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Phnom Penh was not Jan's favorite trip. The city was in the midst of a major road-rebuilding project and so was dusty, dirty, noisy, and hard to get around. There were no gorgeous temples to admire and no big-city advantages like those offered in Bangkok.

Once again, our trip here overlapped with that of Jan's brother Dave and wife Jhap. We shared a nice Thai meal together on the Phnom Penh riverfront, perhaps the only part of town that has any charm.

The small silver-lining was the Russian market, where Jan couldn't resist the lengths of silk in wonderfully rich, deep oranges, browns, and reds. So different from the gold brocade of Thailand and the light diaphanous pastels of Laotian silk.

Like everybody else in town, we got from place to place on the back seats of motor bikes. It would have been fun were it not for the dust and dirt you had to confront. We spent only a couple of days here and decided it was time to head for the beach.