Sunday 18 Nov 9pm Phnom Penh

Sunday 18 Nov 9pm Asia Palace Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Up early this morning, departed Saigon Hotel 6.30am, minibus to 10 seater boat, boarded 7am, fast motoring up the Mekong river 2 hours to Cambodia border, got some good photos, had lost my white exit document but it didn't matter our guide Hoang and his girl Friday sorted it and also sorted Annie's visa then another 3 hours fast boating up the river to Phnom Penh.
Bye bye Vietnam
Hello Cambodia
Lots of single storey homes along the river bank, many shack like, lots of fisherman and friendly waving from all and sundry on the way. It's a very wide and quite fast flowing river, not much commercial traffic but it is Sunday.
Most people in Cambodia are Bhuddist but Sunday certainly seemed to be a day off in Phnom Penh except, of course, for the street-side shops, street sellers and the huge market in the middle of the city. Walked around the market this afternoon, you can get genuine rolex watches for $10, all the best branded goods for a fraction of the UK price.
Also this afternoon 4 of us hired a Tuk Tuk for an hour's random driving around the city. A Tuk Tuk is a 4 to 8? seat covered carriage attached to a moped . A bit like a horse and cart with a bike instead of the horse and you feed it petrol instead of hay and water. The driver did an excellent job showing us around and stopping at some of the temples for us to get out and take a few photos. Cost us $7 = 3pounds50p but well worth it ($2 each including tip) More cars here but still predominantly mopeds, motor bikes and cycles carrying one to five people and mountains of produce and products, as in Vietnam. Interestingly the Tuk Tuk seemed to have right of way on the chaotic city streets, at least, our driver just went where he wanted and everyone else had to swerve out of his way. Who is it he reminded me of? I can't quite remember just now.
In the evening we went looking for a Cambodian Restaurant. After finding japanese, french and chinese, we stopped another Tuk Tuk and asked him to take us to a restaurant serving Cambodian food. (That cost us another $3 total.) Another scenic tour of the city ended up by the river where we were welcomed into a boisterous family run establishment where we were brillianly looked after by a 10 year old, his slightly older brother and even older sister (18?). The place was full, we ordered too much food, all excellent, what a nice evening. Arranged for same Tuk Tuk to take us back to Asia Pacific Hotel which is very smart and comfortable. 8.30 pm by now and on the way all along the river bank for maybe a mile or more seemed to be one big party, young people, families, stalls, everyone enjoying a sunday evening by the river. Great atmosphere.
Guided tour of the city tomorrow.
All the Best,
John