The flight to Phnom Penh was practically empty. I’m guessing that between SARS, and the recent anti-Thai riots, not to many people are going to the Kingdom of Cambodia. This will be great, since I should have Angkor Wat to myself.

I took a moto into town for $2. A moto is the main form of transport in Cambodia, which I’ll have to try to get used to. It consists of a guy on a Honda Dream motorbike, a.k.a, the “workhorse of Asia.” Needless to say, helmets are not provided. Even though I’m not a big fan of motorbikes ever since the “incident,” the bikes are so underpowered it’s not too scary.

After all I heard about Cambodia, and after seeing the recent Matt Dillon flick set here called City of Ghosts, I thought Phnom Penh would be a bombed out shell. It actually looked pretty nice. The place is way ahead of Yangon, with internet cafes and mobile phone stores, but light-years behind Bangkok. It was pretty quiet too, when I came in at 10 pm. We did pass a colorful-looking nightclub.

I made a special effort to get to Siem Reap ASAP, so I fly tomorrow morning. Now, I’d almost like to check out the capitol a little. But I’ll be back in a week.