Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Some random summations of the above location...

• first impressions are how poor a country it is, then how crazy the traffic is, then the amount of wood stacked in (and on and hanging out the back of) that tarago.
• our driver delighted in telling us how much fun it is to throw a hand grenade and highly recommended us trying it. he was interested to know whether i'd fired a gun in Australia.
• he also informed us that the current Thai/Cambodia border situation sees 30,000 Thai troops at the border and only 10,000 Cambodian, however, the Cambodian government has just decided to send more troops up there.
• the key to crossing the road (we think) is to walk very slowly.
• riding in a tuk tuk is a pretty good and cheap way to travel. you feel the wind in your hair, you hear the sounds of the streets and at the speed they travel you can take in a fair bit. and there is a fair bit to take in.
• we visited the killing field outside of Phnom Penh. the route our there saw us passing some pretty basic residences and the field and monument itself were extremely saddening. it was truly horrible what occurred there.
• on the way back in to town our tuk tuk passed about 4 meters from a moto which was totally engulfed by flames. we were concerned it was going to explode with us next to it. our driver pulled over so he could enjoy the show.
• we visited a bar called Zeppelin Cafe where they were playing great songs and had an awesome record collection (i'm currently reading High Fidelity which probably only enthused me more!). the dj had the long pony-tailed hair of an aging rocker, the zen calm of a Buddhist monk as he sat there and the glasses of a female librarian from the 80's. i requested rock and roll high school by the Ramones and he played it. i was stoked.