Post # 31 Phenom Phen

Day 37 1043 days to go. Distance: today 125km total 2030kms. It’s 8.14pm Friday the 6/1/2012 Phenom Phen. hey I cracked the 2000km mark today yay. I’m sitting in the foyer in the guesthouse I found here actually it was one of the first I came across that just so happens to be awesome right price right wifi access so it was a bit of a fluke. It was good to get off the road this afternoon. After 125km to get here and the last 30km travelling with full on inbound and outbound traffic I was a bit fried, concentration gone and happy to stop somewhere that works. Just so happens I’m pretty much in the centre of places I want to check 0out which is again a good fluke yay. Mostly its the handful of very cool markets here that I want to spend the next couple of days getting lost in. I have a few have tos and will need to get my supermarket fettish hit and already found the area for supermarkets which I passed on the way in 🙂 typical junkie always one eye on their next hit x I cleaned up, did my washing and headed out at dusk to check out the river front goings on an the night market. It’s such a huge city and got a taste just how big and chaotically asian it is on the way in. i’m certainly glad I’m arriving now after settling in a bit and it also reminds me it was a good decision to arrive Chiang Mai and not Bangkok at the start. Road rules and dividing lines are totally irrelevant here – it’s get there as best and as fast a you can using your horn to clear a path and keep a sense of damage control. It’s so full on. You cant think about it otherwise it’d be overwhelming-you just goto go with them and spider it with all 8 eyes open. I kinda like it to be honest its so extreme – it was just a bit full on at the end of a long hall here – but I’m here and safely and very happy to be checking out the capital for a couple of days or as long as I can hold out. I generally don’t do big cities very well but there’s a few really cool markets here that have got my attention and look forward to posting you about it over the next days. The waterfront was this hub of activity and fluro and noise and action – heaps of police about heaps of people, spotted lots of tourists amongst the numbers. I’m literally 3 streets in from the central river front where the royal palace is – it s the main feature on the river front very grand and ornate asian architecture. The river also was a hive of activity boats , cruises. There’s a boardwalk that runs both directions as far as I could see with folk playing sports and huge aerobic sessions with music blaring, of course food stalls everywhere and fluro lit bars and restaurants and massage places and shops of all sorts and happy pizza places lol x There are allot of beggars: amputees, mothers with children. I had only pulled up at the guesthouse and a man approached me one leg on a crutch. It’s really confronting even after being warned about the volume of the people in this desperate state. There was this man however both legs missing but instead of begging he had a set of scales and was charging people to weigh themselves. Awesome I was so happy to hand over the 1USD (4000p). he was also happy to have his photo taken with me and it was a good experience I hope for both of us. A bit skinny but so I’ll feed up over the next days. I found the night markets they look really great right on the river front and all under white tents still open air. I’ll go back tomorrow night to check them out proper cause I need not to have Rube and you can’t walk through with your bike – she’s not impressed. Actually she’s not really talking to me at the moment. I called her ‘Urv’ today it slipped out (Urv’s my last car now retired). It’s like calling your current partner a name of an ex. She’s also a virgo so I’ll give her space and lots of loving and she’ll come around in her own good time lol 🙂 The ride here today was really interesting. It’s is such a fishing agriculture most of the way here so heaps of fish farms and drying fish of all sorts and fish road stalls and fish being cleaned and fish scraps and remains everywhere. You can kind of imagine the general smell that was there for most the day. It was overwhelming at first but you just get used to it. It wasn’t pungent it straight out stunk like spilt fish sauce left to ferment on the carpet mat in a hot car – i’ve had this pleasure previously not pretty. There were heaps of small towns most of the way and the only other farming I saw was ducks and fields and fields of pink lotus that covered an area of wetlands. They were flowering and beautiful. You may know I have a pink lotus as part of a tattoo and very partial to the asian meaning of lifelong learning, growth and spirituality that’s associated with its symbol. Anyway had to stop for a picky. There were also roadside vendors along here that were selling the stem and seed pods from the flower I assume for eating the way they were package. In the same area was lots of duck farms and of course people selling plucked and prepared ducks strung out for cooking. I stopped to take a photo at this lad who got my attention and he charged me. And fair enough too worth every bit of the 2000 r (50 cents). I went through a town that i read was famous for its deep fried spiders but what i found was this total commercial tented area with a huge model spider out front like the big pineapple back home. It was hilarious and obviously lost some of its authenticity since the lonely planets last publication in 2009. Actually that reminds me that was the other produce today and loads of it- pineapples and stalls selling peeled and chilled skewered slices. Anyway I’m a bit weary and looking forward to a huge night sleep and big day of it exploring Phenom Phen tomorrow. I’ll upload the posts from the last days before bed now with the wifi and will attach the photos when I find some decent internet shouldn’t be a problem here. talk soon x