Cambodia 26th Sept.......24th October

Cambodia....Sept 26th....Siem Reap and the 8th wonder of the world.

The flight over was a good experience. The airport although small was modern, the immigration and security was a breeze...they still checked your bags...can't have anyone leaving Laos with one of their 500lbs bombs can we...I have to say though that this is the first place in laos I didn't actually see any bombs as ornaments or novelty furniture....no door knockers....no bomb seats....no bomb bins.....I suppose it would be in bad taste...We got called out to the plane, only a small twin engine thing, we walked across the runway to board, I kept in the foot steps of the women 6 feet infront of me....wouldn't want to step on any UXO now would I?? Thankfully we got to the plane safely and boarded, two rows of seats, and an almost empty plane....fantastic..and even more boyant as ive survived Laos with my gonads intact...happy days. :-). The flight was over thick jungle, mountains, and rivers, you couldn't help but look out the window....I swear I saw Tarzan swinging through the trees at one point...or is that Africa? (...must be the rice still in my system)...It was a two hour flight, but didn't seem that long, we got a drink, and a little snack box...abit of turbulance...and all the time I didn't use the toilet once...owz that..:-)..I wanted to see Angkor Wat as we passed over head but missed it....not to worry as it's only a few hours now I'm there amongst it...can't wait.

I got a taxi from the airport. I booked the hotel online a few days before so at least had somewhere to aim for. It's alot nicer here than Vientenne (Laos)...the streets are so quiet, hardly any traffic..and in alot better condition. It still has a French influence, there's alot more Westeners here I've noticed. I got chatting with the taxi driver who seemed a nice bloke, spoke really good English, hard to imagine twenty years ago this place must have been hell on earth. After about twenty minutes we arrived at the hotel, "Hotel Velkommen"...I knew it would be a Western hotel from the reviews on booking.com....but with the name you'd think it was German....wrong...the guy who owns it is from Hertfordshire....It's a smashing place, clean, a massive room, everything works, shops opposite...perfect. I had a quick cuppa and a shower...it's humid as hell here....90% humidity!!!!!! 90%...you may as well stay in the shower! I got changed and came down stairs (still dripping wet)....I did dry myself twice!!!!.... I booked a trip to Angkor Wat in the morning, a "moto" would take me around as it's over an area of 28klms....the biggest religious monument in the world...I decided to go with the 3 day pass....and so glad I did. With tomorrow sorted and settled in nicely I wanted to go out for a walk about, but just then the heavens opened and everywhere was a river in a matter of minutes.....oh well guess i'll dine in tonight...luckily they do food so looking at the menu I picked a nice authentic.....burger....with Cambodian chips...;-)

Next morning I was up, had a real fry up....( a traditional authentic Cambodian dish of this hotel....;-))...Then Soc.....could be Sook....came to pick me up on his 'Moto'....it's a motor bike with a carrage on the back...not a tuk tuk like Thailand he stressed..."it's a moto"...so on his 'moto'...tuk tuk thing I get....He was a nice guy ol shok....he wasn't a mad bus jumping kind of guy....he took it easy....the moto didn't sound to healthy though....but who's complaining it wasn't LGP....that's good enough for me....Eventually we reached the Angkor Wat temple, he dropped me off on the road opposite the moat, he said he will be waiting for me in the car park.....'along with a million other tuk tuk...."moto's".....things!!!' ......... I thought!! ...'how would I recognise Snoop??????'... I'm not going to say they all look the same that's not PC.... but please!!.....I decided to take a quick video of him as he peeled away...at least I can look at the video play back and perhaps recognise Shane.....( see me heads not just a hat rack....man with a plan..).......I stood on the walk way, the moat either side, just looking at Angkor Wat infront of me....I felt quite emotional, I've always dreamed to come here.....not just because i hope to see Angelina Jolie.....(dressed as Tomb raider)... although seeing some of the Russian tourists here I think they got their wardrobe ideas from the film....and that was just the blokes!!;-)...I stood for a while just soaking it all in....( not the Russian dudes in hotpants for the record!!). I walked through the gateway, and infront lay before me.......a million bloody Chinese tourists taking selfies!!! I kid you not... it was like a bad day in Beijing....Trying to duck between selfie sticks, I walked to the lake where the famous Angkor Wat photos are taken... it was cloudy so I got my tripod out ....whacking a few selfie wealding gets in the process...and took a few photo's....half were photo bombed by "v signing, grinning Chinese" but hey, the other ones turned out ok. I moved on and left them to it..... wiping out the memory card surplus of the world...I saw a few monks buzzing about, I got a few good photos of one taking a selfie sitting on the temple steps....and another just chilling.....I took photo's of carvings of buildings...I took videos....you name it...and that was just the 1st temple....theres tonnes more to see yet....I spent about three hours walking around the main temple...I decided to come back to this one again next visit... so went to the car park to find Shabba.....

