Around Cambodia

Today we took a 7-hour bus ride from Phnom Penh to Saigon, ending our time in Cambodia. And we have to say, Cambodia surprised us. In a good way.

We had a great time with our outstanding host, Jo, in Phnom Penh, where we got a good sense of Cambodian culture and food. We also got a taste of the ex-pat life, which is a strange and wonderful thing. All these talented people living and working in a foreign place, for their various causes and self-interests (you can live pretty well in Cambodia on $2k/month). It's a small community, and not a day went by without running into someone with a shared connection or interest. We even had dinner one night with the former dean of Brook's law school, who happened to be teaching in Cambodia for a week. It's the most undeveloped country we've ever been to, and the sort of place where there's a lot to look forward to. There's also a lot of corruption, a real lack of education, and some infrastructure problems to work on. Here's a view of Jo's street in a monsoon downpour: 

Phnom Penh itself epitomizes organized chaos. A city of two million people with no sidewalks or traffic laws, construction everywhere, and old-fashioned Khmer culture smashing into western influence and money. Filled with Buddhist temples and enclaves, the sumptuous royal palace, busy streets, and packed markets, it's a great place to spend a week exploring. Here's a few shots we took in our wanderings: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/6039933397389647825

We also took four days to travel down to Kampot, a lovely spot on the river near the coast. Good for a little R&R, Kampot is also an old French settlement and famous for its pepper plantations (which we visited). Nearby Kep has a bustling crab and seafood market, and the burned out remnants of French seaside homes, which were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.  It was a fun, relaxing few days with some new friends made and a lot of good seafood consumed. Our river view is below, and more photos from our excursion are here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103829313469224560701/albums/6039929041353533553

We enjoyed the sights, sounds, and food of Cambodia, but the people were the highlight.  Friendly tuk tuk drivers, helpful locals, sweet older folks, and not too much crass tourism (yet).  We're glad we visited, and would definitely consider going back when it's not the rainy season.  But for now, it's three weeks for our south-to-north journey through Vietnam, monsoons and all.