Russian Market/Royal Palace

It’s a slow start day which, given Spew’s lingering condition seems like a good plan, but finally puts us out on the street in the heat of mid-day. We’re planning on visiting the Royal Palace today so that means long pants and no purple, mesh tank top once again.

We start though at the Russian Market, so called because it used to be a popular destination for Russian expats. Our guide book says that you can buy anything there, and after seeing it, they are probably right. We don’t need any locks, light bulbs, or wheels for our bikes though, so after picking up a few small souvenirs, we decide to move on.

Also in our guide, are a few spots where they supposedly sell legitimate items that are made in the factories here for brands like North Face. With the help go Google we finally manage to track them down, but the prices aren’t any different than back home. I’m not sure what anyone here will do with a down jacket, but for two months wages it’s good to know they can get one.

Sitting on two strikes, we make our way back to the Royal Palace. As always, it’s good to be the king, and Cambodia is no different, even though the monarchy is mostly for show. That said, we’ve seen a lot of royal palaces over the years and they are definitely losing their impact. First world problem to be sure.

Feeling somewhat uninspired, we decide to call it a day and park ourselves by the pool for a few hours and take advantage of the Wi-Fi. It’s still the middle of the night back home, so a quiet time to try and catch up on emails, etc.

We do manage to roust ourselves for one last outing around 8pm, and inadvertently (or so I will maintain until my dying day) stumble across bar girl street. It’s a people-watching extravaganza to say the least – generally entertaining, often disturbing, and once in a while downright creepy. Sadly, Cambodia still attracts people that would be in jail pretty much anywhere else in the world. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the crowd here on bar girl street, which is a good thing, as my recovering, but still under the weather traveling companion, would surely go all kung-fu on them.