First impressions of Cambodia

I am in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I had a really rough ride to get here. For a couple days, I was on Don Det, one of 4000 or so islands formed by the Mekong River in Laos near the Cambodian border. I left there at 8:00 in the morning and didn't arrive in Phnom Penh until about 10:00pm.

The roads in Cambodia are by far the worst roads I've encountered - and they say the roads are much improved! Large stretches of the main road, from the Laos border to Phnom Penh, is not paved. I also heard that the road from the Thai border to Siem Riep is deliberately kept in bad shape to force people to fly from Bangkok to see Angkor Wat, thereby giving a certain airline business. And this airline pays the government to not pave the road.

In a couple days, I'll go to Siem Riep to see Angkor Wat. I'm not really into temple ruins. When I visited Borobudur, a similar colossal temple structure in Indonesia, I couldn't see what was so fascinating about it. But I'll go anyway. In fact, I plan to visit Angkor Wat for several days in a row until I understand what it is that fascinates people.

Drugs, mainly marijuana, are even more widely available here than in Laos. And it is out in the open. My bus had not even parked and there were people in the window waving bags of weed. While checking into the guesthouse, the attendant was trying to sell me some. Oh...the bus driver had several joints. Luckily, he didn't light up while driving.

It is probably not fair for me to judge the place as yet. I got in late last night. I am staying in the area where backpackers stay, and as I type this, I have not yet left my room to see the city.

The US dollar is the main currency here. The ATM's dispense US dollars! Of course the dollars I brought with me are not considered to be good, because they are old and faded. They want only crisp new dollars. With the new designs, I'm not even sure they're real!