Cambodia

It's been a while since i last entered anything. I've been keeping up audio entries on my iphone though i find that these tend to sound all over the place as i try to recount what had happened over the days prior. Alcohol does not help your memory, either. I feel as if i think much more deeply on my experiences as i try to filter them into presentable writing here and that entrenches the memories in the ol' psyche.

The place i'm in right now is architecturally heavily European-French influenced. Dark polished wood doors and windowsills, with half the wall likewise coated with dark wooden panels whilst the middle and upper margins being plaster painted over with a light cream colour and upon which Khmer art hangs. Elegance that is distinctly un-australian. Nice yet peculiar in such a place. Walking outside the backpackers presents a vastly different space. Muddy dirt roads riddled with potholes and puddles after the rain, or dusty in dry times. The houses that row the street tend to be shadowed in lush greenery though are obviously run down and poor. Other parts of the city are dominated by European architecture though in the area i'm staying in, apart from the residence I reside at now, the streets tend to look the same as detailed above. I nearly lost myself earlier today coming back to the backpackers from lunch. Still, i don't tend to pay any attention to where i wander so i suppose it is no one's fault but my own when that happens.

The bus here was long though relatively restful as i slept most of the way. It's intriguing, i do very little in terms of physical exercise save the occasional set of pushups yet i feel far more tired. I've been sleeping a minimum of 10 hrs per night and sometimes even a 1 or 2 hour siesta finds its way into my day.


This place feels a lot more open than in Bangkok and much the nicer for it. It has a country town feel even though it is an important city in Cambodia with a population of 750 thousand people. Most of the locals have been able to communicate in English very well which i was surprised by. I exchanged my Thai money for combodian Riels, only to find out that 90% of the currency in use is in the form of the US dollar. Their official currency is used as change since they do not use US coins. I suppose on the bright side i did get to hold 1.2 million Riels in my hand and was heavily tempted to do the money rain dance in my dormitory. I felt like a gangster making mad cashmoney, handling huge wads of cash like mere trifles to my prodigious wealth.

I told myself to keep these writings short so to not intimidate myself every time i think of entering something. That plan i shall stick to. This is where i plan to go tonight


peace