All good things must come to an end, and so does my time in this country. Boarding a plane tonight. These last days have been taken at a far more leisurely pace and have been more contemplative than their predecessors. Lingering lazily ... Walking on the riverfront is easy from where I am staying. The footpath is wide so there is no problem dodging oncoming traffic or reversing cars, with fewer fumes and generally a lot of space between people. The breeze that blows also helps with cooling - it has been rather hot and humid these last few days - [View Full Entry]

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You have to work a bit harder in Cambodia, to get to the softer side of people. I have had some lovely moments these last couple of days ... a warm feeling after considering the sadness that must lurk inside many Cambodians. In fact, one moto driver told me as much. He said that they won't show it, but suggested a residual sadness is there in young and old alike. Restorative start to the day ... One morning I wandered down to the market place in search of breakfast local-style. It was early - about 7 to 7.30 am and stall [View Full Entry]

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On Boxing Day I headed for the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum. A stark contrast to the symmetry of the architecture of the regal buildings and gardens, these 2 venues are a testament to a very asymmetrical time democratically. Sobering sites Tuol Sleng Museum is the site of a former high school that was taken over by Pol Pot and his security forces and transformed into a venue for detention and torture. Some classrooms were divided into cells for torture, others were used to house detainees en masse. It was known as Security Prison 21 or S21. In this place, the [View Full Entry]

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After a comfortable bus ride from Battambang through villages, towns and farming districts, I arrived in the mayhem of Phnom Penh. Tuk tuk and moto drivers tout for rides, people clamour for their luggage being offloaded on a narrow footpath beside an eating place where the leftovers of the lunch crowd still linger ... a far cry from the quiet place I have left. Buses to Sihanoukville all gone, I face the prospect of a night in town and then a trip south to spend two half days and then a trip back ... all sounds too rushed ... I want [View Full Entry]

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On to cook today, and discover secrets of Khmer cuisine at the 'Smokin Pot' restaurant. Ate there last night with a French woman I ran into at a temple ... and it was her second meal there in the same day ... thought that was a good sign! I had amok fish ... delicieux! Some like it hot... Cooking class Khmer style started at the market with lots of tasty treats to see. We pass on the cockroaches, turtles and catfish. Our teacher, Vannak did a wonderful job of explaining the ingredients available. We bought freshly grated coconut, as well as [View Full Entry]

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Got the boat ... a slow boat to Battambang the second largest city in Cambodia in a province known as the 'rice bowl' of the country as it produces the best? or the most? pr both? rice in the nation. And ... Cambodians cannot go without rice ... The boat trip was good - firstly because I was on it! Secondly because it was scenic - at times on a large expanse of water - Tonle Sap lake, at others in narrow passageways through water bushes. Floating villages along the way were houses on floating platforms, many of them painted in [View Full Entry]

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Well I was packed and ready to leave on the Battambang leg of the journey at 5:45 am. The boat company sends a minibus or similar to collect customers at 6. However, my bus driver 'forgot' me ... so at 6:30 I started agitating for something to happen and in a last ditch effort I was raced out to the area where the boat departs ... in a tuk tuk that literally bounced from rut to rut tossing me, my backpack and the carriage about so much that I thought we might all be separated at some stage ... and we [View Full Entry]

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The temples of Angkor are located in what was once the capital of Cambodia's ancient Khmer empire. The sheer size and number of the temple remains is impressive, let alone imagining what they were like in their heyday. The Cambodian god-kings of old tried to outdo their predecessors in the construction of these religious buildings. I spent the best part of three days scrambling over ruins, climbing up to the highest of accessible parts and then limbering down again (a steep, and precarious exercise!) to cover a wide range of these religious buildings. Day one was tiring as I covered some [View Full Entry]

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Siem Reap is a bustling town, with the streets busied by cars, tuk tuks, motos, bicycles, pedestrians ... the footpaths pounded by many a tourist and trailing beggars or juvenile hawkers. In fact they are everywhere ... part of the backdrop at every site, and market place. The hawkers are well practiced ... they start off with... "hello ladÿ ... where you from?" "Australia" "Äustralia - the capital is Canberra. Australia has 21 million people. You buy postcard from me lady. Just one dollar. 10 for one dollar ..."etc You can tell its a real tourist town when ... the menus [View Full Entry]

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Various pictures to share ... [View Full Entry]

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