Beautiful Shoes, Part 2

I went back to Beautiful Shoes this afternoon to pick up my new, custom-made sandals.

So, you ask, are they beautiful?*

* These are not my shoes --
they merely turned up in a Google search for
'beautiful shoes'.

Pulleeeeze!  I couldn't get down my spiral staircase in these heels, never mind climbing in and out of a tuktuk without breaking my neck. And on the bamboo bicycle...?  We think not.

You must understand that Phnom Penh is not pedestrian friendly. You can come to a graceless and grievous end, even wearing flats.

Photo credit to a fellow blogger:
 http://travelmoments.net/category/cambodia/phnom-penh/

No. My new shoes are not beautiful. They are, however, beautifully made and divinely comfortable. The shoemaker adjusted each of the four straps to fit my asymmetrical feet and assured me that I could return in the next couple of weeks for further adjustments if necessary.  

So I would encourage all of you who are planning a visit to Phnom Penh to start looking at photos or thinking of dearly departed shoes which you might like to replace. If you want faux Jimmy Choos or men's tango shoes, bring photos and flip through the sample materials. They do goofy shoes, too. 

I'll be interested to see how long these shoes suffer the abuse I dish out. How many kilometers can I get out of $20?  On the other hand, if they do start to pull apart, I know where to take them for repair.

A new friend is having a very stylish pair of fisherman's sandals made in a shade hovering between oxblood and plum. Quite a bit more intricate, but still only $25.  It occurs to me that, for the first time in decades, I can be frivolous and consider buying a pair of shoes that is not black. Sensible, ground-gripping ballerina flats in turquoise, say! That's about as much frivolity as I can manage.