Russian market and riverside

Had Spanish tapas today for lunch! Right in front of our hotel is a restaurant called La Plaza. Decided to give it a go, mostly to get some goodness into the kids, who have been living off chicken, fish, rice and fruit for a month. Obviously not as good as mum used to cook, but it did the trick.

After that we took a tuk-tuk to the Russian market (not sure why it's called that, there is a Russian avenue, but on the other side of town), to see a typical Cambodian market. Had a great time ducking in and out of the stalls, buying a few fruits (mangosteen, hmmm) and watching live fish flap around, get clubbed on the head, and not be alive any more.

The kids quickly got bored however so we went to the riverside. Asked the driver if he knew the Foreign Correspondents Club. Yes, yes. After overshooting it by a few hundred metres we got out and walked. The riverside is a nice area (anything you can walk down without going in the road is "nice"), though a bit too touristy. Bought some balloons for the kids and entered the Foreign Correspondents Club for a drink. It is one of those typical Lonely Planet overstatements: "housed in a colonial gem" and "one of those must-see places in Cambodia". Had to check on the map before going in, as it didn't look like a gem to us. Just your average bar full of foreigners (I guess not even correspondents judging by the way they carried their guide book) where Hemingway once picked his nose or something. Hardly a "meeting place for intrepid adventurers" nowadays, though I don't doubt in the past it must have been a cool place. There is another FCC in Siem Reap ("serving a little bit of luxury to travellers weary after long days of tomb raiding") which I think we can give a miss.

Forgive the negativity of today's post, I have a nasty cold and am feeling miserable.