A few days in Phnom Penh are PLENTY

Ah, Phnom Penh. I've been here for four days now - waiting patiently for the return of my passport and visa to Laos - and I'm itching to hit the road again. While there's no denying that the "Penh" is an interesting city, once the main sites and points of interests have been knocked off the list, there's really not much to keep the casual traveler in town. It's hard to compare Phnom Penh to any of the cities that I visited thus far - it's a not small (1.2 million people) but it's one of those spread out places that feels more like an oversize provincial town than a capital city. It's also noticeably poorer than many of the places I've been on this trip. After a day or two it's impossible not to fall into varying stages of "beggar fatigue." The numbers of amputees and otherwise disabled are disheartening. Add to this an over abundance of motorbike taxi drivers (the city has no public transportation at all) and would-be guides hanging on your very move and it's easy to want to hole up in an air-conditioned cafe or bar and never leave. You can't blame the locals for trying to drum up business or welfare. A complete lack of social services and notoriously corrupt government ensure there are no alternatives. Regular power outages, a completely whacked out and unintelligible system for naming streets, sidewalks that serve no other purpose than as a place park cars and collect trash, and the need, for safety's sake, to curtail your activities after dark round out the joys that are Phnom Penh.

Now, all of that being said, I DO like Phnom Penh. It took a few days but I've managed to track down one of the better fruit dealers in the city market. I've definitely found the best Bangladeshi restaurant in town (lunch and world politics with the owner every day - we bashed Bush and watched the election results come in together). The temples are beautiful, the view of the Tonle Sap river merging with the Mekong is amazing, the traffic is bearable, and even the touts are tolerable - a pleasant "no thanks" works wonders. Watching barefoot, orange-robed monks collect alms from shopkeepers each morning is a classic Asian experience. I'm still having a hard time dealing with the beggars - I'd be completely broke in a couple hours if I gave to all the needy - but that just comes with the territory.

But now, it's time to move on. I'm heading south to the town of Kampot tomorrow and then on to the coast. However, I'll be back. Phnom Penh's central location and the absolute lack of a decent road system in Cambodia ensures that I'll have to pass through the city at least once more. Looking forward to it. Ha!