I had a nice leisurely breakfast yesterday, chatting at the Okay with Joshua (from Nigeria via Singapore) and with Sangky (a 7 year old member of the Okay household). Sangky is a bright lad who has already devised a plan for a satellite system to defend Earth from alien invaders. I'm sure we will be safe in his hands. Joshua was heading for a Sunday church service. Maybe I should have joined him for something out of he 
ordinary!
Instead I went to along to the Russian market as planned - and gave in to a few tempting bargains, including the new belt I badly needed. No single photo could do the place justice. It is a marketplace for virtually everything, including jewellery, watches, fake designer clothing, apparently looted or fake Bhuddist relics, motor bikes, as well as local foods of all sorts. The Barras pales by comparison!
I had an afternoon stroll in the city after another tuk-tuk ride. My picture shows the Independence Monument at the end of a long wide boulevard (shortly before the darkening sky turned to a torrential downpour). If I had turned the other way though, the scene was one more of post-war devastation - completely flattened buildings for street after street. The Pol Pot regime seem to have wanted to destroy everything of cultural or educational value and return the country to the stone-age with just peasant farmers and no monetary system.
I'm giving you another soup picture today. This time it's the "rice and chicken" at the Okay GH, but it is so delicious and full of garlic that it deserves a mention. This was my second!
I met up with Claudia from Holland again in the afternoon on her return from her Killing Fields and museum visits. In the evening we headed out together for a meal at a nice Khmer restaurant nearby. Like a lot of hot cities PP seems to come even more alive in the evenings - with night markets and people just out for a stroll. I felt rather sorry to be leaving so soon.
I'm now in Bangkok and checked in to the Rambuttri Village Inn - in the Banglanphu area near the river. This is backpacker central, but I'm very pleased with my choice of hotel so far. It is like an oasis in this gigantic and now mostly very modern city. And there's a rooftop swimming pool very close o my top floor room. all for about US$19 per night.
It's 6 pm and it feels like I've had a long day already. I was up at 5:15 for the fight from Phnom Penh - in the very pleasant company of Diane from Rugby - flying back to the UK today at the end of an 18 month world tour. Di, you are an inspiration, with your positive attitude to getting the most out of life despite your difficulties!
It wasn't quite as easy as I hoped to get fixed up with an onward flight to Delhi, but I finally got something sorted out for Wednesday.
For my two days here I don't think I'll be going very far from the Rambuttri Village. Everything is on the doorstep, and I suspect that 'll be tempted to lounge by the pool for a while reading my latest Michael Connelly book.
My last picture today is of the river close to the Bangkok hotel.
PS. Again the sky darkened very quickly in late afternoon and we had long downpours for much of the evening
ordinary!Instead I went to along to the Russian market as planned - and gave in to a few tempting bargains, including the new belt I badly needed. No single photo could do the place justice. It is a marketplace for virtually everything, including jewellery, watches, fake designer clothing, apparently looted or fake Bhuddist relics, motor bikes, as well as local foods of all sorts. The Barras pales by comparison!
I had an afternoon stroll in the city after another tuk-tuk ride. My picture shows the Independence Monument at the end of a long wide boulevard (shortly before the darkening sky turned to a torrential downpour). If I had turned the other way though, the scene was one more of post-war devastation - completely flattened buildings for street after street. The Pol Pot regime seem to have wanted to destroy everything of cultural or educational value and return the country to the stone-age with just peasant farmers and no monetary system.
I'm giving you another soup picture today. This time it's the "rice and chicken" at the Okay GH, but it is so delicious and full of garlic that it deserves a mention. This was my second!
I met up with Claudia from Holland again in the afternoon on her return from her Killing Fields and museum visits. In the evening we headed out together for a meal at a nice Khmer restaurant nearby. Like a lot of hot cities PP seems to come even more alive in the evenings - with night markets and people just out for a stroll. I felt rather sorry to be leaving so soon.
I'm now in Bangkok and checked in to the Rambuttri Village Inn - in the Banglanphu area near the river. This is backpacker central, but I'm very pleased with my choice of hotel so far. It is like an oasis in this gigantic and now mostly very modern city. And there's a rooftop swimming pool very close o my top floor room. all for about US$19 per night.
It's 6 pm and it feels like I've had a long day already. I was up at 5:15 for the fight from Phnom Penh - in the very pleasant company of Diane from Rugby - flying back to the UK today at the end of an 18 month world tour. Di, you are an inspiration, with your positive attitude to getting the most out of life despite your difficulties!
It wasn't quite as easy as I hoped to get fixed up with an onward flight to Delhi, but I finally got something sorted out for Wednesday.
For my two days here I don't think I'll be going very far from the Rambuttri Village. Everything is on the doorstep, and I suspect that 'll be tempted to lounge by the pool for a while reading my latest Michael Connelly book.
My last picture today is of the river close to the Bangkok hotel.PS. Again the sky darkened very quickly in late afternoon and we had long downpours for much of the evening
No comments:
Post a Comment