Afternoon in Phnom Penh

 In the afternoon what I should have done was go and visit the palace and the silver pagoda with its solid gold Buddha encrusted with diamonds and gone to the traditional dance performance. But as I thought I would be able to go the next day and I wanted to avoid my tuktuk driver, I decided to rest for the afternoon at the hotel. I drank tea and had a foot massage.

In the late afternoon I was rested enough to go out for a walk. Though I had told the tuktuk driver I wouldn't need him, the moment I stepped outside he was waiting for me but I told him I was walking. I said he could pick me up at 7pm at the Palace but I wouldn't have wifi to let him know.

I did actually contact him using the wifi of the place I ate the night before. I had a full body massage booked at the hotel at 8 O'clock. He hadn't come to meet me, he had stayed at the hotel. by the time he would have driven to where I was and back I would have walked there, so I just walked.

Walking was much nicer than I imagined. The roads are very noisy and crowded when you are in a tuktuk. the roads I walked along were quiet. I had to cross one very busy highway but there were traffic lights, though they will still run you over if you aren't confident and walk with right-of-way.

Sometimes during my walks the locals would help me cross, that was handy, and once a policeman at the very busy intersection. And if I told anyone I was walking they warned me to be careful and to to guard my bag. I had bought a plastic recycled back-pack with an elephant on it. Fortuitously, I had tied a piece of pink ribbon onto my cabin luggage to secure my favorite pillow. I used this to tie the straps of the back-pack around my chest so it wouldn't fall off on the motor bike when I went Kulen Mountain. Now it was doubly useful as a security measure. No one tried to take my bag though.

I always walk down dark streets in rough cities. No one has approached me yet. If I couldn't handle myself, I wouldn't be walking there.

I walked along side of a park with a golden dragon flying in the centre and when I came to the corner I discovered a wide six lane road blocked off to traffic. A few people were walking along. It ran along in front of the Royal Palace which was all lit up with sparkling orange lights and looked out across another big park with people playing and selling food and monks walking. 

It was so pleasant with no noisy traffic and wide open space and no one trying to make me ride in a tuktuk.

I walked around to where I had seen restaurants the night before and found a street food restaurant that looked fine. I prefer to sit with locals and get the authentic flavor of a place rather than sit with a bunch of tourists.

I walked back in time for my massage. It was only ok, but I was starting to feel better from so many.