Reflections from Phnom Penh after dark

I’ve written many things over the past several weeks. I just never published them. I didn’t say what I meant. So they were not worthy of my thoughts, never mind worth reading.

It’s been 17 days since I wrote about Bangkok magician Michel Potts. That was an easy topic and just slid from thought to electronic paper with barely a pause.  It was simple reporting. Writing reflectively, on the other hand, takes multiple starts, rewrites and, ultimately, rejections.

What follows is usually deep disappointment and the wonder that I’ll ever write anything reflective again. The failure usually resides in rather muddy thinking. Just what is it do I want to say? Whatever it is, I need to provide a strong premise, supporting experience, anecdotes  and finally a clincher.

For the heavy stuff, well, another time. This time, I sit writing this on Street 174 in the Blue Tongue Hotel in Phnom Penh. There’s a lovely 10 km/h breeze. Good thing since at 11 o’clock it’s 30 C. It was supposed to be 37 this afternoon. Could have been. Right now here on Streets 174 (near 51), a mother and her teenage daughter are tending to things in their shophouse home, wearing their pyjamas. All visible on the street and a common sight. Stationary cyclo men, three-wheeler jockeys and motorcycle taxi guys compete on busy north-south Street 51. Nearby is Walkabout Cafe pickup bar (they’re all pickup bars . . . ), Shanghai, Heart of Darkness night club, (the new) Pontoon disco, various hostess bars, Zeppelin and Black Cat bars, 24-hour mini-marts, all-night food vendors, hookers and customers, men of no immediately discernible function (yep, you’re probably right if you check their pockets) and residents.

Before Phnom Penh, I was in Pattaya for four days (having only booked two that time) and not long before that I and three friends toured Isaan by car, with a wedding in Sakorn Nakhon in the middle. And there was a before-that, too. Five nights in Chiang Mai and previous to that, one night in Pattaya. These trips all took place January to April. Seems like I like to travel or stay out of Bangkok. My friend Khun Miken makes a strong case for the former. I’m seeing if he’s right.

I can think of a number of things I dislike about Bangkok: multi-lane, expressway-filled inner city with its insane heavy truck, taxi, bus, motorcycle and car traffic; millions of people; crowded, broken, smell-filled, vendor-choked streets I live on and visit; non-stop construction and repair noise; soot-filled, polluted air; and rising prices for everything; and last, a lack of sanuk (happiness of life) among locals and expats.

Things I love: my wonderful friends from all over the world; the clean, cool, quiet BTS Skytrain and MRT subway public transit system; great variety of restaurant and store foods; the you-can-buy-anything brand-name and specialty malls; the magic of the shameless nightlife venues and street bars; and last, the most beautiful (and available) girls in the world who come from all over Thailand.

I sit in my very lovely, modern hotel room in the centre of the nightlife area of Phnom Penh. The hotel is owned by an Australian who also happens to own the Walkabout Cafe bar right next door, a 24-hour freelancer market. I love this bar. It’s basic, but it has decent, cheap food, cheap booze, free pool tables and an (sometimes) impressive array of Khmer and Vietnamese girls who will look after your every need. Did I mention it’s open 24 hours?

The hotel room is $33 US a night, which is 1000 baht. Earlier this evening I met a German expat resident -- he came for six months and stayed three years, so far -- who told me I was paying too much. I thought so too and was going to look for another hotel the next day. I was happy to move to the Blue Tongue because it was so much nicer than the Flamingos on 172 and for the same price, almost. Like Flamingos, I only booked two nights, knowing or at least hoping to get a great tip on a good, cheap hotel. Presto!

  The German  said not five minutes from where we were sitting in a coffee bar on Street 51 (Pasteur) was the Na Na Hotel (no, no, not the Bangkok one and not the same spelling). Brand new. I jumped up and visited. Beautiful place, open one year. Beautiful rooms were $17 US (500 baht). I’ll be moving Monday.

I have come here for one main reason: to see if I could live here in the Cambodian capital. That requires sampling lots of prices and searching for areas I could consider for residency. Plus  comparing and contrasting the benefits and disadvantages.  Tomorrow, I meet up with a six-year resident and his Khmer wife who will give me some guidance on life in this small Southeast Asian nation, with the fairly fresh wounds of the Khmer Rouge genocide.

The early word is: some things are more expensive, some things less expensive. This is going to be a 2011-long project. Other cities under consideration are Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Korat, all in Thailand. And Vientiane (Viangchan) in Laos.

So now you see why I was keen to do the Isaan Tour with K. Miken (only one-night stands in Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Kalasin, Sakorn Nakhon, Roi Et and Korat). And why I’ve visited Chiang Mai and Phnom Penh. There’s lots more to come.

Somehow I feel in my element on this tour. I actually looked forward to heading to Bangkok airport and waiting expectantly for the takeoff and landing in somewhat familiar surroundings. I was moving. Doing the legwork is fun. And talking with Thais and farang (foreigners)  to sound out their feelings about their city is enjoyable. Made moreso when someone tells you could pay half of what you’re paying for your hotel room and get the almost identical quality.

Sitting in Bangkok gives me a restless feeling. I don’t sleep as well there either. I sleep better on the road. I feel more alive because I’m applying my somewhat rusty journalistic skills. Could be something to K Miken’s theory about the need to keep moving. Maybe it’s because I haven’t found my home. Yet.

 

PHOTO NOTES: From the top, Street 51, Phnom Penh, looking south from between Streets 154 and 172; the Blue Tongue Hotel on 174; owned by the same man who runs the Walkabout Cafe (next photo); next up are Black Cat, (new disco) Pontoon and Shanghai. Last is Na Na Hotel and another St. 51 scene at the  Golden Sorya Market near where the first photo was taken.

Comments

[Talen]

1.

It's the same here in Patts...hot as hell but it will be cooler this week with all the water fights.

[Siam.Rick]

2.

Cheers Doug! Hope to catch up with you in a few weeks!

[Siam.Rick]

3.

Talen this one flowed smoothly too, from beginning to end. That's the key: if the writing's a struggle, it's too much trouble.

And more to come, as I get a bit of the inside story on the capital.

But boy, if I ever move here, I will have to live with the extreme heat. It seems worse than Bangkok. Or maybe it's because BKK has been rather temperate of late. Last night, by 11, it was still 31 in PP!

[Doug]

4.

Nice post. Those journalistic skills don't seem rusty at all.

[Talen]

5.

Rick, I think you might be being too hard on your writing....maybe it's the subject matter or the restlessness of Bangkok hampering your efforts.

I'm glad to hear you are in your element and glad to see the post...keep it up and show me more!~

[Siam.Rick]

6.

Just as an overall statement, I'm more comfortable in a smaller centre. But a small city/big town has to be have some of Bangkok's vibe with the rest at a tenth the scale. I like it to be easy to get out of town too, and, it has to be said, in easy reach of BKK. Would I miss BKK from a new perch? Just don't know.

[Siam.Rick]

7.

I wasn't here back then, but it was about the same six years ago, although PP is certainly changing, as in upwardly mobile. I'm liking it so far.

[tom yam]

8.

I haven't been to phnom penh for nearly 9 years but i'm betting that places like the walkabout and the heart haven't changed one bit.
tom

[Ivan Krakow]

9.

Hi,

Sounds like an interesting search,also sounds like the searching is where the fun is. What to do when home base is found?

Ivan