Phnom Penh

Last night we said farewell to our Stray guide, the legend from Lao, Keo. He has accompanied us all the way from Bangkok, where he will return to begin another circuit. He is not continuing with us as presently Vietnam has its own Stray guides, one of whom we will meet in Ho Chi Minh City.

On the restaurant balcony of a softly lit French colonial building,
we reminisced on the time we'd shared and discussed the adventures to come. The Mekong River flowed silently past in the dark whilst below the noise of a bustling city rose up to meet us.

The streets were hot and crowded as we walked out to the riverfront for breakfast. Smoke and the smells of cooking meat and boiling soups drifted out from local cafes, where locals huddled over bowls of steaming noodles. Pedestrians, bicycles, tuk tuks and cars squeezed past each other on the narrow roads as the pavements were blocked by overflowing shops, parked scooters and detritus. Monks sheltered under umbrellas, which matched their rust tinted robes, as they sought alms from local businesses (these individual collections were different from the mass congregations we had witnessed in Luang Prabang). Bold modern advertisements contrasted with the decay of the French colonial architecture, upon which they were plastered.

We wandered through the dark yellow Art Deco halls of the city's central market, built by the French in 1937 and now selling everything from jewellery to peanuts. Afterwards we found a more western shopping mall for Freddie, who needed a pair of trainers. His last pair were taken by a girl who had the same style when they had been staying in Siem Reap. Despite her pair being a size 6 and Freddie's a size 10, as well as Freddie pointing out that they should take care not to mistake each other's when leaving...she still managed to take Freddie's...

We also took the opportunity to lighten our bags from clothing we have not been using. The charity, Friends International (http://friends-international.org), has a shop near to our hostel so we donated our clothing there rather than just throwing it away.Read more