Nov 28, 2004 - Phnom Penh

Yesterday we took a fast boat down the Tonlé Sap River from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. We (I am still traveling with the 3 Aussie ladies and men from Germany and England) had a very early start at 5:30 am and took a mini bus ride to the dock. Our mini bus driver did not speak much English and we completely confused him trying to get all 6 of us picked up from our guesthouses, since we had changed guesthouses since we booked the tickets. Much door slamming a cursing (very unusual for Cambodians) later we were on our...

Nov 27, 2004 - Phnom Penh

Apres notre pause plage a Koh Chang, nous voila partis pour le Cambodge. Le passage de la frontiere entre la Thailande et le Cambodge se fait tres facilement. Le niveau de vie n'est plus du tout le meme de l'autre cote. Nous passons une nuit a la ville frontiere puis nous prenons un mini-bus direction Phnom Penh. Il ne s'agit plus de route goudronnee mais d'une bonne vieille piste avec plusieurs traversees de bras du Mekong en bateau-plateforme. Le paysage est magnifique, la nature est vraiment tres belle: cela correspond exactement aux...

Nov 27, 2004 - Phnom Penh - Killing Fields, Torture building and Cambodian History

Another early start to get to the airport for our 08:10 flight to Phnom Penh. Everyone is up and ready on time despite have a few sherberts the night before. We get to the airport and learn an important lesson on the need to pack tidily. The scanning machine for luggage being put in the hold is broken and so security are opening all the bags and searching them by hand. Luckily before they get to us the airport decide to use the scanner in international departures to scan the bags and we don't have to expose all of our dirty laundry to...

Nov 26, 2004 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

26-11-04 At long last we could lie in bed all day, well we lasted till midday anyway. We had been told that we had arrived on the second day of the three day river festival which was a big celebration marking the reversal of the tide on the Tonel Sap river and the onset of the dry season. After a quick trek round the Phsar Thmei Central Market which has a massive dome in the centre and selling food, jewellery, clothes, flowers, all the usual wares, we bought t-shirts and a book, then headed for the river to check out the action. Streets...

Nov 25, 2004 - Cambodia - Phnom Penh

Having left Thailand, Cambodia was a bit of a culture shock arriving at Koh Kong where we crossed the border and where we needed to stay one night before heading down to Phnom Penh. It was at the guesthouse here that we met our Cambodian travelling buddies in the form of Alex, Kev and Phil, 3 northern lads that didn't have the foggiest idea what they were doing! After a night in Koh Kong the 5 of us plus 2 Germans bundled into a mini bus and began the long and eventful journey to Phnom Penh. Having been told that it would only take 5 hours,...

Nov 18, 2004 - Cambodia; Phnom Penh

I'm thinking that this could be the shortest entry yet about a place. We found Phnom Penh boring to say the least. We arrived at lunch time off the boat and were surrounded by about 100 touts all wanting to take us to their hotel. We managed to get through about 75 of them (you think i'm joking but they were everywhere and grab your to get you on their bus. We were luckyu and there was a tout there from where we were going to head to. The place was ok cos there was a huge sitting area that went out across the lake, but the food was a bit...

Nov 15, 2004 - What to do in Phnom Penh?

We have spent the last week clarifying to ourselves just what we will be doing in Phnom Penh. They are a diverse range of tasks and we really need to give you some back round information on the different projects and NGOs involved. We are in Phnom Penh primarily as a result of meeting David while diving in Ko Chang. In the course of the conversation we happened to mention our interest in volunteering in Cambodia. It was a chance meeting that was to provide us with invaluable aid in Cambodia. David is currently six months away from obtaining...

Oct 31, 2004 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia, south east Asia

Have now left India and crossed over into south east Asia. First stop Cambodia. Not before picking up one last souvenir from India however:- Nick ('I have probably been too hygienic all my life') 3 Steph ('stomach of steel') Colston 0.5 Yes time to update that one again. Most probably the chicken noodles on the train from Goa up to Mumbai. Paid the price for straying from the path of vegetarianism and now feel like Michael Schumacher is revving up his F1 car in my stomach. Will not be trying the large fried spiders that are for sale on the...

Oct 21, 2004 - What an introduction to Phnom Penh!

Our first two days in the Cambodian capital have been quite harsh yet more alluring as a result. We arrived late Tuesday night and were immediately introduced to the darker side of this country. David, an American Human Rights student we had befriended in Ko Chang, picked us up at ther airport with the intentions of showing us around some projects he is involved in. He had aroused our interest in an orphanage - the Centre for Children to Happiness - and arranged a meeting. However, before experiencing their present conditions we were to...

Oct 17, 2004 - WE'RE ALIVE!!! and painting Cambodia red!

Hello from Cambodia! For those of you who didn't think we'd live through the experience, you were wrong! We thought Stacy had a bout witht he avian flu but it turned out to be gas. :o) When was the last time we wrote? Oh yeah, the Ho Chi Minh airport. So, we boarded our flight to Phnom Pehn with no problems. Well, the window was dirty so the pictures weren't that good but the flight itself wasn't bad. The airport in Phnom Pehn was immaculate. Modern, clean, and efficient. Certainly not the type we had expected to see. There was duty free...

Oct 17, 2004 - Cambodia - Phnom Penh

Cambodia 17th - 24th October We arrive exhausted and bruised from the punishing drive into Phnom Penh (because of the state of the roads, not the length of the drive.) One element of Asia that we haven't really covered yet it that of scams. There are rumours and cautionary tales everywhere - from the fellow travellers we meet to the guidebooks we read. In reality, I reckon there are more stories than scams. Ruses range from cheap (fake) gem selling to ultra bargain Tuk-Tuk rides that take you "shopping" - to destinations of their choice,...

Oct 15, 2004 - Phnom Phen, Kambodsja

Da har vi etter en lang baatur kommet oss til Kambodsjas hovedstad Phnom Phen. Baaturen hit var et kapittel for seg selv. I foelge brosjyren: "...enjoy your favorite coctail while crusing on our luxury boat". Stemmer det. Foerst braat baaten sammen slik at vi maatte ta en mindre baat foeste etappe. Etter dette ble vi plassert paa en buss som broet sammen etter en time og vi maatte vente paa en kro i fire timer. Dagen etter ble vi lovet at baaten skulle vaere fikset noe den ikke var. I tillegg klarte de aa kutte opp sekken min og ledningen...