Friday 13th March, Phnom Penh

Suddenly things are 'for the last time' on our travels, and I distinctly have a 'beginning of the end' sort of feeling; a last swim in the sea, a last boat ride from the island to the mainland, a last bus trip towards an airport - from Sihaunouk Ville to Phnom Penh (excellent quality public transport in Cambodia!) - the last whole day in Cambodia ...

Today's plan proved to be super fun, and a lovely addition to the overall 'story' of this adventure in SE Asia. We booked in on a day course to learn Khmer Massage! This is a clothes-on/ no-oil thing, where they provide a sort of pyjama set to wear. There were soooo many moves to learn and I I confess to getting a bit muddled with the legs, sorry Luca, but the tutor was excellent, with a good pace of teaching and of course all the hands-on practice you would imagine needing! She demonstrated a few steps at a time, then in a sequence, then we each took turns to practice on the model and then on each other, body part by body part.
And tonight's dinner is on the house, a set meal Cambodian style in a restaurant with Apsala dancing performance thrown in. What a great way to end our time here! We even came out with a formally printed certificate, so perhaps we can jettison our other work and open a massage studio in Sidmouth? Rather a niche offer, isn't it?

Otherwise we have seen little of the place, but that's okay. We need neither to have 'done' Phnom Penh nor does it need us to 'do' it. We are not that sort of tourists in any case. I do dislike the typical tourist terminology that suggests that a brief sightseeing visit covers everything a place has to offer sufficiently to tick it off a list and dismiss it forevermore.Read more