Cambodia



Hot and flat then it gets hotter and flatter.

We took a bus from Bangkok to a very hectic border crossing. The scams start as soon as you arrive. Fake offices charging for forms and who knows what. We ignored it all and went to see the men in pointy hats and funky uniforms who sternly warn you not to give money to anyone and then try and overcharge you but we had visas already.

Lots of people trying to help you get on a very expensive bus. They offer a free shuttle to a way out bus station to trap you in their prices. Nothing like a stress free arrival. Liz threw a wobbler and beat the tout down so much in price his cronies were all laughing at him. We still had to pay the guy a $2 bribe for his service. For me Liz and 2 girls from Hong Kong we met it was $40 for about a 300km taxi ride.

We sorted a hotel and went for dinner. Liz got extras as a beetle crawled out from under her noodles as she was about to start eating.

We tootled about on bikes for a day and came across a crocodile farm and gift shop.

"Helping us to preserve nature"

By turning crocs into handbags for you.



The Temples of Angkor was our aim so back on bikes past a man with three pigs tied to the back of his moped. They were magnificent set in lush jungle and straight out the Lara Croft movie but for me, a must if you're passing but not worth a specific trip. I enjoyed riding round on the bike the most but if old temples are you're thing you'll love it. It's busy though so don't expect tranquility.



We headed to the capital Phnom Penh which seemed quite chilled out for a capital city in Asia. We had cable TV so went to a supermarket to make cheese butties, hurray for the French Empire and leaving behind their skills in bread making, buy a quart bottle of something pretending to be whiskey and lots of coke. TV a drink and no mopeds trying to run you over. Bliss believe me. It ended badly though as I thought Liz was helping out on the drinking front though as I finished the bottle she told me she had drunk non of it. It wasn't pretty.

We headed off to S21 the next day. A school Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had converted into a prison. You were sent there if you were a

"counter revolutionary Imperialist"

wore glasses, were educated, or they didn't like the look of you. Also all of Cambodia's thriving bands and singers ended up here.

Of the 20,000 people who passed through the gates 6 survived. Inside are the cells and torture instuments which are mainly hammers, clubs and garden spades. When shooting them at the end became too expensive they beat them to death which was probably a relief looking at the place. There are countless photo's taken of the victims upon arrival. Faces looking confused, resigned to their fate and sheer terror. The guards were all young as they were easier to manipulate and most of them ended up being killed as well. Insanity on a depressingly common scale for our species. The Killing Fileds are near by, the mass collection of skulls of some 15000 people. I was planning on going but knew it would now be to see a grizzly spectacle and not for any better reason. I decided it would be better for myself and my soul not to. You find yourself looking at older people wondering what did you do when all this was going on, anything to survive I imagine. As we left we saw our first motorbike crash which is suprising considering the organised chaos. Although we had no hassle here and we only visited 2 towns I'd have to say I wont be back, too hot too flat.



Vietnam



Saigon city of 10 million people and 5 million mopeds all driving down the street you need to cross. Step off a curb and walk across. No one slows down but they do swerve around you, running is a bad idea and roundabouts are just utter chaos. On one insanely busy road we had been dithering on for a while a pensioner helped us across laughing at us all the while. Im not proud and was desperate to get to the cinema for a few hours of air-conditioning and relative calm. Paying for dinner with a half million dong note and our train tickets cost 2890000 dong. Thats a lot of Dong and not many dollars!

A day out to the Chi Cu tunnels were the Vietnamese hid underground,16000 of them, while fighting the Americans. The locals dont call it the Vietnam War but the American War. A grissly array of man traps and hideholes to shoot people from. We went down a 200m long tunnel to see what it was like. Small dark and hot. It had also been made bigger for fat westerners to get through, it was still small.

Yes you can also go on the shooting range. Machine gun anyone. I opted for the infamous AK-47. 10 bullets for $10. Fun to try but disturbingly there was a few backpackers all glassy eyed and over excited after firing a gun. Maybe they dont get enough excitement at the weekend or have never been around guns before, a bit disturbing after S 21 really.

Visited a few war museums very patriotic and propogandist but after seeing how they fought and for how long against Chinese,French then American forces I don't blame them.



On a lighter note they have great coffee here and some fantastic food. My tender beef soup was the tenderest beef I have ever eaten. I passed on the frog porridge and pig offal stew though. Off on a train tonight for a 2 day ride to Hanoi and a lovely 13 degrees. We arrive on Chinese New Year the same as landing in London on Xmas Day. Its going tobe interesting especially as it will be 4 a.m.when we get there.