A pop beat booms from a speaker on Sisowath Quay at dusk, and a crowd of strangers follows one aerobics leader in sync. Behind them the gilded roofs of the Royal Palace catch the last light, and beyond them the Mekong and the Tonlé Sap slide together.
Further in, the Russian Market fills its narrow aisles with shoppers, morning stalls ladle out kuyteav before the heat climbs, and a short ferry ride north reaches the silk looms of Koh Dach. It stays hot all year, with monsoon rains from May to October and drier months after. A Local Friend can open a door you would never have knocked on, like a family kitchen or a pagoda on festival day.
