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shamas
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Getting to Cambodia was the first hurdle. Some guys go overland, I'm not that adventerous, other like myself fly. I took Bangkok airline which is the midrange priced airline. I really enjoyed BKK air, very clean planes, very pretty girls and the flights were on time. At Phonm Penh airport they have a lounge for all of their passangers, it's as good as any VIP lounge I've seen in other airports. It'll seat 50 easy in large easy chairs. They have a small bar with snacks and drinks, it's manned by 6 girls. They also have three free flat screen PCs and a rack full of news papers.
The US $ is the official currency, it's very rare to find something priced in Cambo Reals. They don't have US $ coins so all change is done in CReals, rate of exchange is 4000R to $1. No Cambo coins, all paper money in 100, 500 & 1000 Real values.
Entry process at the airport was painless and easy. One passport control agent took my passport at a long counter then sent me to the cashier at the far end. He called for me, I paid him $20 US, got my passport back then went through the last check point. Got my bag and was out the door and met up with Cambodian Heat. It wasn't that bad. I had emailed a local driver to meet me, he was a no show so I took one of the cabbies who work the airport. They have a taxi stand quite simular to the stand at the SJO airport, I paid the standard $7 fee and was on my way downtown. The trip took about 20 minutes and was very interesting to say the least.
My first impression of traffic and driving in Cambodia was "Oh Phuck". SJO is a piece of cake compared to these guys. Either side of the road is fine, white lines are ignored or just totally not understood. Passed many gas stations / convienient store combos on the way in. OK, they are 4' X 6' sheet metal roof, no walls, selling the basic items with a 55gal drum of petrol and a hand operated pump.
Acatman mentioned "how do you like thier left hand turns"?, it's hard to discribe because it's just so totally different and completely crazy. When they make a left turn, it's nothing like we do, they cut the corner as close to the near curb as they can, right into the first of the oncoming traffic. From there they meander and weave their way through all of the on coming lanes till they get to the far side of the street where they join in the majority of traffic going their way.
Driving on which side of the road is a matter of whats convienient to them. Driving in a lane is just not done. Most drivers stradle the white line, this way the motor bikes have room.
They do have a few traffic lights, lol lol lol, only a few actually pay attention to them. Most intersections have NO controls at all, it's who ever looks like they are in front, beeps their horns and flashes their lights get to go in front of the cross traffic. It's a sin to actually stop, everyone just keeps weaving and evading in an effort to get around the cross traffic. The last rule is never go in a straight line, always weave around.
If you come to a road and want to turn either way, you do NOT wait for an opening, you just drive out into the traffic and start weaving your way around till you work your way in.
At a traffic light, if there are three lanes in either direction, you'll have five lanes starting out plus all of the motor bikes. When everyone get going, all the bikes try to get out front, they weave around and manage to keep a full inch at the most between themselves to spare, other times I swear they actually touch without touching. The extra lanes will intermengle with the oncoming traffic till it all gets worked out and the majority are going in the same direction.
A guy I met said India is much worse, I can't believe it can get any worse.
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Hotels range from 5Star to guesthouses at dirt cheap prices. I started off at the New York Hotel, it was quite nice and located on the main street. After a few days I moved the Flamingos Hotel. It was $10 per night and very nice. Flamingos was in a much better location, many bars and western resturants were within a short walk.
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Eating, no major resturant chains, no KFC or McDs nor any local chains.
They do have some high priced places but most are inexpensive. They have local places, asian, western, French orientated. Lots of the western places are Aussie or French owned. You do see lots of Geckos running around every place. I liked eating with them, I'd take a bite of food and one of the lizards would flick his tongue and nail a fly. No buzzing problems.
We did eat at one Khmer resturant on the river front a few times. The food was excellent, $10 US fed two of us which included multiple soft drinks and dessert. The best was the young girls who came over and gave me an after dinner massage. They ended up giving the second best massage I got. They were all very pretty and sweet and had to work to eat.
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Cambodia is very poor and the vast majority of people live hand to mouth. Most K*ds get some schooling but the majority go to work in their very early teens. It's a matter of survival. Big efforts are being made to change this but you won't see much of a change for years yet.
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Nightlife in Phonm Penh is wild and plentiful. They do have a few large bars, larger than the BM and KL. Sophies was pretty wild, it's a place you have to go. The girls mob you when you walk in, all touting their bbbj skills and all wanting to suck you off. I wasn't prepared for the in your face and aggresiveness of the girls but did manage to pick two goodies.
I hit most of the other bars that are well known to the round eyes. Sharky's was real nice, big place with pool tables and lots of girls working. Martinis was really big but too dark. I did see a few pretty girls there but the majority were so so.
Shanghi bar was across the street from the hotel that I stayed at for the second half of my stay. It was full of pretty girls, most of them were very sweet.
Walkabout hotel with it's Whale and Hoe bar gets lots of press because it's open 24hrs.
The majority of the Khmer girls were pretty, never did see a 10 but lots of 8s & 9s. What did impress me was their tits, they were firmer and more solid than any real things I've gotten my hands and mouth on.
MPs are mostly P4P a few places were excellent, some were dingy and thread bare to say the best.
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Departure was interesting. You have to take an obsticle course to get to the departure terminal. They xray all bags that you declare to be check in, but not the ones you declare to be carry on. They put banding around the check in bags. The airline counters were welled manned and check in took just a few seconds. Had to pay a $25 departure tax, went through a few more check points and ended up at my gate. I used the BKK airline lounge to wile away the time till we loaded.
The Cambodian airforce shares the airport, if you look throught the trees and bushes you can see the MIGs and choppers parked on the other side. I didn't see any activity or any signs of access to the runways. I think the airforce is mostly in name, not a functioning military arm.
Shamas
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:50 am on June 14, 2005
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Golden Star
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Thanks for the report. Your experiences as a Cambodian first-timer very much reminded me of my own in Siem Reap, especially the chaotic traffic!
It's frontier stuff all right.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 8:27 am on June 14, 2005
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