As I thought... loads of bloody tuk tuks....'moto ..things'....and inside the drivers asleep in the hammock..'perfect'.....I got the GoPro up and running...looking at the video I took, i was trying to eliminate the one's I see infront....definatly not the one that looks like the bat mobile....or the dukes of Hazzard....I was looking for a red Moto....green roof....with a guy in a white tshirt and black helmet.....how hard can that be??? so basically looking for the "stig" .....terrific...He must have spotted me walking around looking confused as hell....he came over and we took off to the next temple 5 minutes up the road.....I loved this one as well....all over grown with trees....in the jungle...surrounded by a moat....and fewer tourists....less selfie stick bruising at this one....Again I was in awe....I could just picture Angelina Jolie jumping out the tree covered doorway....no wait thats Boris again.....;-)...

The day seemed to fly by....I was HOT....and I mean Hot....I was soaked from sweat....gone through 2 bottles of water...my feet were killing ( must have walked miles....) it was 4pm....I've been at it since 8am.....time to call it a day....so glad I got the three day pass....I found Sam...and we headed back to Siem Reap, what a day....to be continued.......  

Angkor wat and Siem Reap......

I'm still here in Siem Reap, the temples alone justifies staying extra. I met up again with my 'Moto man' still can't get his name right so moto man it is. We headed off back to Angkor Wat to visit another lot of temples, they are scattered everywhere, not in a big clump at all. In it's day Angkor Wat was the largest city on earth....some one million inhabitants it's estimated lived here, so as you can imagine a big place. The jungle had started to reclaim alot of the monuments before they were cleared by the people, but a few temples have huge trees growing in the middle of them between the walls and doorways, it makes an amazing sight....I took alot of pictures....see for yourself just a handful....I loved it! It was still incredibly humid, the "selfie stick brigade" were still incredibly annoying...but it really is an amazing place...I did get quite tired with all the walking up and down and around...so decided the next day I would stay in Siem Reap and have a relaxing day around the markets 'bar street' and have a nice dinner, then come back the next day fully regenerated....thats the plan anyway. We headed back to the hotel, I was still chuckling away as I saw two young Chinese women taking a selfie whilst walking along, doing the pout...the 'v'....and walked straight into a door post....it was hilarious...I think for that I was rewarded with a rash..Karma....(heat rash tops of me legs...and bottom)......can't remember if I had it before but its itchy as hell, I looked it up on google. I went to a local pharmacy to see if there was anything for it, it wasn't life threatening just didn't look to good scratching the tops of me legs and bum all the time...especially if your trying to hold a conversation with someone..puts them right off...I asked the lady anyway, but I really dont think they quite understood me, I wasn't about to show them, so did a little mime...they got some tablets...which were blue...:-/...fearing they didn't quite understand me..... and that I would be walking round like a darlek for the next two to three days if I took these, I just smiled politley shook my head and left....never going in that pharmacy again....( it's ok mom the rash has gone now so don't worry) 

I've always felt pretty safe here, but sometimes the 'Spidey'senses kick in, I was walking to the old street in Siem Reap....(still scratching away at this point..it was only the next day...) when this local women came upto me and asked where I was from, how long I've been here...the usual....I now reply..."i'm an eskimo" ..."been here two years"... it throws them off whilst you make a getaway....this women was persistant....'your so funny'....'where you go?'..as it turned out I had just reached the supermarket to buy my tea bags...( can you believe I ran out last night...nearly killed me...no tea for a whole evening..)..Anyway in I go to the supermarket, and she's following me still nattering away about her sister is going to England...can I tell her about it...meet with her....I wasn't rude, you don't know if they are trying to practise their English, or genuine....so I listened and politley said no sorry not to day....then left...she still tried to follow but im a pro now and lost her...only a few minutes later another women comes up "where you from"...."how long you here"....."your so funny"...Sorry I'm late I said....and walked off...... then you see her make a 'B' line to another tourist...reading up on an online forum about this type of thing from other travellers... I found out that it's a scam where they befriend you and either get you to buy some baby milk and once youve gone sell it back to the shop for the money...or cry rape and you get a visit from the 'brothers' to take you to a cash machine.....It's a poor country...the poorest in S.E Asia...up until 20 years ago no one had cars!!...your heart goes out to them especially after what they've been through.....(I'm going to the "killing fields" and 's21' when I go to Phnom Penn)....but it just shows you how you can be duped, thank goodness for the spidey sense...... 

