June 6: Phnom Penh

Slept late again today as I shake this bug. No point in being miserable since I have time to do things leisurely. I seem to be in good shape today, aside from sleeping way too late this morning.

I started my day with lunch -- did I mention I had slept too late? -- at a place called Friends, a restaurant run by an NGO that helps street kids stay off the streets. It's also staffed by many of the same kids, wearing either "student" or "teacher" t-shirts. Many of the program's graduates have gone on to work in some of the best restaurants in the city.

The food was great, from the green apple - lime freeze to the Chinese spinach and cheese ravioli and cucumber salad with mint-yogurt dressing. Without question, it was the best food I've had since arriving in Cambodia.

Just a block away is the National Museum. Unlike the Laos museum, there's no politics at this one, which means it was, for me, row upon row of old rocks and things. Okay, not really, but I'm not so much into museums of artifacts. However, this is an important stop on any tour of Phnom Penh, so I stopped. Plus, it's on the way to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The Palace grounds weren't open today, but the Silver Pagoda was. Named for its solid silver floor, the pagoda was beautiful to look at.

By the time I was finished there, I was planning on heading out for a walk. The sky had clouded up and it was nice and breezy and cool. Which is exactly when I picked up a tuk tuk leech.

For whatever reason, this guy would not take no for an answer. I crossed the street, he crossed the street. I changed direction, he changed direction. He got off his tuk tuk and came to talk to me.

"Why won't you take my tuk tuk? I haven't had a passenger all day," he would whine.

"It's a nice, cool afternoon and I feel like walking," I said, as if I owed him an explanation. I kept walking. He got back on his tuk tuk and continued to pace me.

"I'll drive really slowly next to you," he called.

"You're wasting your time," I yelled back.

My tuk tuk avoidance scheme caused me to miss a turn and get somewhat off course, which meant I had to get out my map, a weakness I didn't want to reveal to the driver. He immediately parked his tuk tuk again and sprinted over.

"Where you want to go? Go by tuk tuk?"

"No, just walking," I said. Where does he get the idea that pestering me will make me more likely to ride with him? I know it's low season and there's not much work right now, but I'm walking, dammit!

I ended up reversing the order of the shopping I needed to do, but I did get back on track and, after a kilometer-and-a-half or so, the tuk tuk driver finally gave up.

My shopping took me first to Lucky Supermarket, and I felt like I was back in the West. Or at least in the Philippines. My real reason to hit Lucky was for the ATM I knew was inside. It dispenses U.S. dollars, and I needed to stock up for the rest of my time in Cambodia, but also for Vietnam, as I don't know if the ATMs in Saigon dispense in dollars or dong. Two hundred dollars richer -- most of it in 50s, which are of limited use in a place like Cambodia -- I was on the showroom floor, ogling all the imported goods, marked conveniently in dollars.

Jar of Skippy? $5. Bag of Doritos? $3. Tube of clove-flavored toothpaste from Thailand that says "It's black because of the herbs"? $0.30 Well, I bought that -- who could turn down toothpaste that's intentionally black? I passed on the peanut butter and Doritos, but added a can of Pringles, a can of Orangina and a couple big bottles of Aquafina Water from the Pepsi Bottling Company of Vietnam and got one of those fifties turned into tens and twenties.

Stopped by one of the city's used book stores to trade in two books and get a new one, and then headed back here to have my photos burned to a CD and get online. It wasn't a particularly long afternoon, but it seems like I got a lot crammed in to such a short period.