Hitting the streets of Phnom Penh

Well it's time to do my bit for the blog and fill you in on my adventures so far. While Amanda is doing induction work at school I have been wandering around the area First visit not a hundred yards from here is the infamous Toul Sleng genocide museum once a high school complex but taken over in 1975 by the Khymer Rouge in order to detain, torture and murder those opposed to the regime.It's been estimated that 15 to 20,000 people of all ages were killed here over a 4 year period and buried in the killing fields just outside of town,sobering to say the least but something which you feel you need to do here to get some kind of understanding of what went on in the dark days.
On a less depressing note yesterday I took a 'Motodop'---a small moped taxi into town to open bank accounts buy sim cards($1) and check out the'Lucky Supermarket' to see what's available.No problems there really until it was time to come back to the guest house. You get picked up by a friendly smiling moto driver explain where you want to go and head off sometimes starting by riding towards 4 lanes of traffic in the wrong direction! When reaching a red light for a right turn  yesterday the driver just took to the sidewalk for about 50 yards scattering people everywhere dived through a garage forecourt and slipped up a side street.Further into the journey you realise he hasn't really got a clue where you want to go and he asks to see your map --which he can't read. he then proceeds to phone his wife,who only speaks french and passes the phone over to me, so now we are on a five lane road me with map flapping around in one hand and mobile in the other trying to converse in school boy french.Luckily the city was designed by the French, the streets laid out in a grid system---odd No.s north to south, evens east to west, the trouble started when the locals decided to mess with the numbers so now you can't be sure that any roads run in sequential order and they invariably don't!! After about another ten minutes of wandering I suddenly remembered we are staying near a bar called 'Martini's', Phnom Penh's oldest and most famous brothel! As soon as I mentioned Martini we were back on track the driver giving me that' knowing' smile and a thumbs up and all this entertainment for $1.
Today we start flat hunting with an estate agent having been taken around already to see the apartments of established teachers, some of whom have roof terraces access to roof pools and free gym membership--things are definately looking up,We just hope we can find a nice old colonial style one with a big balcony such as some have already got. Will keep you posted Paul.