Wednesday 14th November - Phnom Penh - First Visit!

Whilst waiting in the foyer of Smiley guesthouse for our bus to arrive, we watched one of the tuktuk drivers zip out with scooter and carriage, and then two minutes later zoom back onto the driveway and run off, leaving the engine running. The other drivers gave him a puzzled look and switched the bike off, but then suddenly scattered - all taking an absorbed interest in newspapers in various hidden corners... a few minutes later, three policemen arrived and surrounded the recently abandoned tuktuk.

Much as we were enjoying our rubbernecking, our bus had arrived and we trudged on board, although Dave managed to glimpse a well dressed Cambodian girl covered head to toe in mud at on the corner of the road, accompanied by several other policemen... mystery solved.

After a 6 hour bus ride to Phnom Penh, we arrived at the Narin 1 guesthouse, run by the same family as the Smiley. Whilst the guesthouse was friendly, our room stank of fish from the cooking outside and left a bit to be desired on the cleanliness front.... that, combined with more torrential rain assisted in our decision that afternoon not to stay in Phnom Penh, but to head out to the beaches of Sihanoukville the following morning.

Whilst we had been looking forward to exploring the city and learning more about the dark, terrible, and still very recent Cambodian history at the Killing Fields, we decided that we just didn't have the energy to devote to another city and that it was time for a break...