The club was fairly packed by the time we left, but clubbing in Cambodia isn’t fun if you only stay in one club. Plus this one had too many foreigners!
By the time we decided to leave Pontoon the club had filled up. The black lights showed that nearly all the men were wearing white T-shirt (recently proven to make guys seem more attractive) and the entire place seemed kind of silly. With everyone dressed the same. I was also getting tired of it because some really slutty girls had entered, a group of maybe 20. They wore short dresses and skirts that didn’t even try to cover up their panties. Some of them had bulges.
Our group split into two, the initial group I was with and the group we met up with. The six of us took a Tuk-Tuk to the Riverside Bar which is (funnily enough) on the riverside. Downstairs is their cafe which is open in the day, and has few people around at night. Next to it is the Heartbreak 24/7 bar, which has hookers outside. To the side, next to the hooker bar, are some stairs that lead upstairs.
As soon as I get to the top of the stairs I realise the mistake we’ve made of coming up here. The bar is less than half the size of the previous one. It’s smokey, the balcony is open and mosquito are flying in. The place is very empty for a club at 11:30pm on a Saturday, and the people that are there seem to be confused.
The music is all pretty chart pop stuff. My friend Cate starts dancing straight away and I kind of curse her because she just dances to everything and we all feel the need to join her so she’s not alone. However I’m not feeling the vibe. I go outside, and a friend passes me a smoke. I don’t normally smoke, but I’m starting to feel moody after the buzz of the first club so I take it.
I take a drag and remember why I don’t smoke. I go back inside and Cate has managed to get the DJ to play a couple of requests. “The Fox” comes on and all my friends laugh, but I’ve lost the rhythm and just sit to the side as they jump about. I go to the bar for a red bull, hoping to get some energy back into my system. They charge four times as much as the previous club.
I sit out, watching my friends slowly lose the vibe until we all decide it’s time to go somewhere else. As we’re leaving though, yet another group of friends we know walk in. The problem with Cambodia is that when you speak English and live there, everyone knows everyone else. I don’t know them though and I feel like a bitch. I start to walk out. My friends follow, and so does the other group.
Our other friends had gone to a club called Nova, relatively new. We obviously had to take another Tuk-tuk and the driver got a little bit lost. It’s the building with the flashing lights and giant NOVA sign. The mass of bouncers at the door also give it away. I have no idea what the bouncers do, since no one ever checks for ID here.
Nova is bigger than Riverside, smaller than Pontoon. Inside is all white with blue lights. The dance floor section is actually very small, and most of the room is taken up by tall, small, round tables. It’s completely packed, but no one is really dancing. One of those places where everyone thinks they’re too cool. A tall white guy is taking photos with a very heavy looking camera. The songs are once again chart stuff, but this DJ mixes them well. Almost all of them. We quickly find our way to our other friends, our group now being the biggest group by far.
We dominate the dance floor and don’t pay attention to the “no dancing” rule everyone else seems to be under. The dance floor is too small though and I’m crushed into pounding bodies. Everyone is vibrating because the speakers are so close and I can’t tell if I’m wet from my sweat or the guy squished against me. There are very few dance moves we can do besides jumping and fist pumping. It feels great though and three hours later I’m spent but don’t want to go home. My friends are completely exhausted and dawn wouldn’t have been far away. We all call Tuk-tuks and decide to meet up for Karaoke the next afternoon.