April 21 Sien Reap to Phnom Penh

We rose at 5:30 am as we had reserved seats in a 9am minibus to Phnom Penh and needed to get breakfasted, packed, and organized. We were picked up at the hotel by a Tuk Tuk at 8:30 as promised by the bus company and taken to a little travel agency where our 12-passenger Ford bus waited. Our bags, the only ones, luckily just fit behind the back seat and we left on time.  All the other passengers were local, and the bus, with a Cambodian radio talk show playing, proceeded at a terrifying speed along the highway congested with bicycles, scooters, Tuk Tuks, cars, buses, cows, etc. Only 3 cars passed us, while we passed scores of them under conditions that would be criminal in the West. It was hot and cramped and we had only one rest stop, but we did arrive without any known casualties 5 hours later in Phnom Penh at a little crowded street which was the end point. And we had seen the countryside for sure! The cost was $10 each. We could have had a private taxi for $60, but Leslie remarked that we saw the country better from a local standpoint and we had seen no reason that we would have wanted to make extra stops along the way.

We put our suitcases on the front of a Tuk Tuk ($3) and went to our little boutique hotel Villa Paradiso, which turned out to be an almost brand new (open a month) place with a pool, about12 rooms, very close to the Palace and the restaurant/riverfront area.  We met the owners, a German named Philip and his Canadian wife who had moved here from Dubai, after looking all over the world for the best location to start a new business. Each room is different, ours is Khymer style, but the others are an Arabian, Chinese, 60's retro, etc.

We enjoyed a quick lunch overlooking the pool, had a swim, then went to the Foreign Correspondents Club overlooking the Mekong River for a drink and satay.  The we went off exploring for a suitable restaurant for dinner, and after a couple of false starts in one too seedy old colonial building and the other location which turned out to be the girly bar area, we found a nice place along the river. Had wonderful dinner, Mekong fish with mango salsa and beef (?) style, with crepes for dessert, good wine, cost about $28. Took a tuk tuk back to our hotel early.

First observations is that one can still see why Phnom Penh was known as the "Paris of Asia" in the 60's, before it became caught up in the Viet Nam conflict and then the Pol Pot genocide.  We do not know much about the current politics, but will learn more soon.