Jun 17, 2013 - Quiet day - Kampot to Sihanouk Ville

Hi folks. Welcome to today’s episode. To be honest, by comparison, it has been a quiet day. Not a good sleep night and I got up at 5.30, still feeling tired but it was best foot forward and into the shower. Feeling more refreshed, I did a bit of packing and sorted paperwork for the day ahead. The hotel had booked a taxi for me to take me the 105 km from Kampot to Sihanouk Ville but it wasn’t due until 11.00. Plenty of time for breakfast! I am cutting down on food now ;) otherwise I shall be putting on weight. I had omelette and bacon with...

Jun 16, 2013 - wet, wet, wet Kampot

Hi from a soggy Kampot. When I said wet, wet, wet for the title of today’s little offering, I wasn’t kidding, its monsoon wet. And what did I do on such a wet day? I can’t believe I’m going to tell you, less I’m carted off to the mad house when I get home. Well it’s not really my fault as I did ask the weather god to give me a decent day and up to now he has answered my prayers, but not today. Before I decide if I’m going to tell, I had better quickly give you breakfast details. Nothing unusual this morning, just 2 eggs, bacon and French...

Jun 15, 2013 - I have luxury in Kampot

Good morning folks. Unusual as it is so far, I am starting the blog at 7.30. Not the best of nights sleep. It was pouring torrents all night and what with the a/c unit deciding to sing to me, it wasn’t good for sleep. (I can hear the odd comment ‘I bet it was all that food lying on his stomach’ but not true!). Every cloud as they say has a silver lining and I am sitting here feeling chuffed with myself. Yes I did leave packing till this morning and there seemed an impossible amount to get in my suitcase as there were several souvenirs...

Jun 14, 2013 - Beautiful Kep and its violent past.

Hi Folks What a gem of a place is Kep. The guide book says nothing much to do here but I could spend weeks photographing, everything from lovely people, market life, seaside and fantastic old villas ruined during the Khmer Rouge period. I found another gem of a tuk tuk driver named Lim who was my guide for much of the day. We set off along the coast road after picking me up from the hotel at about 9.00 and stopped at various points to take pics. Several touristy pics to start, just to give a flavour of the place. They seem to have spent a...

Jun 13, 2013 - Travelling to Kep (on the South Coast)

Good evening from Kep on the South Coast. The day started with a bit of a hassle. I always wake early so didn’t use alarm. When I did wake up it was 7.15. 1.5 hours later than I wanted! I was shaved and in and out of the shower in no time. Packing is usually one of my good points but I sort of tipped everything in and when case was totally full and I was struggling with the zipper, there were still lots unpacked. Luckily I took a spare rucksack which came into its own So that left me with one big case, my heavy camera rucksack and my spare....

May 17, 2013 - The beach

Went to the beach for one night Worth the four hour bus ride. It was a good, if quick, respite from the city. Cool breeze, one crazy rain storm, good sunning weather this AM. Nothin' like a topless back rub on the beach with the sound of the ocean and Zac Brown blaring in your ears. The peddlers were relentless, pushy, and untrustworthy. Made you wanna hide out in the hotel after a couple hours of harassment. We are on the tail end! Back in the capital and just booked our posh hotel in Bangkok for the last two nights of our SE Asia tour!

Apr 7, 2013 - Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Sihanoukville Cambodia is a contrast between beautiful beach resorts with stunning white sand beaches and the simple rustic life of most of the locals not involved with the tourist industry. We visited the small rural village (I use the term “village” very loosely here!) of Puthuong, which had 500 or so residents scattered about the rice paddies and forest. The simple homes had no electricity or plumbing. They cooked over wood or coal in a very simple kitchen about the size of a closet in the States. The windows were mostly left over...

Jan 16, 2013 - Visiting Sihanoukville

Named for the former King, Sihanoukville's coastline is bedecked with sandy beaches and sprinkled with picture perfect tropical islands fringed with swaying coconut trees. Feast on fantastic local seafood, take a day trip snorkeling the coral reefs and exploring the islands, or just sit back in a deck chair and let the warm breeze caress you as the waves wash gently at your feet. It doesn't get much better then this.

Jan 14, 2013 - Visiting Kampot

Drifting eastward along the coast today a 2 hour drive brings us to Kampot, home of the Bokor National Park and world famous for the Kampot peppers. You may wish to visit Rabbit Island or spend some time at the beach-side town of Kep, famous for its fresh crabs.

Jan 9, 2013 - The motorcycle diaries - Cambodian version

Today I took my trusty bike aka "lil' bullet" for a ride along the coast to the beachside town of Kep. Kep is affectionately known to the ex pats in Kampot as being a bit gay and pretty much a rubbish place to visit. Then again the same ex pats call backpackers snails, when they have a pack on, slugs when they don't and pregnant snails when they have a pack on front and back! So off i rose on lil' bullet across some pretty bad road. its easy to navigate in this part of the world. Most of the roundabouts have statues on it, so its straight...

Jan 8, 2013 - The Zoo

Today has been a very exciting day for me. Firstly I've been riding around town on a bright flouro lime bike, which has been lots of fun. Then i went out to a local zoo, Teuk Chhou Wildlife Education Park, that is in desperate need of repair. Fortunately the zoo has turned the corner and the group running the zoo now are trying to fix everything up. The animals look healthy and are being looked after properly, which is good and now they are aiming to develop some better enclosures. For my small $25 donation, I walked around the zoo with a...

Jan 7, 2013 - Kampot

Another travel day today, to the riverside coastal town of Kampot. I'm staying at the Ganesha eco-resort. its really nice location, although the room is quite basic, but its an authentic Khmer hut on stilts. I better not drink too much beer then as the climb up the ladder is difficult sober. Tomorrow is going to be exciting though. I'm hiring a motorbike for the day and going to help out at the local zoo and hopefully feed and clean some animals.