7/9 Back to Phnom Penh

While I would have preferred to stay another day, the woman in the Chi Phat office had already arranged for a motorbike taxi for me to Andoung Teuk and then a bus to Phnom Penh. The trip back was uneventful.

Back in the city, I got a guesthouse, took a shower, arranged for my laundry to be done, then hit the streets to see some new parts of PP. I got a phone call from Rat, who wanted to know if I made it back ok. We said goodbye and he said "don't forget about Mr. Rat!" I headed south to Wat Botom Park, which was very nice but there was a political rally being held there that day, as the election is taking place July 28. The thought crossed my mind that political rallies in developing countries aren't the best places to be hanging out, but everything was fine.

I headed farther south and stopped for some coffee, where I was able to set up a time and place to meet Bryse Gaboury. I talked for a little while to a nice Muslim man who had escaped Cambodia during the civil war, lived in Australia and New Zealand for 25 years, and had just returned home a few years ago. He was trying to start a coffee wholesaler business.

I kept heading south and wandered through some poorer areas, with narrow streets and one-room apartments filled with entire families (many had their doors open). It was a bustling little neighborhood, I assume everyone had just gotten home from work and school.

I turned east to see the Mekong river, but the surrounding park was pretty ugly and the river was even uglier.

I turned around and walked back into the city and met Bryse at his office. We got some beer and bbq pork at a place near his office and then met his friend for real dinner at his friend's restaurant in a more upscale part of town. The restaurant is tapas style with some Cambodian dishes as well as international. The dinner was for Bryse to offer structural engineering advice for Corbett, who is looking into starting his own Crossfit gym in the city. I was mostly just a fly on the wall but it was interesting to hear about the issues involved in starting a business in PP.