all day, we showered and went back to the beach for our final sunset and dinner. The beach is really lovely at night as all the beachside bars are lit up with fairy lights, candles and bonfires. A couple of them had fire dancers performing which was great to see from a distance. Unfortunately we got a fairly short burst of hard rain so had to sit under a roof for part of the evening. We finished up the night in the bar at our bungalows having a last drink and playing a game of pool.

I returned to Phnom Penh the following day and checked out the Russian Market in town. This is a very busy market and is so named because the Russians shopped there when in Cambodia. It sells everything from food to clothing to souvenirs. In the evening I met up with Warren for a final night out. We had a drink on his awesome balcony and we then went by taxi to Le Royal hotel which is of the Raffles chain. On the way we passed a couple of really beautiful spots which I had not seen in my previous explorations of the city. I'm wondering now if perhaps I have short-changed Phnom Penh and need to revisit it. We also passed the American Embassy which is a really large and beautiful compound and was all dressed up in Christmas lights. It was very tastefully done - almost all the lights were white and it was stunning in the darkness of night. We had a drink for happy hour at the hotel and were able to see a bit of the grounds. It is a really beautiful property. We ended our evening with dinner at restaurant that specializes in Khmer food. It is part of a chain called Friends which has a few restaurants and shops in PP which support orphanages and other children's aid initiatives in Cambodia. Their restaurants are all teaching restaurants, so street kids can work there and learn about the hospitality industry and then move on to get jobs in the local restaurants. The setting was really beautiful and the food was fabulous. Needless to say, the company was also impeccable. Warren has issued an open invitation for me to stay at his place if I'm ever back in the area. Little does he suspect that I may just take him up on it, if not for the environment then certainly for the company.

I flew to Bangkok the following day and was thrilled to find a message waiting for me at my hotel from Patty and Angel, the Canadian couple I had met in Laos. They were staying in my hotel and it was great to see them again. We drank some wine together in the early evening by the pool and went out for dinner. Yesterday we did lunch and dinner together before they caught their flight home. They have been a great addition to my trip and I look forward to meeting them again somewhere out on the road. Given that they are flight attendants and they spend all their spare time travelling, I'm sure we'll find an opportunity to have our paths cross again.

Other than my socializing with Patty and Angel, I'm just tying up some loose ends here in Bangkok. I got laundry done, picked up a few gifts for my hosts in Australia, dropped some stuff in the mail and caught up on e-mail. I am leaving for Australia tomorrow, so my next blog will be from down under.