I did go back to Angkor wat for the last day of my 3 day pass...It was a good last day there, covering some of the ones previously seen, and a couple of new ones but they were building sites, abit dissapointing to see scaffolding but I suppose it needs to be done, ( cant have any 2 tonne bits of masonry falling on any of the selfie stick brigade can we..) I bumped into a Dutch couple who I met trekking in Sapa Vietnam a few weeks back, mad huh...small world.... I never did get to see Angelina Jolie in the end though...or the 'tomb raider' I did see where it was filmed...waited ages there....oh well.  It was sad to say goodbye to Angkor Wat, always a dream and now a tick off the bucket list....and loved every minute. 

For my last day in Siem Reap I arranged an excursion to Kompong Pluk (try saying that after a few) It's a little fishing village on stilts in the mangroves.....I was going with a group, so excited about that....I had a big breakfast and waited for the pick up. A guy on a moto pulls up, fearing I was going alone he said the bus was full and we would meet them, but along the way we had to pick someone else up. Victoria from Colombia was the young girl we picked up, so lovely, she spoke better English than me, and teaching media and photography as a volunteer here in Cambodia....we hit it off straight away, it's so nice having a conversation, it's been over a week i've not had a proper natter...anyway the time just flew by as we reached the boat and met up with the rest of the group...a few Brits, German couple, Chinese...and some Americans...I did recognise a Russian girl who I saw in Laos....so a pretty mixed group.. we got on the boat and headed for the fishing village, all the while chatting and taking photos...The village was as described, on stilts...at least 10 foot high...looked like a scene from Mad Max....kids punting and rowing boats past us...such a great place...we docked and had a stroll around. The 'stuppa' was blarring out some chanting tunes....how anyone didn't go mad with living with that noise i'll never know.....it goes on and on.....I took so many photos around that place it was brilliant, the people all smiling and friendly...apart from the two little gits throwing dead fish at you..could only have been 3 or four years old..the little scally wags....next we went to a barge from there, we could go into the mangrove on a canoe paddled by the local women...on the way in I saw aligator skulls and not 20 foot away from me ( I tried to get further away but the barge was only 20 ft)  was a dirty great python....along with the other snakes on the nights menu....there was no bloody way I was getting on a little bite sized canoe in this mangrove....so I stayed with Victoria...you know keeping her company as she was scared...;-)...

After seeing the sun set over the lake, we headed back to the dock....it was dark and we were speeding along this narrow canal....think the driver must eat his carrots because I couldn't see squat infront....we made it back though, and in one piece so always a bonus. I booked my ticket for Battambang that evening, we got dropped off in 'Bar Street' said our goodbyes then I had an authentic Cambodian....... Kentucky fried chicken.....(I have had Cambodian food...but it's rice, the meat could be anything from snake to rat....so sue me). I walked back to the hotel, past a million fruit bats hanging upside down in the trees.....honest... you know your in a foreign country when sparrows are replaced by bloody great fruit bats...I got back, re packed and had a sort through the photos I took...I put some on the various social media sites...got some excellent feedback from 500px....( a photographers site)...so chuffed...and a good few on my own site...you lucky people. Tomorrow I go to Battambang....I get to ride the Bamboo train....at last...to be continued.... 

Battambang, Cambodia.....4th Oct.

