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Last day in Cambodia.Boiled alive last night in our awful little $15 a night room with no air conditioning.Subjected the kids to a breakfast of boiled pork and steamed rice in a pineapple.No chance of pancakes or eggs.We managed to give our passports three days ago to a shabbily dressed bloke in a hammock along with $265 for our Vietnam visas and bus tickets to Ho Chi Minh.We haven't seen the bloke since - seriously.Rufus has been back to his office/hammock twice and there is no sign.So we are sitting on all our luggage waiting for said bus to Vietnam hoping that it will turn up along with our passports.Apparently it is common for the bloke in the hammock to also work for the Consulate and to also drive the bus to Ho Chi Minh.
But worse - our computer has packed in.It has clearly had enough of furious blogging and email checking and has quit.I can't explain how bereft I feel.Literally, I sobbed.We haven't lost all our hard drive as Rufus is the kind of nerd who 'backs up'.But I have lost my connection to the outside world, online as well as emotional.I can't just check in with friends and family.Worse, I'll need to find 500 quid when I get home to replace the stupid thing.At the moment I have to find internet cafes like skanky young backpackers, not the middle aged flashpacker that I really am.But the one I am in at the moment is quite nice, it even sells coconut juice.Best not have it though before a 10 hour bus journey without a toilet.
Spent our last full day on Rabbit Island, a lovely tropical wee place off the coast - as islands tend to be.It was delightful, the girls explored and we lay and sunbathed.I played 'shops' with Clover for hours, eating fake salad (leaves) covered in pepper (sand).Well when I say hours, I really mean five minutes, but it felt like hours.Met some Danish supermodels who kept Rufus entertained.Found a starfish - a real, live one - beautifully correctly named 'l'etoile de mer' by the little Cambodian boy who came to see it.They really are incredible creatures with amazing colour and symmetry.Clover tried to surreptiously get it in her bag and had to be gently reminded it was still alive. 'Vivant!' exclaimed the boy in horror.She put it back.
Cambodia has been brilliant and I am worried I won't like Vietnam nearly as much.The people here are kind, friendly and genuine - I know that is a sweeping statement but it feels true.They need to work on their breakfasts though.
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