Apologies for the delay in bringing you the latest antics of MacWombat! As you can imagine, after spending a week on the beach in beautiful Snooky Snook we have been totally run off our feet (aye right!)

But the show must go on right...so onto Kampot, the home of one of the world's best peppers (or so they say), then onto Ho Chi Minh and the famous Cu Chi Tunnels until finally we find ourselves in the cool mountain air of Da Lat. Really not a lot to report in the way of sights however somehow this time has been crammed full with the ridiculous and the sublime. As such, in this edition we bring you "MacWombat's guide - Things that make you go hmmnnnn"

Karaoke Snooky Style!

The owners of our beachside paradise in Snooky, Cloud 9 are a truly lovely couple. Joe (Aussie) and his wife Imke (East German) made us feel completely at home and were so warm and lovely to us and our fellow guests. We were even invited to Imke's birthday party. Joe hired a private room in a local establishment and shut the guesthouse restaurant and bar for the night so that his staff could also join in a night of karaoke and fun.

After some cake and a few drinks we all ventured to the elaborate entrance of a partially demolished building which was surrounded by young girls. Here we were led through the building (partly demolished, partly elaborately decorated) to a room off a hallway lined with doors and young women adorning them. Our room featured bright orange walls, green and yellow leather couches, checkerboard floor, mad laser lights and large screen tv playing karaoke.

We spent a hillarious few hours drinking beer and watching the staff dance their traditional style to modern khmer music and belting out some songs along with the karaoke. No - we didn't sing!

Hmnn... *giggle*

Russian Snakes

Our edition of Lonely Planet lists in its places to eat in Snooky, a restaurant known as the "Snake House" where you dine beside glass tanks of snakes and even have them in your dining table....Hmnnn

Our driver took us through Snooky and its ramshakle buildings to an area of opulent mansions (even by western standards) and delivered us to a dark and lengthy driveway guarded by security men. Seemingly concerned for our safety he insisted that we tell him a time to come back and get us...ummm ok. So we saunter down the drive only to discover a car park full of Hummers, Mercedes, BMW which is anything but standard in Cambodia. The restaurant is as the book describes however others dining in there are all Russian and the menu is in Russian...(do we need to spell it out?) double hmnn.

We finish our meal and decide to go to the bar next door called "The Snake Pit" thinking that we will kill an hour waiting for our driver. The bar reveals yet more Russian men sitting about watching a large screen tv showing a war/submarine movie whilst the sounds of modern techno are highlighted by a buffet of young women (the emphasis here is very much on the "young") dancing scantily clad on the bar and swinging around poles. Seriously not in Kansas anymore Toto!

Women in PJ's

Fancy a day in bed? Here's the next best thing. Not sure if it is the heat, the comfort or what the deal is however women in both Cambodia and Vietnam seem to feel completely at ease in their pajamas 24/7. This includes...riding your bike around town, swimming in the ocean, working in the bar or where ever you might be. Hmmnn

Brits Abroad

Making a day trip to Bamboo Island to check things out and catch-up with our Snooky mate Sabrine. We spent a leisurely day cruising the azure waters, sipping beer in the bar on the beachfront, watching a storm-front move in and snorkelling around the little reef there. Whilst sipping our beers we noticed two very white (or by this stage, lobster red) Brits standing on the beach under a tree constructing something with: an inner-tube from a tractor tyre, two planks of wood, a roll of bailing twine, a case of beer, six bottles of water and two garbage bags....Hmnnnn

Turns out these two Darwin Award inspired chappy's had not slept for two days and had come to the conclusion that the problem with their trip and SE Asia in general was that there is "too much organisation" and hence had decided (ah la The Beach) to construct a raft and swim to the next island (deserted) where they would spend the night and swim back for food if hungry. Couldn't be more than 600m they reckoned (clearly not conversant with the metric system) as we estimate it to be at least 1km. Steve did the kindly thing and assisted with the launch of the craft (refer pics) and we watched as the two were taken away by the current way past the island, daring to refuse any assistance from passing motor craft that stopped to ensure their safety. Strangely on the boat back to Snooky we did notice one man on the island. As for whether this was one of the men in question or if indeed they ended up somewhere in Indonesia, we have no clue.

Rifle Range Anyone?

Both Cambodia and Vietnam are in the midst of recovering from the dire upheaval of their recent respective and collaborative histories. The killing fields of Cambodia and the atrocities documented both here and in the war musuem (particularly a tower filled with human skulls) left an indelible impression on both of us but was something that we felt we simply had to see to ensure that we understood the history and gained an empathy for the people.

Ok - so we understand that everybody is just looking to feed their families and make a buck and that by taking us to particular shops and tourist attractions drivers are paid a commission, but after taking us to the war museum featuring particularly graphic torture photographs and then onto the killing fields, our driver then asked if we'd like to spend the afternoon at the rifle range? Spot of shooting anyone? Hmnnnnn

And so it continues...

Having arrived in Da Lat yesterday we intend to stay in the mountains for a few days in our palatial 10 quid hotel (seriously nice - real dunny, jaccuzi, free internet, breakfast and everything! Travellers - Dreams Hotel is the go!) before moving onto Nha Trang where we hope to catch up with some more travel buds. Til then batman.... A & S

p.s. Orange's promise of full moby coverage in SE Asia turned out to be total rubbish so if you have sent us a text, we probably won't get it until we are back in Thailand next month. And don't forget to subscribe to this blog, that way you'll get notification when we get round to writing our next blog. Cheers.

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