After getting up early, and a traditional Cambodian breakfast (or Khmer breakfast) of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, mushrooms and a hash brown....funny that it's so closely related to our very own "English breakfast"....;-)...I was fed and watered and raring to go. The mini bus came....a sort of Cambodian equivelant to the Russian trans Siberian train, in other words a wreck.....'am I going to Battambang in that?' the door didn't even close properly!! the aircon was the drafts through the holes in the floor, sides, and roof....it was like it was left over from a top gear show after they finished playing......Other westeners started to get picked up and their expression said it all, one asked the driver....he said 'no we were just getting picked up and taken to the bus'.....hope we make it to the other bus!!.....and I hope it was a damn sight better than this one....(it wasn't) Just then there was an almighty bang....'that's it we've hit an unexploded bomb!!!!!!!'....(we hadn't just adding abit of drama)....the driver eventually got off, inspected the rear tyre which had blown and decided by moving us all to the other side of the mini bus we were good to go.....honest....Luckily it was only a couple of kilometers to the bus station....I did fear we weren't going to make it....sometimes I wish I hadn't ...

We piled into the bus station, the smell of burning rubber from the deceased tyre, coming through the holes in the floor, walls and ceiling...we passed a couple of derelict buses, bit's of engine over the road.....turns out one was our bus!!... 5 hrs i'm on this thing...We set off anyway, well in for a penny in for a pound...I payed $10 for this ticket....I think I BOUGHT the bloody thing!..(and I was ripped off!) It is a poor country, I suppose it's the best they can do. We set off in a cloud of dust, not from the road but from the oil, and bits falling off, I had a seat to myself so at least could stretch out, we stopped every five minutes to let people on, it was a local bus and all part of the experience....but a bloody pain in the A....I was able to use the toilet each time we stopped, not that I needed it but I had 4 cups of tea at breakfast...(.I know I know...) will I ever learn...We stopped about half way for 40 minutes for lunch...it was like a scene from mad max....the locals selling the local culinary delights...and rice...in these big woks a couple were selling fried grasshoppers....(honest) I was going to buy a quater of a pound but they were covered in flies, you can't be too carefull...germs and all that...(yeh right!!!)  :-/..I looked for something else I could eat, there was boiled eggs but they were sitting in a tray ontop of the counter ....I think even the Salmonella caught Salmonella off them...I bought a bag of crisps...only a year out of date, and a bottle of water...it will be another 2 hours to go for Battambang, I'll get something there. The roads were pretty bad, the towns we passed through looked poor, but eventually we reached Battambang....(translates as 'the lost stick')...I did find out from Kim that it was a local legend, a poor farmer found a magic stick that gave him power...defeated the king...became king...then lost the stick by dropping it and couldn't find it...and all his powers went...( too much rice me thinks)....Although...now this is perfectly true, the Cambodians cook with Lemon grass, garlic, and whacky backy...I kid you not....this poor farmer was probebly high as a kite!!!!....('Lucy in the sky with dimonds'......farmer with magic bloody stick!!!! same...).

The town itself was very colonial, again run down, and straddled a river. I got a moto to my hotel, a guy called Kim told me all about Battambang on the ride there, a really nice guy. I asked him to take me around while I was here, he told me of the Khmer Rouge reign....what they did....It made me really sad, this guy lived through it, he was a lucky one....I asked if everyones been brought to justice? 'no'....'the trials are still ongoing'...what about the soldiers who carried out these atrocities? 'they were just doing what they were told, if not they died themselves...they were scared'....I saw his eyes and saw someone who witnessed some pretty grim stuff....

The hotel was really nice, I got some dinner and had alittle explore in town, there wasn't much to see, shops, restaurants, hotels....and the local markets...I decided to get Kim to take me to the 'Bamboo train' next morning Ive been itching to have ago since Pramod ( a guy I met trekking in SaPa ,Vietnam) told me about it.....on the way Kim explained that when the Khmer Rouge took over in 75' they marched everyone from the cities into the country to work the fields...and to die basically....anyone who was educated, spoke another language, wore glasses!! a teacher ,doctor, had soft hands was all executed...if they werent tortured first. All cars, motorbikes, lorries, trains etc, went to China to pay for the guns and bullets along with the nations rice stocks and anything of value....(don't you just love the Chinese...:-/) After the khmer Rouge was overthrown in 79 the people were free, but had no hospitals, cars, trucks, nothing.....so they used the old train tracks left over from the French Colonial era to 'punt' workers, food...and cargo between towns...in recent years the little engine was added to make things easier.....and its on one of these bamboo trains I will be riding today. 

