CAMBODIA (Phnom Penh): Night Arrival

I received mail recently from a good friend saying how pleased he was to see that my blog entries were becoming shorter and ever-more infrequent. He sees it as an indication that I am finally getting into my travels properly. I thank him and all of you who have been kind enough to view my lapses in reporting in such a favorable light.

I would like to think that the analysis is good one. Everyday is a joy to awaken and everyday there is so much to see and learn. I have been on the road long enough now to realize how silly my worrying and nervousness about just going out there was to begin with. For the most part things work out, and when they don't, you just adjust and find another way.

That said, however, the first night here in Phnom Penh was rather intimidating. The bus dropped us off in the middle of downtown in a poorly lit parking lot filled with moto drivers vying for our business and beggars. It wouldn't have been so bad if we had had some idea of where we were, or if there were some sunlight, or if we each were not carrying huge backpacks on our backs and chests, but what can you do? After negotiating a price for transport to a nearby (or so I had thought) guesthouse, my travel partner and I each hopped on the back of a motorcycle taxi for a harrowing ride through the night streets. As we rode, I found myself getting paranoid and thinking about how easy it would be for the drivers to take us to some unlit section of town (and we passed through quite a bit of them) and simply do us in.

Thankfully, my paranoia turned out to be just that and we soon arrived at the random guest house I had named as our destination. The drivers ran up and talked to a woman waiting outside who informed them that they were "full." I had read in a guidebook that guesthouses will often do that in order to wait until the drivers leave thus freeing them to offer the room without having to pay commission to the drivers. The drivers returned offering to take us to a destination they recommended. We thanked them but refused and ducked into a neighboring bar. However, the drivers had apparently read the same guidebook and were not going to move. They decided to camp out there to wait us out. Late at night in a new city with noplace to stay and some somewhat cross motorcycle drivers waiting outside. Not so good.

The bar turned out to be somewhat sketchy - filled with young girls (underage?) in miniskirts serving drinks and providing company to an assortment of middle aged mostly western looking men. But the bar staff was friendly and sympathetic and a French gentleman sitting nearby offered to drive us to a nearby guesthouse. It was thus that we made our escape.