LONG Trip Report;
Cambodia
I was in cambodia for about 10 days last month; same trippy, weird place
that i had last visited in 2000. Beautiful country; the geography and
landscape are really nice and the vegetation in most places i went was
lush and green; it's the true definition of 'tropical country' and is
hotter than hell most of the year.
unfortunately, this
country is also one of the poorest in the world, and many of these people
live destitute lives. You can really see that in the country; i went out
from Phnom Penh for a few days and it was beyond strange; like going back
in time 100 years. no electricity, no running water, people riding around
in Ox carts, kids with no clothes, 'houses' that are really just shacks on
stilts, etc..... amazing. i had gone to this village 3 years ago with my
local Khmer friend/guide, and when i saw him again this year in Phnom Penh
i told him i wanted to go back there, to the place where he grew up. We
rented 2 big dirt bikes and headed out, about 3 hours from the capital
down some 'roads' that are basically goat path's. The people in his
village remembered me; he says to them, "when was the last time you
saw a white guy?" and they all pointed at me. I love little kids so
it was great to walk around his village and have about 30 following me at
all times, wondering what this alien would do next.
Back in Phnom Penh;
nothing really has changed in 3 years and i am sad to say i did not see or
even hear about 1 ladyboy. Some Taxi driver told me that some Viet
ladyboys used to hang around Martini's, but they got the shit beat out of
themselves a lot so now none come around. this is still a very dark and
dirty city; no streetlights, and probably dangerous for ladyboys. there is
always an element of danger when you are in this city, and you always get
the feeling you are at the scene of something terribly tragic that
happened just a generation ago. I'd recommend not travelling alone too far
away from your hotel in this city until you know your way around a little.
if you are with another guy, then no problems. The hotel i stayed at
happened to be a very short distance from a great bar/brothel called
Sharky's so i was in my element. Svay Pa brothel city has been severely
slowed down by the cops; it's still open but dying a slow death. Same with
the brothels on 63rd street; 3 years ago you could walk down that street
and see 4 or 5 in a 1 Kilo area, lit up like christmas tree's. 3 years
later, my first day back, i asked my Moto driver to take me to a brothel
on 63rd for some afternoon delight; he brings me to some shithole 'beauty
salon', with a barber studio up front and a brothel behind the curtain.
probably 20 Viet girls in there and a few were decent; i took one and had
a good screw but it was nothing like the brothels from 3 years ago. The
government has cracked down on prostitution as part of its effort to clean
up their image as a sex tourism destination, kind of like the Thai
government, but even more so. Phnom Penh was the wild west before; you
could do anything you wanted. now the girls are still there but you got to
work at it. by the way, the barber shop was 15 bucks plus a 5$ tip for the
girl for an hour of fun. not bad, but this place was nothing to write home
about.
Sharky's bar is the
place to be in Phnom Penh; it's really all you need and if you are going
to this place for just 2 or 3 nights, just stay near this great place and
have fun. It opens at 6:30 and they have great western food on the menu.
About 8 or 9 PM the girls start pouring in, mostly Viets, ranging from
about 15 to 25. Most are cute as hell and you can just chat them up and
split; no bar fine, and no bullshit. I took 2 girls from here on seperate
nights and they were very happy with 20 each for short time and it was
well worth it. They both told me they were 19 but the verdict is still out
on that one. The best thing about this place is you can basically spend
the night there; they have food, girls, good music [no techno or disco
crap], pool tables, and BEER! You can eat at 7, shag a girl at 9, go back
to the bar at 10, drink a bit and shag another by midnight, all for less
than 50 or 60 bucks. what a country.
Martini's is on the
other end of the city; take a REAL taxi, not a moto-taxi; it's a good 5 or
6 kilo's away from Sharky's and the Heart of Darkness bar [which plays
terribly lame music in there now; i heard Michael Jackson and left]. This
place is similar to Sharky's but has a big outdoor patio/terrace; great on
nice nights. they also have a dance floor and usually 30-50 ladies hanging
around looking for dates. again, no ladyboys, but i saw some absolute
stunner's in this place as far as real girls. seems like there were more
local girls in this place and i ended up with my first Khmer girl [2
actually, on successive nights], which was very cool. Some Cambodian
ladies can look pretty fuggly, you know?? but these 2 that i found were
very cute, dark-skinned, cute faces, tight bodies, and good in the rack.
again 20$ seemed to make all parties happy with these girls, and those 2
ended up staying over. seems like 15-20 is the accepted rate in the place,
so about 700-800Baht.
Didn't see any other
places....those 3 pubs were it and frankly all i needed. I was there more
to see the country and ride around, but since we had about 6 days to burn
in Phnom Penh, we may as well have fun, eh? i WOULD recommend this place
to travellers who read this forum and are not afraid to see new places,
but be warned; the standard of living there is far below that of Thailand,
and that goes for the tourists as well. especially if you are leaving the
city; i had some clothes that were so dirty when i got back i just threw
them out, along with a new pair of converse....that hurt LOL. seriously,
if you go there, expect to be roughing it for a few days, even if you stay
in the city.
any questions about this
strange place, write me at [email protected]
Jon
Jons
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