Arriving in Australia was a bit of a culture shock after two months in Asia. I'd arrived at about 2am with no accommodation so just hung around at the airport until the shuttle buses started! Then I seemed to be in shopping Mall hell where everything was SO expensive and I met one or two Ozzies who were not at all polite or helpful and I ended up staying in a budget hotel that reeked of cigarette smoke and I decided to leave the city the next day. What a relief...

I booked myself onto a minibus tour to see the Temples of Ankor as it was so much cheaper and easier than the alternatives. The day did not start well. The bus was picking me up at 8am and at 7.30 I was stuck in my room as the doorlock was bust. After much twisting and turning and pushing and pulling I gave up and just began to rap loudly on the door in the hopes that someone would come to my aid! Eventually I heard a german voice saying " I vill get help...

Yes well, a rotten bus journey resulted in a 10pm arrival into Battambang but I managed to find a comfortable guesthouse quickly and organised tuktuk transport for the next day. Battambang is actually Cambodia's second largest city but to me it was just a small pleasant town. Nice restaurants! The one thing I really came here for was to ride the bamboo train but I reckoned I could fit one or two other sights into the day. I love these rides along the country ...

I'd been tossing up between Sinhanoukville (party resort) and returning to Rabbit island for my beach getaway. I opted for the former eventually as I'd been told of a quieter beach on the stretch called Otres. I didn't quite get the beach bungalow I had in mind as I seemed to end up on the wrong beach road for that so I checked in at the Queen Beach resort. It was a bit dark (especially on the two mornings when the electricity was out) as it was in the trees b...

I left the polluted noisy city of Phnom Penh on the midday bus and headed for the coast and some fresh air. On the bus I met an English DJ - an expat who originally travelled to Cambodia whilst in the forces in the early eighties. Typical expat though, he wanted to inform me on every aspect of local life and he told me the food in Kep was expensive and not that great but I decided to go there anyway. It's a very small town with not a lot going on but is famed ...