The farewells have been said and I decided to go to the airport on my own despite several people wanting to come and see me off. Leaving Phnom Penh was very sad but I am sure I will be back there as soon as is possible. Farewells are never easy and I was surprised how attached I had become to the city and its wonderful people.
The flight to KL was short and sweet but bumpy most of the way. A bus to KL Sentral, then a mono rail ride and a short walk got me to the Matahari hostel/hotel by about 9.30.p.m. The room is basic but very clean and safe and the Singaporean staff are extremely helpful. It is very hot and humid here, about 30c at midnight, much hotter than Phnom Penh, and no cooling breeze either! I had a wander around Chinatown which is only 5 minutes walk from here and had some fried rice with duck washed down with a Tiger beer. Maybe I had got used to the poverty of Cambodia because here seemed so affluent, clean and almost sanitised compared to Phnom Penh; to be honest I didn,t really enjoy the couple of hours in Chinatown and I felt a little bit uneasy walking home later on. Cambodian withdrawal symptoms maybe. I went into a bar for a nightcap and it was full of tourists drinking very expensive Carlsberg lager, about £4 a pint, so I did an about turn, came back here and sat on the roof garden with a couple from Italy for an hour or so.
I have booked a ticket to go to Kuala Kangsar on Thursday where I hope to track down Shah who I stayed with in 1980. I am quite excited at the prospect of returning there after 28 years and have managed to book a room at the Rumah Rehat ( government rest house ) where I stayed all those years ago. Later today when it cools down a bit I am going to the Petronas Towers and will be in search of a rendang or mutton curry for dinner!
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