Phnom Penh

Had an interesting bus ride here this am. It was mostly a local bus. I guess there was a more expensive bus that had a toilet, that most of the tourists went on. I didn't know about that bus. But after tourist overload for the last few days, it was refreshing. The girl I was sitting with could hardly speak English. I think I was very curious to her. Probably as curious as the Buddhist monks are to me. She was mostly quite shy. But she couldn't resist herself at one point and squeezed my chubby face and arms. And then stroked my forearms a few times. It was kind of funny. But thankfully this only happened once.
The guy sitting across the aisle could speak English, and he was quite friendly. He was from Siem Riep and worked as a Japaneese guide at the temples (spoke Cambodian, English and Japanese quite impressive). It was very interesting to hear a local persons perspective of the tourists. Apparently the Korean tourists are the least liked. I can kind of understand why, based on some of their behaviour that I observed. Anyways thats not the point. I had a hotel in mind, and he told me it was a cheap place and not very nice. He was travelling with his buddy (also a Cambodian tour guide) and his buddies ?female companion who was a Japanese tourist. He insisted I come with them to their hotel, he said it was only $15 and quite nice. Obviously I was hesistant. But after great difficulty getting of the bus due to being swarmed by a million tuk-tuk drivers (tuk-tuks are carriages pulled by motorbikes) and hotels personal it was too overwhelming. So I opted for the easy option of following them. Once I clarified that I wanted my own room (he actually asked) it has been fine. I haven't actually seen them since. And the guys negotiated the room for much cheaper than they would have given to me (they made me and the Japanese girl wait outside). So it worked out quite well. But it felt kind of sketchy for a while. The room has cable TV and airconditioning. Which is quite nice.

I went for a boat ride on the Mekong. I suck at bargaining and know I overpaid. Oh well. It was really nice. It was at dusk and the sun was setting. This internet place has USB cables and it is right next door to my hotel. So I will try to post pictures tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going to the killing fields. I'm sure it will be one of those enlightening but depressing experiences.