OK, ok. I know its a weak title but it seemed appropriate, given that the gov have just issued warrants for the arrest of 18 red shirt leaders! However, the city seems eerily quiet with almost empty roads compared with the chaos of a month ago. We were out for a meal last night and no sign of any trouble, though some light army presence noted, so expect to get to airport today ok, hopefully. Quad biking was great and saw a lot more of countryside that way. Said goodbye to the rest of our group this am, and exchanged a few addresses as seems appropriate after a month together..whether any are followed up remains to be seen,...I hope so, as they have been a great bunch, fun all the way, and we will certainly miss ... read more

Ouch! Those of you old enough to remember Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge will remember what a terrible recent history Cambodia has. You cannot help seeing / experiencing this place without feeling a desperate sadness and despair for our species of so called civilized animals. We are old enough to recall the terrible media footage and news reports of the mid 70s when I was still at university....just under 4 decades ago.. Possibly the worst episode of mass genocide known to us, with nearly 2 m people killed by their own countrymen over a 4 yr period of psychotic regime. How could that ever be possible? But it did happen and it happened before (Germany), and its happened since (Uganda, Yugoslavia) and god help us, it will happen again. Being here, seeing the prison, torture ... read more

Found a rare quiet moment whilst waiting transfer to airport for short flight to Saigon, now aka Ho Chi Min city. Not quite the,same though, is it? Hoi Ann is a relatively peaceful place though the center is a bit manic with the driver's...mainly m/cs and cycles having absolutely no rules..its crammed with markets, and of course, the famous tailors. We went a bit daft yesterday cos its so cheap and they ship it home. So new suits, jacket, shirts, dresses and blouses. Shirley got some stuff made too. More bike rides in country round paddy fields, riding water buffalo, and playing at farmers. 3 nights here, which afforded a rare opportunity to unpack the bags and air the, by now, well worn wardrobe! Also gave us a fair bit of free time just to stroll ... read more

Laos, for being one of the 5 communist countries in the world, is amazing. The scenery is spectaculour with magnificent mountains and rivers, and again, lovely people. Turbulent past what with Vietnam war etc..most heavily bombed country in world with yanks dropping a B52 load of cluster bombs every 8 mins for 9 yrs during Nam. Now they pick up fragments still and make jewelry out of the aluminum ! Also still riddled with land mines still causing death and injury. People poor, hard working but happy and kids always smiling, playing with simple bamboo toys and stones etc. Went on hefalump trek followed by washing them in Mekong and being washed by them! Awesome experience. Village visit in Vang Vieng, during which we stayed with local peasant family, we were split into men, 3 to ... read more

On the trail again..had amazing 9 days in fantabulous Fiji with the most friendly and happy people (despite 78% of pop living below poverty line) Puts our lives into sharp perspective. The Yasawa islands were beautiful and the weather was fantastic. Hope to live long enough to revisit sometime. Fishing again yesterday..again unsuccessfully, tho this time our skipper caught 7 beautiful fish to our zero bites..same bait, same boat..D'oh...must have poisoned our bait I think. Snorkeling was magnificent and finally got the secret of a good mask seal....unfortunately the tash had to go.but worth it. We were told plane would come at 3 pm which was ideal as oz flight 6.30. So, as is my want, I dived in for a last snork over the reef, not wanting to waste life lying around. After about half ... read more