Not liking the French

Saturday February 9th

I praised the French the other day for some of their influences on Cambodia, but that was before I had to watch the France Ireland rugby match surrounded by them.

The day started late, so it was very hot by the time I got out to the first sight, Wat Phnom, the temple that gives the city its name. Its not that impressive to tell the truth, and also it was full of locals as it was the weekend. As with lots of sights, pale skins get charged an entrance fee, locals don't. Can't really blame them for it, but for some reason it was much more blatant here than in other places.

Seeing that didn't last long, and in Phnom Penh everyone seems to have a siesta, so by the time I got to the national museum it was closed. So I had to spend an hour and a half hanging around in a nearby pub, which happened to be an Irish bar. It was the most dead place I've ever been to. Nobody goes out in the midday sun here.

After that it was onto the museum. Its not that great, all it really has is all the stuff that they resuced from Angkor before they opened it to the public. Lots of stuff was looted in the wars and so on. Still it takes a while to get around, and as usual there are more Buddhas than you ever want to see. Also the rest of the Hindu crowd as well.

What annoyed me slightly about the museum is that it had a no photographs sign on the door. So I checked my bag in with my camera in it. I was the only one who did, as there were loads of people taking photos of the bits you were allowed to (the no photos rule only applied in certain rooms). It was annoying because the setting of the museum itself was quite nice, and made for some nice photos.

After that it had cooled to the point where I was able to walk back to the hotel before it got dark. I then had my first real case of indigestion after a meal. The only problem was that the meal in question was pizza. Shows you should stick to what the locals eat. But pizza seems to be on every menu, maybe the French brought it as well.

The whole idea of staying in the hotel I was in was so I could watch the rugby this weekend, having missed the previous weekends action. When I got back there were loads of Aussies in the bar, so there was a bit of banter. But they all left after the Wales v Scotland match, and I was left with a group of French guys (who came in at kick off, drank only water, and left at the end) so it was not pleasent. Still it was fun to see the concern on their faces right at the end.