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Well, in the mayhem of motorbike madness that is Saigon. Made it over here the day before yesterday on a direct bus from Siem Reap(Angkor Wat etc). Cambodia was really good. I wasn't expecting much after the spectical of Lao but Cambodia really stood up. As mentioned previously, got into Phnom Penh and had some stuff stolen which sucked but I'm over it now. Phnom Penh was cool. Sweet night life and location made for a good time. Went to see the museum that was once a school before becoming a prison for people thought to be against Pol Pot. Some hearty stories from both sides - seems even if you were with the regime your family members could still be taken away. Then moved on to the Japanese owned Killing fields. Don't know why but the Cambodian govt. have given or sold the fields to the Japanese. Anyway, pretty harsh there. That night we drowned our sorrows and headed out to Sharkeys then The Heart of Darkness. Was a laugh. So many girls giving you the eye that you tryed not to lift your head - cept when I got drunk.. Bummed around most of the other days. Thanks to Lisafor showing us a god night on the town away from the backpacker areas - the Cambodian super club was cool. Then made our way down to Sihanoukville. Wasn't expected much from this beach but it turned out pretty alright. Ended up spending 5 days there just relaxing and gambling - they have a casino there so me and a few others were capitalising on the free drinks and made out up $24 after 3 nights. Not like a regular casino though. Had to push to get a good drink - "Sorry, no whiskey." "Then what is that I can see in the mirror behind you?" "Hahaha, OK just for you." Gotta make mention of the weather - this whole trip I've been expecting the rains and hardly any have come. It's been fantastic weather nearly all of the time. Loven it. After missing our bus on the 5th day cause of a heavy night and pathetic wake up call, we got a bus the next day to Siem Reap. Things quietened down here as we got active and did 3 days of temples. AMAZING! Angkor Wat is by far the best but there are so many and each one is very cool. The biggest preindustrial city in history, it covered 115sq miles. Next biggest was in central America and covered a measly 50sq miles. Check out the pictures when I get round to it. On the 3rd day we were going to check out the floating village but it was US$20 to go there and we weren't that keen so Olly went off to do some shopping I went to check out some temples slightly older than Angkor Wat. Turned out to be the best cultural experience I've had so far. Just as the laziest and grumpiest tuktuk driver ever got me in there, there was a procession and dancing and singing and general merriment. Driver just grunted when I asked what was going on so as I walked up to the crowd I asked a girl selling water and she said it was for "To change be a monk." "Today same me and you. Tomorrow monk." I understood and got amongst it. Got dragging into the dancing and shouting by old ladies and young fellas and got the smiles of pretty girls and grand parents. Was a great time. I was the only foreigner there. We made our way around the temple - they seemed to like jumping off my shoulders and shouting - and I was sweating and dancing like a local. The temple was pretty cool too. Next day we gunned directly here, Saigon. Met up with a friend from last time - Quan and went out Fri night for a few. Watched the rugby Sat - Go the blacks! and checked out the tunnels today. Wicked. Bloody small yet they were expanded cause fat people were wanting their money back if they couldn't get through. Intricate systems and water entry/exits. Also included what traps they used - spikes in holes, roller spikes, water spikes, open-the-door spikes, step-on-the-rake spikes etc etc. Viscious. Seems way hotter here than elsewhere. Quan says it rains almost everyday so maybe this is where we meet the rains. Had to happen. Overall, really impressed with Cambodia. Angkor Wat is a must see. The people were friendly enough and Phnom Penh is more developed then I expected. We make our way north from here into China - though Olly hasn't got his visa yet so he's probably farked.
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