We made our way down two blocks from our Hotel to Che Culo the bar restaurant Peters friend Nick owns. It’s a pretty cosmopolitan place with a very mixed crowd. This night there were a group of local well heeled Khmer people spending lots of money , a tattooed group of lesbians, several tables of expat types and our party of about 20. They were a friendly bunch. The majority were mates of Petes from the AFL club he plays for here. Really nice bunch all with interesting stories / jobs of what brought them to Phnom Penh. One included a funny guy known as G who writes thrillers set in Surry Hills. 

Then there were the girlfriends El has made. Mostly Australians doing jobs like NGO work, teaching, journalism and one has her own successful food tours of PP business. 

Pete and El were happy. El looked gorgeous and their friends were ready to party.