Andywalsh

Its 10 Am and myself and Paul are on a bit of a foolish errand, wandering around Phnom Penh looking to buy some watermelons. Why do we need watermelons do you ask? Is it for the ample amounts of vitamin C contained therein? No, we want to blow some up, with machine guns and hopefully a rocket launcher. Walk around Bangkok as a tourist and you will have dozens of touts approach and offer you a trip to a ping pong show. In Phnom Penh the touts favorite line is “ You want shooting gun?” or "You like ak47" and most famously "want to go shoot a cow?" Any conversation about travelling around Cambodia will eventually come to the subject of the shooting ranges and specifically the old urban legend of shooting cows with rocket launchers. ... read more

After 4 days in Siem Reip its time to move, I'm meeting my buddy paul in about a week in the capital and prior to that myself and Niamh decided to head to one other location prior to making our way to Phnom Penh. Sihanoukville is the happening place to go. Ash texted me saying that its a hopping place full of bars and beaches. Shinouville is also a great spot for diving and being freshly qualified I'm raring to go. Unfortunately its big hike and since Paul is here in a a few days sitting in a Cambodian bus for 11 hours listening to Khmer karaoke at full volume on the buses tv screen is just to horrific to contemplate. As a result we have compromised and headed to Battambang, its only 3 hours away ... read more

My ears drums are sore from the constant honking of the minibus horn when we bounce into Siem Riep and are deposited in the bus station, which is more akin with to a school bike shed. Once off the bus we are left at the mercy of a horde of tuk tuk drivers harking for business. Siem Reip is the ideal base for visiting the temples of Angkor, a series of massive stone temples of the Angkorian empire that were built between 600 and 800 AD, located in the jungle a stone throw from the town. The best way to go about doing that is hiring a tuk tuk, something we are reluctant to do since Thailand where the greedy gits think of nothing of overcharging you or bringing you everywhere you don't want to ... read more

EDIT: Photos on this entry should actually be on the following blog I have yet to publish, too late to change it as finding a computer thats agreeable to my cart reader is quite a mission. Photos will obviously make more sense next entry... The Thai New year is held on the 13th of April and is known as Sonkran. On Sonkran, buddas are bathed in water and monks bless the younger thais by pouring water over their heads. What also happens though is that the thais let off steam and kill of any tension built up during the year by having a countrywide waterfight, yep you heard it, for the entire Sonkran festival the entire populance tools up with buckets of water and supersoakers and sets about drenching everyone they see. If anyone remembers when ... read more

Note: No pictures because Thailand computer part doesnt work...will try to fix it! Thats enough of the beach life...Ko Lanta has been kind so we have decided to rough it again and get back to nature. Ash has told us about Khao Sok national park which is only a few hours drive away. The rainforest contained therin is supposedly similair to the way it was 160 million years ago. Yes folks, thats when the dinosaurs were knocking around. While there are unfortunatly no dinosaurs there at present, there are plenty of other creatures that are capable of eating you like Bears and Tigers. Deciding the break things up a bit, we jumped on an air conditioned van to Krabi, where we would lay up for the night and purchase essentials, which entailed walking shoes and ... read more