INDEPENDENCE DAY, TWINKLING EYES.

I thought this was going to my last night in Phnom Penh but due to the canine catastrophe it was'nt! Dinner by the Mekong with Atu.
My friend Atu.
On a good night the view from my balcony is stunning!!!
This will be the last entry from Phnom Penh because tomorrow I travel to Kampot, on the Gulf of Thailand, for some much needed rest and to help out at the Chumkriel Language School. I will have very mixed feelings leaving here but I will be back in a couple of weeks for three or four nights before the next leg of my journey. Due to complications with travel arrangements I have changed my route rather drastically and will be going back to Malaysia for a while from 3rd-20th December, at which point I am flying to Saigon for the start of a months tour of Vietnam.

The Independence Day(week) celebrations are well under way and Phnom Penh is teeming with people from the surrounding provinces. I believe almost half the population of Cambodia are here and indeed it seems like it. Every evening there is a firework display and down by the Mekong there are thousands of people wandering around watching the various live entertainment shows. The city centre is virtually gridlocked at night so I have stayed close to my hotel for the last few evenings. Thankfully I have had a lovely guide to show me around whilst it has been so busy; her name is Atu, a Vietnamese lady, and last night we went to a traditional Cambodian restaurant just near here.

The food was exceptional and of course pretty cheap; at the start of the meal we were served with what I suppose would equate to crudites; raw vegetables with an interesting mix of dips. There was black pepper(from Kampot which is famous for its pepper)soaked in lime juice; fish sauce with chilli, lemongrass and peanuts; sweet chilli sauce and something else resembling soy sauce. All very delicious. We then had a chicken and ginger dish, shrimp and squid and the most mouth watering beef and pepper stew served in a clay pot. This with a jug of Anchor beer came to $11!

Atu does not speak much English but I could tell that she was really pleased how much I enjoyed the meal. Afterwards we hired a tuk tuk for a while and just drove around the centre of Phnom Penh taking in the madness and went down to the banks of the Mekong where it was pleasantly cool for a change. Then back here for a nightcap and a really funny attempt at a conversation using sign language in the main; sometimes there is no need for words to convey feelings or emotions and last night the eyes said it all! Tomorrow morning at 7a.m. I take the bus to Kampot; Atu has arranged a tuk tuk for me to get to the station and is coming along to say her farewells. I am back in two weeks for more of the twinkling eyes!!!

See you all in a few days.