There was this beef cake customs lady that stood sternly behind bullet proof glass at the Cambodian boarder, she instructed her homies to dragged Stu and I off the bus in a flurry of panic. Apparently we had over stayed our 30 day visa by 19 days, which had us both scratching our heads in a 'what the bloody hell fire is she going on about!' way. The whole bus was full of our western comrades, who were no help at all, tipping the bus over to the right side of the pavement to get a better view, I suspect several [View Full Entry]

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The morning after our first night at The Golden Hotel near to The Golden roundabout, which was a stones throw from a long golden beach I was amazed that I had not needed to wear ear plugs all night. I was awoken with my first medical emergency in 18 months, a massive chunk of metal filling had fallen out of Stu's mouth, his lower back molar was striped of its enamel filler leaving a big black hole that could be seen from Pluto. The first thing that came to mind was long delays in getting an appointment, Stu not being able [View Full Entry]

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What we are never changes (dna). Who we are never stops changing Girssom CSI LV PHNOM PENH the capital, we visited the following: The Genocide museum - The Killing Fields - one Rifle Range - one unusual Buddhist water blessed monk who claimed to wash away all sin, doubt, unrest by dowsing me in holy water. God, I became depressed. We had a tuk tuk driver named Chan, he laughed all the time and at first we laughed along with him as he was a very funny man who spoke great English and was fluent in his irony. But as the [View Full Entry]

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I recently touched on the subject of my uncultivated English school life back in 1975, aged 8. Sharing my concerns of the distinct lack of education I received on Cambodian politics and current affairs and I mentioned about my love of a certain western heart throb, few were available to me at the time but looking back the options were limited - The Osmonds, more Donny, due to being similar in age, very polite said please and thank you all the time, well dressed, kinder music to the ears and religious, so my mother really approved. David Cassidy ohh EVERYONE's dream [View Full Entry]

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Siem Reaps cardinal points were working hard. In the North the stars struggled to glimmer within the ebbing darkness of the previous night. Over East for its 100 millionth time the sunrise was about to mirror itself above the man made peaks of Angkor Wat, into the dehydrated pond in front. West is where the clacking of excited nationalities stood clicking aspiring cameras which could be heard as far as South of Siem Reap where San our trusted friend and tuk tuk driver came to pick us up for the last time. I felt sad to be leaving dawn had come [View Full Entry]

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There really is a force of life that runs deep within the veins of Siem Reap province in north west Cambodia. The name of the city means “Siamese defeated”, corresponding to the first and only victory of the Khmer Empire over the Thai kingdom in the 17th century. The Cambodians appear to be remembered for two things, their ancient temples and their more recent civil tragedies of the last thirty years thanks to the evil Pol Pot regime. But these people have maintained an inner strength and warmth within their very core essence. Last year I used to moan about dragging [View Full Entry]

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After a hot dusty day traipsing across the ancient rocks and stones of Angkor Wat, my cool (as in temperature) but very impractical white outfit was completely filthy and my sandalled feet had an independent thick sock of dirt wrapped around them. San our tuk tuk driver drove us back to town. We passed the Kantha Bopha children's hospital, as I looked over the kids were standing up on the open space of the second floor balcony, they all wore hospital gowns, many of them looked very sick indeed, some completely bald, most were wired up to mobile drips with nurses [View Full Entry]

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The sacred site of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap covers just a single fraction of the over all archaeological site for which is famed for its enigmatic temples and huge stone faces, that even today is still wrapped up and hidden amongst copious amounts of twinning jungle. Inside this sacred space which Cambodians call The Soul of Cambodia lies many interesting and at times hidden communities that many blinkered tourists don't really notice nor wish to see. But the few rare good hearted travellers who dare to venture beyond the boundaries and wonders of these ancient temples will experiences [View Full Entry]

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The Chinese clocks had just struck RAT when we rolled in to Khmer speaking Cambodia by private taxi from the Thai boarder, the transition from Bangkok was easy and to travel in such luxury cost nearly nothing. We headed for Siem Reap the town most famous for the Angkor Wat ruins and temples. First thing I noticed was the Cambodian ladies who are tiny in height and wear an interesting combination of over sized cartoon and floral print pyjamas, flip flops, smog masks and cone straw hats. Many folk seem to have been sucked to near death with perfect circular blood [View Full Entry]

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The Chinese new year was fast approaching and one resolution the people of the East make every year is to de-clutter. I think these last two years I may be taking this custom a little too seriously as after clearing away my property, car, stuff and now internal body clutter I felt it was time for me to de fragment and empty my muttering mind with a seven day consciousness enema. I found an organisation that seems to be right up my street, it is called The Middle Way they practice a form of Buddhism I had never heard of before, [View Full Entry]

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