corrupt border guards, granite climbing and off-putting locals!

I have arrived in Cambodia! we set off from the islands in the morning and arrived at a very unofficial border! it was a tin house and a wooden barrier! the offical then charged us $2 for an exit stamp from Laos which was probably corrupt, but the Cambodians did it too on the other side of the border! it all went surprisingly smoothly and off we drove into a new country. it felt quite similar to Laos if not quite as pretty and a bit more dirty. the first night we stopped by the side of the road to camp, infront of a half built house that was relatively expensive by Cambodian standards, and had a fence around it. as we started setting tents up infront of the gates, the owner appeared, and rather than getting cross, he invited us to set our tents up inside the house (it was currently a concrete shell), then helped bring us fire wood for our cook team! it was quite a comfortable nights sleep a bit away from the road. next it was on to the climbing destination, which was in the province Kampong Cham. we camped by the road, by a poor village and right next to the rocks. the climbing area was small but a pleasant change as it was slabby, crimpy granite rather than limestone. some routes had only had anchors bolted so you had to top rope them but they were nice easy climbs. i found a 6c that i toproped, which had a boldery start, then gradually got easier as you went up. it took me quite a few goes of holding lots of different horrible crimps until i found a nice sidepull and suddenly the move felt easy. i came back to the route this morning and led it which i was pleased about.
the weather here is rediculously hot, so we ended up climbing at 6am until 10 then having breakfast and sitting around until 3 or 4 as it started to cool down. the locals surrounded us, especially the school kids, so it was noisy and a bit intense, when we were being stared at by 20 people when we were just trying to eat our lunch! we quickly ran out of routes at this crag so voted to leave the area early and come to the capital city today after a mornings climbing.
the city is not bad for a city. i went into a pharmacy today and it was actually like going into Boots! it had make-up by known brands, Olay moisturisers, hair dye, etc etc! i was not expecting to find the most Westernized shop so far on the trip in Cambodia! a small area by the river is a westerners haven with the usual hippy restaurants and bars that sell pizzas and burgers and play american music. the killing fields are on tomorrows agenda which should be interesting.

corrupt border guards, granite climbing and off-putting locals!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia