The End

And so that's it. This will be my last ever Cambodia blog. Before I left for this trip I did wonder how I would get on by myself in terms of getting from a - b unharmed and without drama. I have to say there were a few glitches on the way, but I'm back in one piece. I kind of figured I'd be ok because on previous travels I've been run over, knife wounded and poisoned, so if bad things happen in threes, I thought I'd be good for a wee two and a half week trip around Asia.

What could possibily have gone wrong?

Same same, but different

King of Cambodia


Kids at Angkor Wat


Cherrri, Trent & Sudjet on a very dark beach.

Home time!

"it's a great adventure, your life"

Theres a distant knocking on the door and someone is calling my name from miles away. I am awoken from the best dream ever under my enormous pink drapery of a mosquito net that makes me feel like a princess. Gradually I am roused from my dream to the reality of Gemma knocking and banging on my bamboo hut calling, "Linds, Linds, LINDSSS, are you up yet? The bus leaves in 20 minutes". When I realise where I am I put on my best, I've been awake for at least 10 minutes voice of " YES, YES, just finishing up packing". Its 0607, I throw myself from my bed and run round the room in dizziness filling my pack with everything I own and put clothes on at the same time. 7 minutes later I open my door with a smile. This is the begining of my 38 hour journey back to London, England.

My last few days in Cambodia were magical. On route to Vietnam, Cherri and Trent took a wee detour to Sihanoukville and turned up at my hut with mischievous grins on their faces. I introduced them to Matt and Gemma and off we went for the next few days. We hung out at a lovely beach side food place, Coasters with Sudjet the owner who told us stories of how he lives, what his family do and how much doctors and police people get paid monthly ($25). By day I swam in the sea, dodging all the jellyfish, ate as may fish amouk's as humanly possible and drank rum. It was a great way to end my travels and I couldn't have wished to spend it with better people.

So, after 2 buses, 2 tuk tuks and 2 planes I have arrived home back in England. The final aeroplane journey from Bangkok to London was no fun at all, infact it was the worst I have ever experienced. For some unexplained reason I turned quite ill and was in pain for most of the journey, which felt like forever in economy. This is not important, what is important and I would like to share is that when a member of the crew spotted that I was in some distress they came over to enquire as to whether I would like some drugs. "What do you have I responded?". They returned 20 seconds later with a 4, A4 pages stapled together with a list of symptoms and drugs at their disposal. I'm not talking just your average paracetamol or ibuprofen. I'm talking Valium, Tylenol, Dihydrocodeine and many many other items that I'm sure could sedate a small pony if need be. Anyway, I was given charcoal tablets of all things, which turned my teeth, fingers and tougue black, but would cure my ills. They did not.

And so I will end my blog in the comfort of my mothers home whilst being fed to my speedy recovery and requested to get in to a very fancy deep maroon bridesmaid's dress. Cambodia was amazing, it was the people that made it for me, is because they are Buddhist's I wonder? Everywhere I went I was greeted with a smile and lucky enough to spend time with locals finding out about their lives and sharing information on what we all get up to back home. Its a marvellous place and I would recommend to all. Next on the list Thailand.

Final blogger fact: Nearly all men in Cambodia are given at least six months paid leave from work so they can become a monk and live in a temple.
Final bonus blogger fact: Cambodia has ATM's. If you ever travel there do not take travellers cheques.

A few pictures: .............. will later be on their way, due to mother having dial up.

Marvellous

Regulations at S-21 genocide centre, market in Siem Riep,
ídeal moped family + 1, water festival boat race in Phnom Phen, beach at Sihanoukville

ah koon

When I was at school I learnt about the 'ideal nuclear family'. This, if I remember rightly consists of a mother, father and 2 children. In Cambodia they do not have the ideal nuclear family, they have the 'ideal moped family'. This consists of 1 child around the age of 2-5 standing at the front of the moped, holding on to the speedometer, father - driving, 2nd child behind - normally around the age of 6-12 and then mother on the back. When I return to London I am going to attempt to recreate this on Luka. Anyone who would like to join me please send CV's to blog.

Anyway, I left Siem Reip a couple of days later than planned so I could stay with a few people. I loved SR and felt sad to leave. We got to know a few of the locals and saw a different side to Cambodia. I was taken out to the poorer areas to have a look at how people live in contrast to the semi poverty of the town. It amazes me how everyone has a smile on their face regardless of situation of circumstance. They should jump on the London underground, that'd wipe the smiles off their faces.

I paid $4 for a 6 hour ride on a hot hot bus to Phnom Phen. There I was accosted by around 20 tuk tuk drivers wanting to take me to a guest house of their desire. I sat down at the bus station and pretended to be catching a connection until they had lost interest and then legged it into to the town centre.....although, it wasn't actually the town centre, it was in completely the opposite direction. I keep telling myself its all part of travelling without a brilliant directional friend. I have to say this was a minor 'blip' compared to other occurrences.

I have been the genocide museum: S-21 in Phnom Phen. It was a school that the Khmer Rouge turned in to a prison camp and torture chambers for over 13,000 people from 1975 - 1979. Most of those being doctors, teachers, government officials and the educated. After S-21 they were sent off to the killing fields to be shot or beaten to death and tipped in to mass graves. It was horrific and unbelievable that something like this could happen in our generation. I kept thinking that when this was happening I was on the other side of the world probably playing on my bicycle or at school.

