Rollin' on the River

That's actually the name of a restaurant here on the river in Phnom penh. Morning is dawning with the sun reflecting on the Tonle Sap River as the barges and little fishing boats go by. The river walk is coming alive. There are a surprising number of people out for 6AM. Some walking, some just sitting, others line dancing. Yes, line dancing. When we were in the night market in Luang Prabang there was a video on in one of the booths teaching the steps to a line dance. Thought little of it at the time, but we should have paid attention and learned the steps since apparently it's big here. Last night we passed three different groups of dancers on the street - with older folks down to a wee little girl getting down to the music; and now there are two more groups that I can see from the window who must dance as a form of morning exercise like doing tai chi in the park. Richard Simmons would be proud.
Last night was just beautiful. Perfect weather again. Strolling. People watching. Checking out restaurants. Split a pitcher of Angkor beer, had Cambodian spicy and sour beef and lemon grass soup (very good), vegetable pad thai (so-so but that's coz I miss those little bundles of fresh herbs we always got in Laos) and a panang curry that was awesome. More expensive here, though, since all of that cost $15 which is the most we've spent in ages! Chatted with some Australian chaps at the next table. The guy closest to us is just retired (and I mean JUST - as in last Friday) from the military. He used to train troops for jungle war fare in Papua New Guinea.
Basically very pleasantly surprised. Really had marginal expectations of Phnom penh. The original tour we were going to do ended up here so we had to come here to catch our flight home but didn't really expect to like it. Can't even remember why I chose this hotel except that it is on the river and just a couple blocks from the Silver Pagoda and Royal Palace so that must have been it. But it turns out it's a great location just south of the busiest part of the street so not as noisy but accessible. And we're clearly going to enjoy ourselves not just kill time.
Meanwhile, gotta get out there and take it all in. Later.