We arrived at the station, an old derelict French era thing...outside was rows of these bamboo trains...and drivers waiting for the tourists to arrive. I payed my $10 and climed on...just a bamboo platform on two wheels and a motor.(not much different from the Russian trains....just more bits on ;-)). ...We took off, it was alot faster than i thought....but was absolutly fantastic...we hammered up the track through jungle, small settlements, all the time the wind in your face...I must have eaten about 10 flies, 2 butterflies, and an assortment of mozzis before I thought about closing my mouth....all part of the fun..we went for miles....eventually arriving at a little cluster of houses and market stalls...Little kids came running up to you selling bracelets, tshirts, bags, trousers etc....so lovely. We waited there for a little while and then got back on and thundered back the way we came...stopping every now and then so other bamboo trains could pass.....I took video and photos...check the link ....I loved it...great fun, and a good source of income for the locals. 

After the train ride I was buzzing, we went round Battambang, the Wats, the river, the markets. He dropped me off at the hotel and would pick me up again at 4pm as we were going to the bat caves to watch millions of bats fly out of this cave to find food....There was alot! and amazing to see, it was quite a tourist spectacle as there was about 30 other 'Motos' there with western tourists....and no one was covered in bat poop..:-) It was dark by the time we headed back....but a good day, it will be sad to say goodbye to Kim, he tried to marry me off to his sister you know.....a really nice guy. 

I didn't stay long in Battambang....quite frankly I've done the sites, the towns not that much of a draw...so booked my next leg to Phnom Phen, Cambodias capital. I made them repeat several times that it was a VIP mini bus I will be getting.....'and VIP means the same here as it does in Europe yeh??' ....'a mini bus with working doors, no holes in the floor...seats that move...?' .."oh yes sir...very nice bus" ....Next morning I got up had breakfast and waited.....I wasn't disappointed...it was a nice mini bus..aircon...little bottle of complimentry water (thats the VIP bit) and even played a movie...'the killing fields'....I was the only westener there...the rest were locals ..and the film was in English....hope they dont lynch me!!... Thankfully they didn't, although I was gutted I never got to finish the film, we stopped for lunch half way through....I didn't eat..but when we set off again they played music videos....Cambodian music videos....each song the same as the last except everyone wore different stuff...only another hour to Phnom Phen...We started to see more and more buildings and traffic....we were entering Phnom Phen suburbs, its alot poorer than most Asian cities Ive seen, but I like it, it has a soul, the people are nice, I'll be spending 4 days here as I'm arranging my visa for Myanmar....yes peeps i'm hopefully going to Myanmar..how cool is that..The visa is being processed as I write this, hopefully it will get approved, they are not that big into tourists there, the application was 3 A4 sheets...4 passport photo's...and hopefully some luck. I'll keep you posted. Ive been on the road 4 months now, and just want to keep going, i'm like a kid in a sweet shop....I did think about going back to Vietnam, but there's so much more out there...I also want to see Malaysia, Singapore, then who knows...the worlds my oyster..:-)

Phnom Phen 4th Oct....

I'm staying in a hotel on the banks of the river, in backpacker district. Its full of bars restuarants, and tourists...It's still not as busy as Vietnam, or Thailand...but busy for here. I had a wander round, found a seven eleven and bought a box of crunchy nut cornflakes, a big box of tea bags, and enough chocolate to make Bridget Jones cry.....'paradise'. I love this place....I walked past all the restaurants....Indian...kentucky...pizza places...and a lebenese place....Shawarma and hummus for lunch it is....not a grain of rice in sight...You do get abit of hassle from the tuk tuk drivers.....'Taxi'......"yes it is".....'motorbike taxi'....."it is indeed"....'hotel'....."and what a lovely one it is too".....they stand there with mouths open taken aback...while you make a quick gettaway....works everytime. I booked a tuk tuk for the next day to go and see the 'killing fields' and S21....I'm preparing myself mentally as I know it will be tough to see, beneath this rugged macho exterior im a big softy....honest...;-)...(hard to imagine I know ;-0) ...Just a little back ground history lesson, in 1975, the Khmer Rouge took over, they marched ALL the population out of all the cities into the countryside to make them work in the fields....anyone who was 'westernised', wore glasses had soft hands, spoke another language, doctors, lawyers, teachers, educated, or didn't fit into the Khmer Rouge ideal were executed.....taken to camps and never seen again.....these became known as the killing fields.....it's estimated 3 million Cambodians were killed....a quater of the entire population of Cambodia, and all this happened 30 odd years ago.....in my lifetime....so sad to look at these people now and imagine what they've been through....

