Sizing up Phnom Penh - a year in the Khmerde part 4

So here's the thing. I'm holed up in a hotel in Phnom Penh and kind of torn about relocating here semi-permanently (for a year or two, before the next bout of itchy feet sets in). I've got a promising job application for an editing/copywriting job and in the meantime am trying to decide if I really want to pack up my worldly belongings small accumulation of clothes and books and start looking for an apartment in Siem Reap's bigger and smokier brother.

So far, there seem to be the following factors to take into account...

Pros:

+ More shops. I like Siem Reap, but all my clothes are from the Old Market or Lucky Mall. The Old Market is fine if you like your clothes with elephant-print in tissue-thin cotton that develops holes and stretches and has to be thrown away within a month or two. Lucky Mall is OK, but I need just a little more variety now, please. The existence of a flashy shopping mall (Aeon) and a few chain stores including Zara frankly excites me.

+ More job opportunities. Yep, more people means more students. Options for a writer/teacher/freelancer seem to be plentiful, salaries may vary.

+ More restaurants. Again, I like Siem Reap and it's got a lot of restaurants to suit any budget. Unfortunately a large swathe of them are tourist-oriented and offer overpriced food, lousy service and a soulless atmosphere. Which brings me to my next point:

+ Fewer tourists. Don't get me wrong, I like tourists. Bring them on, sweaty busloads of them. I like the type that converge in throngs of neon singlets with paint on their faces into bars that sell drinks by the bucket. I like the crusty tourists travellers dangled with wooden bracelets and bone pendants who vaguely brag about who hasn't washed their hair or worn shoes for longer. I even like the hipster ones in their retro sunglasses, showing off their tattoos of penny farthings and pocket watches and sweating under the heat of a full beard in the tropical sun. I like overhearing their loud conversations about who's done Laos and who's going to do Burma. I like every last precious one of them. I just need a break so I can continue to like them forever and ever without getting to the point where I want to tip them all into the sea.

Cons:

- Less dust, more smoke. Phnom Penh seems to have solved the dust problem of Cambodia by pouring a thick layer of concrete over everything. Result: an urban heatsink with a flooding problem and growing pollution levels. It's hotter, and there's a light haze of fumes over the city. (Although it's nowhere near the scale of Jakarta, Bangkok or Shanghai, I would imagine.)

- More traffic. I love driving my scratched-up Yamaha Fino around the sleepy streets of Siem Reap. Actually, the traffic in Siem Reap can get bad enough around rush hour, and I've only just worked up the nerve to drive on National Road 6. Phnom Penh is worse, with terrifying junctions where seven roads seem to converge with no traffic lights or road markings. Unless I've failed to grasp the subtleties of Cambodian road rules (which is highly probable), the only rule seems to be that the driver who doesn't give way is the one who has the right of way. Cycling would be out of the question (if I liked cycling, which I don't). Eh, well, so be it.

Reflection

That probably just about sums it up. Apparently I can see more pros than cons, so the decision may be made, depending on the job situation. On further reflection, I think Siem Reap in a way was my attempt to hide from the world, and it's a great place to do that. With its slightly provincial, insular feeling and slow pace of change, it's easy to forget that the outside world still exists. Phnom Penh certainly has more of a buzz and up-to-dateness, whilst also not being overwhelmingly large. I think I could just about get used to it.