Mastering the art of crossing the street (Jan. 19/09 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

In true spontaneous backpacker spirit, we sauntered into a bus ticket sales office after breakfast to find some seats on a bus to Phnom Penh. The $8 "fancy bus" was full, but the $5 "pretty good bus" was leaving in an hour with room for two more. It was a five hour trip southeast to Phnom Penh, but it seemed a lot longer thanks to the lack of air conditioning and loud karaoke music videos playing on the tv at the front of the bus. The only respite from that was the Cambodian-dubbed version of an '80s Arnold Schwartzeneggar movie!

The rice fields flew by for a couple hundred kilometers until they gave way to the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The usual swarm of motorbike and tuk-tuk drivers greeted us at the bus stop, and we snagged one to take us to our guesthouse. This place was just as nice as the last one, and with the same $10 price tag, we're starting to get used to this! Close to the central riverfront area, we were able to walk over to some restaurants that we read were good for dinner. Getting there, though, was a bit of a challenge. Stop signs, traffic lights, and crosswalks just don't exist, and traffic is pretty much a steady stream of motorbikes and cars. The trick is to look for a bit of a gap (which is never very long), step out onto the road and walk slowly so that you can dodge oncoming vehicles and dart to the other side if a space comes. It's pretty intimidating and takes some getting used to, but we're finally starting to master the art. We found a great little spot for dinner and chatted with a couple from Canberra, Australia there - ironic since we sat next to a couple from the same town last night!