I did go to the Killing fields and S21 (the prison used by the Khmer Rouge)....it was as every bit as sad,  and layed heavy on your heart, how can people do this? I was really upset by it...it was something I had to see, I think it's something everyone should see....what a messed up world we live in. 

I popped into the visa place today, check on the progress, it will be ready Thurdsay....hopefully with a stamp in...fingers crossed. I had a good ol walk around, lost in thought, along the river, through the markets, past the palace....then treated myself to a curry...and had an early night, I was drained.

Phnom Phen 7th Oct....still here...

 Today is Wednesday, I'm up early, had a bowl....well big mug ...of crunchy nut cornflakes and two cups of tea...( Chocolate went last night).....I've got an option of going to the museum or gun range to shoot a AK 47 or RPG....yes you can fire a rocket off here for $40 ...(get Charlotte Church and Russell Brand here and infront of me and Ill gladly pay) ;-) I might just have a lazy day, we shall see, but at least I got to catch up on the blog.........i'm planning to head down to Kampot and along the coast after here, the beaches are supposed to be nice....i'll work my way along the coast then upto Kratie, it's on the Mekong river and home to the Irwady dolphins.....yep dolphins in the Mekong...Ive got until the 24th October on my Visa so plenty of time to visit those, I don't want to cram in too much, it does get knackering, I found that out in China, doesn't really give you a chance to take it in, everythings a blurr....so with that plan, I shall leave you for today and update you again soon.......thanks for reading....and stay tuned............  

Kampot and Sihanoukville.....life's a beach.....

I did leave Phnom Pehn eventually.  I now have my visa for Myanmar, I've booked a flight for the 24th of October into Yangoon....(Rangoon) so chuffed. To celebrate I booked a VIP minibus to Kampot, an old colonial town on the river, it has good reviews and it's only a couple of hours away, I like Phnom Pehn but want to move on....I'm coming back anyway as I fly from here in two weeks...So another bus trip.... It was meant to be a two hour journey, (turned out to be nearer 4 hrs even at breakneck speed).....the roads were rammed with motorbikes though....it was a holiday...4 days..( it sounds like the day of the dead festival in Spain...they eat, meet family, and celebrate the dead reletives).....and i'm travelling....planned that well didn't I....they were literaly like a swarm of ants these motorbikes, each one carrying families...3 sometimes 4 people on one bike.....or loaded with enough luggage or shopping even the average car would be rammed, I don't know how they do it....I did notice as well the billboards along the roads were huge 'graphic'...and I mean graphic... photos of road crashes...with a caption I can only assume (it was in Khemer).. was "don't try to be a Shummacker"...or "don't eat rice and drive"....The mini bus driver was unmoved by the billboards or the congestion ahead, I can honestly say we spent more time on the opposite side of the road than that....this didn't mean the opposite side of the road was any less busy!!! he was using his "magic horn" ....when he blasts it..( and he didn't take his hand off it I can assure you!!)....(obviously Vietnamese by birth)...when he blasts it we are immune to death....a kind of invisibility cloak....the horror on the oncoming drivers faces as they swerved in ,lights flashing...horn blarring...was my only recollection, then i shut my eyes and listened to Mumford and sons on my earphones....The 'magic horn' must have worked....I made it to Kampot, nerves shot to hell, but alive...The town itself didn't look much, rather rundown. It was also very quiet....maybe everyone was left in the wake of this lunatic mini bus driver? I had a little way to walk to the hotel, it was given great reviews on Booking.com...really cheap so a winner, it was a young French couple running it, a lovely little place. I had some dinner and had an early night, for tomorrow I hired a tuk tuk to take me around the farms, fishing villages and countryside. Love exploring like that, it helps the locals, and I get a genuine personal experience. ...plus I'm not going on no mini bus tour....still shaking from yesterday!! 

