Blogs from South, Cambodia, Asia - page 10

Our plans again frustrated by the weather we planned a beach day in Kep for Tuesday and decided a leisurely Tuk Tuk the best means. This form of transport works well, not nearly as close and personal as walking but slow-ish and fairly relaxing and you get to experience the sights and smells of rural Cambodia and we have to say, compared with Vietnam or even Thailand, lovely as the people are, their lack of Civic pride would put the Cypriots in the Green Party. Every village or small holding simply dump their rubbish in the nearest stream or roadside! A bit sad really. Anyway, we arrive in Kep and stroll the roughly 6kms to the ferry terminal and apart from some fantastic but derelict French Colonial homes there is little to see. We turn around ... read more

No way were we going very far today after yesterday’s minibus marathon. We checked 4 weather forecasts, no 2 agreeing except that wall to wall sunshine was not on the cards but rain was, at some point. We were kept awake by some idiots sitting outside their room talking, not loudly but we could still hear. We woke up and heard them at 4.30 am and were still going strong at 7. Grief! Otherwise sleeping scrunched up at the end of the wet bed worked OK, and the air con dried it out by the morning. As we like it here a lot, we decided to try to extend our stay. The staff, both western and local, are just great. Nothing is too much trouble, so friendly. We looked on booking.com and there was no problem ... read more

Yesterday we went to the beach. That was all! Today our pick up was supposed to be at 8.20am. We scraped together enough currency between us to pay in dong. Sam was rather over-extended so needed to get rid of it before we left. To our huge surprise our pickup actually came at 8.20 and caught us on the hop a bit. The minibus was packed, which set the tone for the rest of them, all 4 others! There was a group of 6 French people, retired, absolutely charming and helpful, to us at least. They asked where were from and we got ros beef/Brexit. Whatever! For some reason, they decided to sing the French national anthem as we were driving along. This went down swimmingly and everyone clapped at the end, including the tour guide ... read more

Day 10. Takeo. Saturday 20 January. 77km Away at 8am. In at 3pm. The ride out of Phnom Penh took us past a roundabout monument commemorating Cambodian Independence. Not quite as hairy as the ride in and out into the countryside close to the Killing Fields of yesterday. I think that every day our Guide Channi has taken us along a different route to the one used in 2015 and supplied to all riders. Today was the same and we are glad of it because it is off the main roads and very enjoyable despite being on dirt roads. The guides have said they like our group because we will go anywhere and do not whinge. We get the same comments in Japan because all CTC are competent riders who enjoy the riding. One dirt track ... read more

Day 10 Phnom Penh. Rest day. A lie in today, up at 6.45 and out exploring the massive central market with Roger, Joe, Anita, Darel and Margaret. The volume of goods is massive, many of which are the same but still a good range. The fish and meat stalls are something else with monsters from the deep. We got caught up in the T shirt area and were seduced by the girls selling stuff at rock bottom prices and enjoying the banter. T shirts were $2, polo shirts $5. There were some genuine Ray Bans at $15, which Roger was tempted to buy. At the roadside we had a light lunch of rice with a small portion of chicken noodles, but not chicken as we know it. I think they take off the portion of meat ... read more