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Last night in Bangkok. Or is it day. It's all gotten a little confusing. The neon lights of Khao San Road and the incessant 'Cunass ataw too?" 24/7 has my head a little blurred as well as a few other events since my last update. With not much time left on the countdown on this computer I'll hammer through some of the madness experienced in just the first 10 days of South East Asia.
So the last time we chatted Kev and I were in Phnom Penh stretching our legs with the whole sight-seeing mallarkey. We'd just moved into seafront, third story a/c accommodation for EUR15 a night. Bargain. Cambodia is definitely a developing country. A cursory glance at their barbaric recent history is enough to help you understand a lot of the way it is. We visited the main sites of the atrocities but I don't want to dwell. We met a lot of fun Cambodians, danced with them in nightclubs, joked with them in restaurants. Poverty is real and in your face which from what we were told isn't surprising with remnants of the old regime still, extraordinarily, in power. No trials have yet concluded and most of the accused are dying away without conviction.
When we moved down to Angkor for the second leg of our Cambodia trip it was as though digging deeper into the history was revealing the true identity of Cambodians (Khmers). It's a stunning place. The photos will speak for themselves. We made an extra special effort to get a sunrise at the temples (sunsets are spoiled every evening here by storm clouds). We were up for our tuk-tuk at 5am only to find the sun had already risen. Oops. Back to bed.
For a break from the temples we also took a spin (all 45minutes of it) out to the "floating village". I've never felt more conned in my life. They topped it off by trying to sell us ceramic plates with dubious photos of each of us on them.
And so our time in Cambodia was coming to an end but not before I'd dropped my phone from a tuk-tuk without noticing, broken my backup phone and spent a night by the loo. Kev woke on the last morning, ready to head for our bus only to find me like death. An experience any worn traveller will know. Still, after several jars of intravenous fluids and jabs in the arse the local Chinese witch-doctor had me raring for the almost 12 hour journey to Bangkok.
Kev had briefed our other friend, Dan on the situation but forgot to update him on the whole 'Rob is no longer strapped to an IV and in bed' bit. His relief when we did arrive on the Khao San Road was evident. Still being in arguably one of the world's best nightspots and being on antibiotics isn't what I had envisaged.
So onwards. After a few false starts (including a domestic Thai flight now booked in our names for September 4th) we're set toleave Bangkok tomorrow for a week or so in the gulf islands. As always I'll let you know more when I can. Photos are coming in the next day or so.
Slan!
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