 Next morning, fully recovered I had my 'ethnic egg and bacon butty'...and a cuppa...;-) and was picked up. I explained the places I wanted to see, and off we chugged, the fishing village was dead....no one stirred, boats were mored up, but apart from the odd dog, no one. We trundled off to the farms and rice fields....again no one....I asked the tuk tuk driver...(you should know me by now about names)....he just said "its a holiday, everyone gets drunk and no one works"....why he couldn't tell me this earlier, but I should have known...I paid him off and walked into the town square, there's a few western bars and restaurants, some closed up...but it was nice sitting by the river I had something to eat....then noticed a French pastry shop...'oooohhh cake'...so I had a cake and a cuppa...you know, to calm my nerves..... ( yes the diets going very well thank you...). I decided to head down to the beaches,  there was nothing going on around here, at least not for a few days until all the hangovers wear off..... I'll spend a few days ....maybe a week having a chill on a beach...... (You all may think this is a holiday, but i'm bloody knackered:-))...the break will do me good....just hope the monsoons finish..

Again I was on another mini bus the next day, if I could see my own bum I bet it's black and blue!!!!!....it's not a long trip to Sihanoukville, all the locals are on their backs in a hangover state so it should be a good trip. There were quite a few westeners on this one, the driver didn't have a death wish and we made it no problem. The place itself was not fancy, it will boom one day i'm sure, the rundown shops will be replaced by modern skyrises...and I suppose loose alot of it's charm. There's alot of bars....and I mean ALOT...restaurants ...travel agencies...and hotels...it was a backpacker beach party kind of place, but it's changing it's image....the development has started already...Im staying in Otres beach, about 3klm further down, the beaches are alot quieter, cleaner, and no hippies with a blue face arms jigging..raving the night away....The hotel is nice, right on the beach, and backs onto a river...see the photos..the beach is lovely, not too crowded, and dotted along are shacks and restaurants selling all kinds of foods and massages, kayaks etc...paradise, reminds me of Goa, i'm going to like it here..:-)......i'll finish this off and write more later....

Lifes a beach.......Otres beach cambodia..

Feeling more relaxed now ive decided to to pen to paper again or at least keyboard to tablet...I'm sitting here now on the beach, watching the waves lap infront of me on white sand....it's not all roses as it's raining, yes still monsoon season. It only lasts a while, freshens everything up and the sun comes out, it gives me a chance to get a bite to eat, and a drink....plus I don't want to be getting burnt now do i?..I like it here, well who wouldn't? I did a little stint into town but the place was rammed...it was still the holidays for many Cambodians, it ended yesterday but the litter left behind is horrible. I did some shopping anyway, bought some more teabags, cornflakes...fruit bran for a bit of roughage ...milk and some chocolate...I found a bar that does roast dinners!!! ROAST DINNERS!!!!! yorkshire puds, stuffing the works...this really is paradise. I couldn't decide between chicken or pork so had both....all for  $5......thats £3 pounds...I came back here to Otres beach, it's alot quieter, I'm stocked up, fed and watered. Ive taken a few photos, mainly of the sunset which is absolutly amazing.  The rest of the time walking along the beach soaking it all in, dodging the 'pits' kids have dug.....honestly how can toddles dig down that far? they may look like innocent holes, but falling in them when your not looking is not funny....and don't try booting a sandcastle in frustration when you get out....the little gits fill them with rocks now!!! Don't get me started on the people who sell sunglasses, you sit there wearing your shades.... (except when it rains. ...that would look silly)...and up they come....'want to buy sunglasses??....I point to my pair ....I think it is lost on them as they ask again....you also have the massage ladies to contend with, don't try pretending your asleep either, that doesn't deter them from grabing your foot and start rubbing away....'massage sir???' ...."no thank you" .....next thing there's another couple rubbing your back or arm..."NO MASSAGE PLEASE"!!!! to cap it off they come back a few hours later..."massage sir??"....Apart from that it was relaxing....I did start to get itchy feet feet though...(and not from the massage)....so I booked my mini van ticket back to Phnom Pehn next day, my plan was to go to Kratie, but no buses go direct, so an overnight in the capital and next day i'll leave. That was the plan anyway.......

