Vita Magna Est

September 16, 2026 – First day back in Phnom Penh after a decade or two… Oh my.

First impressions… shock and awe. I’m not quite sure yet what to think of it. Better ? Worse ? Same-Same ? It’s certainly still gritty, noisy and dirty, probably even more than before… no problem, part of its charm. It’s still bloody hot and humid, most likely worse than before what with all them new high-risers trapping the heath. Every single city-center street is still the same as ever: little shophouse after shophouse after coffeeshop after beauty parlor after shophouse after yet-another-beauty-parlor after oh-boy-we-love-hipster-coffee after smartphone-covers-galore after shophouse after ad infinitum… and none of them has any customers. Just some boy/girl/mom/dad on a plastic chair staring bewitchedly at a small rectangular screen…

The new Phnom Penh airport is, well, big. Obviously too big and too grand for its own purpose, but hey, bigger is better, right ? Exiting the plane and walking to the customs booths takes about a week. Going from the left side of the exit hall to the opposite side takes half a week. But admittedly it’s quite nicely designed. Too big though.

Cambodia has gone utterly digital. Wait. What !? No [entry] visa stamp in my passport ?! How am I supposed to brag about my many travels then ? Weirdo’s.

On the long way from the airport to PP city (with a taxi van – 15$, probably paid too much), the first thing that struck me was the amount of electric cars on the road. Lotsa BYD’s, quite a few Tesla’s, and a whole bunch of unknown-to-me Chinese brands. Never the smaller and practical city cars though , oh no – bigger is still better, right ?

When I got to the hotel, I was pretty disappointed that not many young people really understood or spoke English. I kept noticing it all day while I was checking out different shops and places. I honestly thought English would be more common by now, especially among younger people and those who deal with foreigners all the time. But maybe it’s just me, being hard of hearing. And old.

Notice the concrete construction skeleton in that photo. A camera can’t really capture the sheer ugliness of it, the brutal arrogance it exudes, the desperation… And there’s several of those around. Ghastly.

I desperately needed new shoes. My trusty Allbirds have given up on this terrain, and the other pair I packed feel like medieval torture devices after half a mile. So I blew $18.98 (€16.5) on what I can only describe as “fashion-adjacent” sneakers. They might disintegrate before the end of the week, but for the price of a European Gin & Tonic, I’m basically renting footwear, and honestly, that feels like a bargain.

I clearly need more clothes, and fast. Lots of clothes. I showed up to the subtropics with the wardrobe of someone visiting a mildly enthusiastic spring, not a sauna with palm trees—just a few short-sleeved shirts and a couple of T-shirts—and I’ve already burned through half of them in one day. Unless I’m going to heroically “re-wear” sweat-soaked outfits in the name of fashion science, I really need to fix this wardrobe crisis urgently, and wow, do I loathe trying things on, especially when the changing room is only two degrees cooler than the sun.

Speaking of money, here’s some items to compare at home in the EU.
King Pack (50gr) Lays potato chips : €0.75.
Can (330ml) of Coke Zero : €0.48
Bottle (500ml) of Eau Kulen: €0.34

One pint of Beer Cambodia at The Deck : $1.50. One sumptuous plate of Fish&Chips, fries and mixed salad at The Deck : $6.50. The Deck is a famous cafe/resto in Toul Tom Poung. Not sure yet about its famousness… lotsa stoners, jaded expats and one grandpa with his barely adult Khmer girlfriend. Four chess players though – good !

Apparently Beer Cambodia has pushed Anchor and Angkor and what-else-crappy-lagers from their thrones. Khmer people are proud people. And rightly so.

Still can’t sleep. Still didn’t smoke.