How do you spell Phnom Penh?

After four days of travelling, I've made it to Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh.
I had great weather on my way to Si Phan Don from Pakse on the back of a sawngthaew. I took a ride on a small longtail boat to Don Det, the backpacker island, then had a nice hike through some rice patty fields to Don Khon, five kilometers away, with my backpack. I smelled great too. Si Phan Don is beautiful and quiet. The Mekong is wide there, but even so, the current is dangerously swift. I relaxed in a nice converted hospital. It was a splurge suggested in my Lonely Planet guidebook and with the rest of the accommodations being elevated bungalows on the river, at $10 a night, it was a pleasure. Power was available from 6pm to 10pm, and there was pleasantly nothing for me to do, other than watch the river flow by, so that's what I did. I met some other travellers, most of whom were heading north, having just arrived in Laos and got some good tips of what to expect for my travels further south in Cambodia and Vietnam.
I headed to Cambodia the next day, not sure how far I could get and how much it would cost me. It turns out that I got away with spending far less than predicted in my guidebook. I shared a sawngthaew ride to the border at Vang Koem, paid $2 to the Laos officials (read: bribe) for being open on a Saturday, then took a boat across the Mekong to the Cambodian immigration where I paid $3. This is not an official border crossing, so I had no choice but to bribe the officials on both sides.
From the border, I took a ride on a fast boat for an hour down to Stung Treng. It was a shallow longtail boat with a big engine. I had earplugs and a lifejacket. The driver was excellent at avoiding logs and massive whirlpools (one of them was about ten feet across). There was a rainshower in the middle of the river, so we headed to the right of an island and avoided it -- that's how wide the Mekong is at certain points; it has its own microclimate.
Cambodia is pretty undeveloped in the north. There wasn't any pavement in Stung Treng, no bus station, no buses. The only way to get south is via boat or a hired taxi. Eight of us grouped together and were able to haggle a minivan ride to Phnom Penh (12 hours away) from $20 down to $12 a person.
The road for the first four hours was muddy and rutted. Some tire ruts were a couple feet deep. We were lucky there hadn't been any rain for a couple days otherwise we would have been pushing the minivan. My butt hurt, and I was tired, but I made it here at 0130 this morning.
It's hot today, but I'm in an air-conditioned internet cafe. There is a nice riverside promenade in this rundown town, and my guesthouse ($3 for a room with a bathroom) is on the lake. A day of relaxing and nothing else!