Phnom Pehn.....highway to hell......:-)

Next day I was packed and checked out, a moto took me to the bus station, I had something to eat...thank goodness I did...the mini bus came and we got on...alarmbells should have rang when I saw the block behind the back wheel...(no handbrake, what else doesn't work??...the bloody horn worked though!!!) I also had to get in the front up with the driver as it was over booked....'Not to worry only a couple of hours'.....yeh right!! We took off and was hammering up the road at breakneck speed.....to this day I'm not sure what side of the road Cambodians are supposed to drive on!!!!....magic horn blarring away!!!!....We were on th road for about and hour and a half, then all of a sudden he pulled over quickly as the engine had died....terrific...we all got out by the side of the road, the driver broke off a tree and put it behined the bus about 2oo meters along the road....and did the same in the front....(Cambodian style warning signal) at least he was safety concious ....or camouflaging the mini van???? he did have a little try with the engine, but eventually after nearly two hours we weren't going anywhere.....a couple of the Cambodian passangers hitched rides.....he called his company and we were picked up by some mini vans passing by, a few of us at a time as they were nearly full,  I waited for the last one to come along, eventually one stopped and we got on, I was at the back....not my favorite spot...but made worse by the women sitting along from me pukking her guts up into a carrier bag...for the entire journey....what should have been a two hour trip was SIX hours... Eventually we reached Phnom Pehn...I checked into a nice hotel (every now and then I break the budget and go upmarket...;-))...as it was only for one night....But in the morning I was told it was 6 to 8 hours to Kratie (sod that!!!)I'm off buses for a while so decided to spend my last few days here in Phnom Pehn instead, posh hotel as well, sod it! There's still lots to see, I like the expat scene here, you can meet people and at least have a conversation, ive missed that being on the beach....felt like buying a football and calling it 'Wilson'...;-)... I went to the Irish bar and watched the rugby, had another roast dinner....yey....and got chatting away, then next day I did a cruise on the river and got chatting to an Australian couple, so I booked 4 days in this nice hotel, eating "meat loaf" ....roasts..curries...done all my washing...bought some more photo memory cards...downloaded some films tv programmes and music....backed up all my photos...( 12,000 so far!!! .....I have ALOT of editing to do!! ;-) ).....and fully charged again....

Phnom Pehn.....the last day...

I've been in Phnom Pehn 4 days now, i'm ready to leave I think. I'm moving up to an hotel near the airport tomorrow, I've an early start next morning and don't want to take any chances with the traffic and that. I've had a good wander about, camera free (just a funny feeling I have) Been through the markets, less touristy streets...seen some sights I can tell you, it's quite a seedy place, I didn't realise..... young girls being exploited. Heartbreaking.

 I sit here now overlooking the river, motos flashing past rammed to the gills with people or stuff..beggers walking along stopping at every westener they see... every moto I pass parked up ask if I want to go somewhere......'No thank you'....then parked infront the next bloke asks you the same thing...."moto?"......'no thanks'...."where you go?"......'just here'..."you want ganja?".....I must look like a hippy now as I've never been asked before and get asked every 5 feet I walk  now......I've noticed alot of old blokes with a young girl on their arm....( think this must be the Viagra capital of the world! ;-)) I've seen alot of people wearing the red and white chequered scarf....I always assumed it was the sign of the Khmer Rouge???....a confusing place. It's a poor country, give it another few years and it will be like Vietnam or Thailand. Ive enjoyed cambodia, I loved Angkor Wat...the beaches...but I still liked Vietnam more. Don't get me wrong its an amazing place, and I recommend anyone to come, you will have a great experience, but it's time to say bye to Cambodia......

Im excited to get to Burma now, i've done abit of background reading, got a list of places to see, ( the internets a wonderful thing..) so have a plan. Ive got a hotel in Yangon  (Rangoon) booked for the first couple of nights, also got a flight out booked (To Malaysia....did I not say??? ;-) decided to go there as well on the 15th November.... I LOVE TRAVEL!!!!) also, incase they ask me for proof of onward travel at customs..( see ...always thinking ahead)..Ive been on the British embassy website and no travel restrictions or worries there, even though they have elections on the 8th November...may even see history in the making..So with all bases covered Ive stocked up on tea bags...(but as ive read online about Burma, they love tea!!....a legacy left over from British rule....I love these people already!!!) I'm still off rice, I have tried a couple of times for a local dish..without much succsess I'm afraid. I'm not sure if Burma will be as touristy as here....bet I wont find any roast dinners there....oh well...maybe i'll be surprised and find another British legacy left over...;-) I shall keep you posted. 😆