Today, I arrived in Sihanoukville after a 5 hour bus ride with Matt and Gemma from Egg Ham (yummy) in the area of Surrey. They are very relaxing to be around and great people to spend my last few days lying on Serendipity beach, playing in the sea and keeping the kids busy with making us bracelets. Its a beautiful place with beach bars and cafes along the ocean and fireworks being set off by little people all over the place. We are staying at Cool Banana's for $5 a night in awesome wooden huts just a stones throw away from the beach....I know this because I threw a stone and it hit the sand.

H, I said hello to Mr happy pizza for you. Derek, if you are reading this I'm going to post a picture of the King of Cambodia later because you bear an uncanny resemblance to him. Jackie, yes, there are heaps of people here in your age bracket of 25-65, you would love it.

Blogger day fact: Once a year, at the end of the monsoon the tonle sap river reverses its flow and pushes water up steam in to the tonle sap lake which then floods surrounding fields and forests.

A few photos

Reclining Buddha at Wat Po - Bangkok, Einar at Banteay Kdei, my adopted kids, entrance in to Banteay Kdei, monks at Angkor Wat, me on the streets of Siem Reip, sandstone heads outside Angkor Thom

There are 19 trillion mopeds in Bangkok

200 meters up the Khao San Road on the left hand side is a petrol station. By day it sells fuel and by night small yellow metal tables and chairs appear around the pumps. Candles are lit (yes, naked flames) and placed on all the tables where tourists sit and drink beer. When I walked passed there were only Americans seated getting drunk. I dinned last night with a lady named Lisa from Hamburg, she also said the petrol station was filled with American people. I wonder why?

So, after 48 minutes on a fearsomely small plane with propellers I have arrived in Cambodia. It is with some luck that I was able to get a visa on entry because the last time I saw my completed application and passport photos they were on my desk at work. Cambodia is completely different to anything I have ever seen before. When I flew in I thought we were over the sea only to realise there was a the roof top of a house and it was in the middle of a flooded field. The monsoon is coming to an end which means its hotting up every day, but still ever so humid. Its reaching around 38oC. Its taken me until now to get used to it, everything I do is in slow motion.

I've been travelling around with a lovely chap from Norway. His name is Eiran, hes some kind of political historian, he likes food and the economist mag so we have lots to talk about. A couple of nights ago we ate at a large local street side stall and I fear attracted too much attention when giving away our beef noodles to 3 kids, ordering more for ourselves, giving these to more hungry kids and ordering more. This happened 3 more times until we left the table without eating and looked back to see 12 kids digging in to all the noodles. It made a change to be asked for food and not money, at least then you know its going to the right place. It did cause a bit of a commotion which made me feel a little uncomfortable so we left quickly.

I'm in a small town with orange sand all over the place called Siem Reap. It has a river running through it, a few markets and brilliant places to eat (pork with ginger and Khmer beef curry are my two favourites so far). Its a bit of a party town by night, but a great place to meet people from all over the world. I'm still recovering from a visit to the Angkor What? bar last night where we met a lovely OZ couple Trent and Cherri who have given me some good tips for moving on to Phnom Phen tomorrow.

Today is my day of doing nothing after a 0400 start yesterday for a visit to amazingly massive Angkor Wat and all its surrounding temples (I'm about to attempt to post some pictures of it). The whole site is spread over 300 sq kilometres and after 15 hours of exploring I felt like I had covered every inch. My favourite, that others did not rate at all is a relatively small grey sandstone temple called Banteay Kdei. As you enter you pass through a huge stone arch with four beautiful heads looking in all directions, the temple is set in between two lakes full of water lilies with a forest behind. As you walk though loads of the huge stones have collapsed, all with intricate carvings and Sanskrit inscriptions. There are Buddha statues everywhere, mostly with their heads lopped of. The whole place is mystical and I thought brilliant.

Blogger day fact: Between 1979 and 1987 there were 10 million land mines planted in Cambodia. Because none of these were mapped no one knows where they are and many of them still exist.

What is a lady boy please?

After one very long flight, one watchable movie (Romeo & Juliet: A monkeys' Tale), three non-descript meals and two outstanding podcasts, I have made it to Bangkok. I've even made a friend along the way by the name of Ghan. He taught me my first two words in Thai, of which, when I repeated back he giggled like a child (I wanted to say girl, but feared naming him a lady boy). I have been invited to stay with his family upon my return to Bangkok and attend his nephews graduation and eat his mothers 'amaazeeing' pad Thai. Only in Asia could this happen, I can't imagine meeting a complete stranger on the Heathrow express and inviting them to my sisters wedding..... although the thought is now crossing my mind.

Bangkok is outstanding. I'm staying just off the ever so infamous Khoa San Road, which I have just spent the last couple of hours exploring amongst other avenues and alleyways. Its one ever so long road full of anything and everything you could ever want to buy. The smells, colours, heat, sounds and locals are overwhelming. There are old and new buildings all mixed together with trees and temples sporadically placed in between. I've had to hold my nose and shut my eyes a few times when walking past food stalls with bits of animals that I'm sure should not be eaten. Speaking of which, I've just consumed an amazing pad thai on the road side and watched the people pass by. At the moment I'm liking the travelling with just myself. It feels more mysterious and lots more people come up to you to say hello, although in my case on two occasions it has been to enquire about the large plastic, casio calculator watch I'm wearing on my right arm. To me this seems like a logical thing to don, the baht here is in millions.

So, to end I feel I have achieved alot today, like getting to Bangkok(albeit to the wrong airport, but it was only like flying in to Gatwick when you think you're going to Heathrow), exploring a small part of Bangkok, booking a flight to Siem Reap for sunday morning and eating great food.

I'm so jet lagged and totally over excited, which is probably making me look like I'm on speed. I am not. I need my bed.