The way to get around in Phnom Penh...

So, I have finally faced my fear of the Phnom Penh traffic and am now getting around on my "moto" as they call it here; a steady Honda SuperCub 70cc. The first challenge was to learn how to drive the damn thing. The second was to get used to the heavy and unpredictable Phnom Penh traffic, where no rules - if there are any - are obeyed. So, I´ve found that the way to do it, is to throw everything overboard that I´ve ever learned about driving, because frankly the "western style" driving won´t help here, just get you into trouble. So forget about any ideas that you might have about that you should "plan" your driving, not drive on sidewalks, to give way to other people,to look carefully before you make a turn, not to drive in the opposite direction on a one-way lane, to stop at red lights, etc. Because that's not how it works here - rather you just do what you feel like. So; I´ve kind of started over, put all my previous driving skills aside and am now learning how to drive the Cambodian way instead. In both the heavy afternoon city traffic, and on bumpy muddy roads. And I'm having a great time! And yes - I´m driving carefully, slowly and I'm always wearing a helmet. (The photo below has been the only exception to that so far).

Me on my moto, in front of the office

My new apartement

Today, I got the keys to my new apartement! :-) As I´ve mentioned before, I won´t move in there for another week though, as I´m staying with Skruttis the cat until then. But today I went there for the first time to check everything, unpack some stuff that has been in suitcases since the my arrival here on the 1:st of May. And I also started to make a list over what things I have to buy... So here we go; Waste bins (4), pots, pans, coffe maker, electrical water kettle, cutleries, plates, glasses, toilet paper, kitchen towel, bath towels, bed linens, duvets, curtains, furniture for the balcony, mugs, hangers, laundry basket, washing powder, soaps (4) toaster... well, I´ll spare you the rest, as this is just a start. I guess I´ll spend quite some time on the markets in the weekends to come.

I´m really happy for this apartment and I really like it, so I don´t think it´ll take too long before I´ll feel at home there. I took a stroll in the neighbourhood when I had finished all the practicalities in the apartement. I haven´t really been there before, and I was really happy to find that it´s a very charming part of town and it seems very peaceful, too.

I´ve taken some photos for you to see the apartement as well; enjoy!


The living room


The view from the guest room


The balcony

That´s all for this time, I´ll publish some more photos when I´ve got everything in place.

Finally - a home

Let me share some good news with you; I have finally found a place of my own here in Phnom Penh! After two months of going around with estate agents to look at one place after the other, I´ve signed a contract for a quite small but nice 2 bedroom flat on street 115. It´s not the kind of a traditional wooden house that I´ve been looking for - but after looking at one wooden house after the other that needed major renovations, and also after endless discussions with private landlords over all means of things and details, I´d almost lost hope about finding a place that I´d really like and that would also be a good practical solution. But a couple of weeks ago, I was shown this apartement by one of the estate dealers. It turned out to be a very light, nice and by Cambodian standards modern flat, with a small balcony. Not in the same area as I have looked at before, but still a convenient location; close to food malls and restaurants. So, after some consideration, I decided to drop the idea of a wooden house and instead settle for this more practical solution. And I´m really happy!! The apartment is really cute, fully furnished, and it has a guest bedroom which means that I can welcome friends and family to stay. And although it is pretty small, it´s at the same time very well planned when it comes to both light and storage facilities which otherwise is really difficult to find here in Phnom Penh. And I can set up an internet connection in the apartement, too. So I´m really, really looking forward to moving in. I´ll have access to the apartement from the 15:th of July, but I´ll stay in my friends house until the 22:nd of July when my they´ll be back from their holidays. This as I don´t want Skruttis to be on her own, and I don´t want to move her to a new place for only a week as that probably will cause her stress.

So - I guess that I´d better start planning for some serious shopping now. Because here in Cambodia, the concept "fully furnished" doesn´t really cover anything except just the furniture. Kitchen ware, bathroom equipment and a lot of other things are always provided by the tenant. So Russian Market, Central Market, Lucky Supermarket - here I come..!