Xuan and I come back to Phnom Penh from Siem Reap and get a guest house in the expensive river front area. The room is twice the price of those at the lake, the ceiling is low enough that I have to crouch and the cockroaches are the size of mice. On the plus side, it’s in a great location.
I try and purchase a couple of books from some of the street kids (Into the Wild and The Motorcycle Diaries), but the kids won’t accept 4USD for both – the kids in the Angkor temple region only wanted 1USD per book (including most lonely planet guides to the area).
In the morning, we pay a visit to the royal palace, the guidebook says entry is 3USD, the guidebook lied and we pay double.
One of the Cambodian folk bands teaches me how to play their version of the xylophone and we jam for a bit. They don’t know any blues so we stick to traditional music (alternating bass GA and rhythm an octave higher GACDE at an upbeat tempo).
The guard outside doesn’t let me have a play with his rifle, even though it’s clearly not loaded. On a side note, I confirmed that there is a rifle range near Phnom Penh where you can fire AK47s at chickens or a rocket at a cow for 500USD. The karma hit won’t be worth it.
