Phnom Penh, Cambodia

After The Killing Fields and S-21 and the area in which our hotel was located we were feeling pretty down about Phnom Penh. Once we started walking around though we realized that it had much more to offer than just depression and motorcycle/tire shops. The road by the water was littered with restaurants of all types. There were traditional Khmer restaurants as well as, new american, italian, mexican, you name it. Although crowded, it was a nice place to walk as well. I loved the juxtaposition of an air conditioned international restaurant and a woman outside of it with her cart of cockroaches, which locals bought as snacks. One day we visited the Royal Palace, which was beautiful, but after having been to the royal palace in Bangkok, Thailand it did not measure up. As always the buildings open for public viewing were beautiful, but most of them were places of worship and pictures were forbidden. The part of the Royal Palace that looked most appealing of course was the part which we were not allowed to enter such as the Royal Gardens. They were listed and numbered on the map so Lance was convinced there was a way to get to them, but all the guards with their guns suggested otherwise. One night Lance took me out to a very nice French restaurant where almost everything on the menu included Fois Gras, caviar, or lobster, and I think all the staff was laughing at me when I was literally drooling at the menu. The next day we walked around Phnom Penh where there were more dentist offices than Starbucks in New York. We walked into one shop where they had to unlock the door, and followed us from floor to floor. I guessed they probably had 4 people on average in the store every day. It was an odd mix of 80s prom dresses and clothes that looked like they'd been lifted out of the back room at Lohmann's. We quickly excused ourselves and the doors were promptly locked behind us.

We had visited the Apocalypse Now bar in Vietnam, and in Phnom Penh they had a Heart of Darkness Club. It was the same idea, filled with prostitutes and lady boys and older white men who were willing to take their chances. They was a stage we we quickly found ourselves dancing on and the best part was that because of where we were we didnt even attract that much attention to ourselves. A few days later, being who is his, Lance found a casino. One of the perks of a casino apparently is good restaurants, and we decided to go to a Korean bbq. It was fun because I knew what everything was on the menu and exactly what to order. It was as good if not better than the Korean bbq I had in korea, probably because I wasn't on such a tight budget (because Lance was paying). After dinner I played blackjack for the first time with Lance's help and as much as I thought I understood about the game going into it I lost by the time I left the table. Luckily I did not lose any money, even if it was borrowed.