Blogs from Kampot, South, Cambodia, Asia

We are sat on our bed in our hotel room in Kampot, Cambodia eating crisps and listening to our Cambodian neighbours pumping out some amped up karaoke. There is a man and a woman and they are dueting and have been doing so for the past hour. They are absolutely shocking. Last night they did the same but thankfully there was a power cut which kept them quiet for a while. They are the type of nutters that make X Factor interesting. So where were we? Ah yes we were in Sumatra and I had the brown apple splatters. After a few days of doing nowt and recuperating we left lake Toba on what was to be one of the more eventful trips of our travels (holiday) to Ubud, Bali. We headed over Lake Toba on ... read more

The next leg of the trip is to cross the border into Cambodia and make our way onto the first large town of Kampot. Ellen and Alex have their hearts set on getting to the beachside party town of Sihanoukville, or plain old Snooky to everyone down here. After assessing the various ways of making the trip we settle with what looks a legitimate minibus company that passes through this route on a daily basis. When buying the tickets, the tour agent tells us we can only get to Kampot and onward travel to Sihanoukville will mean another bus. Tickets purchased we are resigned to waiting around until midday for the bus pick up. As usual this gets delayed, after the bus driver makes a few detours with some German hitchhikers so he can make a ... read more

The following is written by Michael James Kirby, typed up and edited by Katherine Miller!!!! Cambodia. 16th november. After arriving in Phnom Penh and negotiating the price with a tuk tuk driver we took our first tuk tuk to our hostel. It was a great way to see phnom penh and to take in all the sights and sounds. When we arrived at our hostel we were greeted by some staff namely two small, very hyper cambodian girls who kept telling us how happy they were to meet us. After climbing up some very steep and wobbly stairs to put our bags in our room we came back down and had our first cambodian beer (or a few) at the hostel bar and sorted out plans for the next few days. 17th november After some breakfast ... read more

Having hung in a hammock for three days in the Laos Four Thousand Islands, the chaotic Cambodian city of Kratie came as a bit of a shock to the system. Stepping off the bus in the middle of the sprawling, and not-so-pleasant-smelling market, we were beside the mega Mekong River once again; it was becoming like an old friend. Although this was no quiet and intimate reunion, as even though the spectacular and uninterrupted sunset shimmered to a close on the water (see pic of Marta la guapa), the constant hum of motorbikes, market haggling and honking horns was impossible to ignore. But, in one little moment of loveliness, a young girl approached us, beamed a massive toothy smile at Marta, and then extended her tiny arm to reveal a little welcome present in her hand. ... read more