16th February: Kampot, Cambodia to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

It actually rained overnight! We were woken up by the ferocity of it, but all was dry in the morning. It is forecast to rain plenty more on the coast over the next couple of days, but we will once again be attempting to outrun it with a fortuitous departure inland.

Before our bus to Phnom Penh, we had time for a very filling breakfast. I had some local coffee with homemade coconut milk and a massive portion of French toast, soaked in the same coconut milk and covered with bananas, dragon fruit, passion fruit, and coconut flakes. Half of it would’ve filled me up! Kaja had a mango, papaya, banana, and coconut milk smoothie and an enormous toasted tofu wrap, which we ended up taking half of away for a snack for later.

The journey was uneventful, with a couple of tuktuk rides interspersed with the three-hour bus trip to the capital. We waited until close to sunset to venture back out into the oppressive heat. By the time we took another short tuktuk ride to Neak Banh Teuk park, the sun had already disappeared behind a cumulonimbus the other side of the Independence Monument. Distant storm clouds were lit up red by the hidden sun as runners lapped anticlockwise, kids played football, and fountains soaked anyone getting too close. On first instinct, Phnom Penh feels nicer than either Vientiane or Bangkok.

The roads around the park were lined with many troops with automatic weapons. We’ve heard rumours of protests relating to scam centres but haven’t seen anything in person and there doesn’t seem to be any information online. This is a big topic in southeast Asia currently, as a Chinese actor was trafficked into a scam operation in Myanmar which made waves in the media. The Chinese government has pushed back against the criminal groups, many of which are led by fugitives from China, and pressured other governments to do the same. Places such as Poipet, where we entered Cambodia, are known to have scam centres and casinos as fronts for money laundering. Whatever the troops were here for, we scooted on past and were able to get across the very busy road when traffic was stopped for some sort of royal or prime ministerial motorcade to pass.

We found dinner nearby – Khmer curry and mushroom stir-fry – before walking the backstreets back to the hotel. The city seems to be undergoing a boom of construction of fancy towers, which look odd set against the small dwellings in the foreground. There’s still the usual issue of having to walk in the road too but there’s something about the vibe of the city which feels more manageable. We’ll see if that holds!