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Published: November 25th 2007
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For anyone and everyone who still tries to read this,thankyou but I have a feeling my following is dwindling,thank you Pauline and Mike for your kind message it was great to hear from you.Well its hard to know where to begin as i write these things after about three or four weeks and during that time Ive passed through three counties and had some unforgettable and forgettable encounters and adventures.I left you last time in Battembang.Cambodia.From there it was a bus ride to the capital,Phnonm Pehn,another spralling city with both the attractions and annoyances of one.The three of us settled into our guesthouse in a quiet street and planned our couple of days.First on the adgender was a massage that we had heard so much about during our time in Cambodia,it was called Seeing hands.These were massages by the blind and had an amazing reputation from anyone we had met.My masseusse was called Nicki and as her hands kneeded and cracked my body back into shape I felt the aches and strains of a year sleeping in the worst beds leave my body.
We floated out of the parlour,two foot taller and feeling like new.The following day we rose
early and took a motorbike to an area ten Kms out of town.Known to most people as the killing fields this was the site that men,women and children,most of them Ex goverment officials,teachers and doctors were killed and buried in shallow mass graves.I dont want to go into alot of detail about the circumstances in which this was allowed to happen only thirty years ago or the brutality and merciless way a generation was wiped out and a country bought to starvation and death but I will say that while standing there trying to take in the whole scene I noticed something dirty white in the ground at my feet.Looking closer it was someones tooth,a human tooth just laying there half buried in the blood washed mud!
The next place we visited was S21,the prison that fed the killing feilds which sat in the city itself.This was another haunting and surreal place,much as I think Auschiz would feel like.The cells were bare but for one solitary bed and a series of photographs on the wall,showing the conditions endurred by the inmates.Of the thousands that passed through S21 only seven lived to tell of the suffering there.
PP itself is
a thriving busy city nestled on the banks of the Mekong,it caters for everyday travellers like myself but if you look closer it has a seedy underbelly which is only evident at certain times of the night.This is hard to overlook and feeling subdued and needing the relaxing lifestyle only the ocean can bring we booked our bus to Seonokeville.This is Cambodias answer to Blackpool,a fairly ok beach from which umpteen neon bars spring up at dusk and close at dawn.It was time to chill here and read a book,sort out a visa for Vietnam and get some clothes washing done.The town itself was geared around partying and although I watched a few games of rugby,that was about the extent of my socialising.
Instead of taking a bus straight to the Vietnam border we decided to have a staging post in a town called Kampot and im so glad we did.The town was tiny but made up for it in the friendly and welcoming way everyone made you feel.We found a great little family guesthouse and settled in for a few days.There was plenty to do there and we booked ourselves onto a 4x4 trip up the mountain that
overlooked the town.It was bright morning when we started off in the open backed truck,bouncing around the dirt roads to the amusment of the ten people sat in the back,one hour turned into two and sunny blue skies gave way to overcast grey ones as we climbed steadily higher.Halfway up two dirtbikes raced up behind us looking to overtake and I swore to myself that if we had the time that would be me encased in mud.It was after about two hours that the first drop fell closely followed by about a billion more heavy monsoon raindrops.Jackets began to appear as did the jealous faces of those in T-shirts and shorts.The road began to trickle and then flow with thick red water as the truck pogo sticked up the side of the mountain and rain began to trickle into places that rain had never trickled before.Half an hour into this and the mood of the truck had changed,heads were bowed and arms folded trying to keep as warm as possible.I was reminded of something someone told me many years ago as I crawled along in the mud of Lypmestone,"dont worry your skin in waterproof people"and I had a little chuckle
or was it a shiver or both!!!!
Eventually the rain broke as we hit the plateua of the mountain and headed towards the ruins of a church built by the French in the seventies,now nothing more than a shell.We shivered our way around the inside reading,MUFC and Chaz woz ere!!!!! before plodding back into the truck to see a waterfall.By now the sun had broken and things were hotting up.It took about an hour to walk to the fall and I was ready for a nice swim and relax.Instead we got an amazing waterfall with a small cave hidden behind and below us another waterfall dropped into the rocky valley .We all exchanged looks before our guide seeing our slight panic striped off and waded waist deep into the fast flowing water.That was all the encouragement I needed and quickly following him.Now everyone knows my love of massive hieghts and how much of a mountian goat I am,but as I shuffled around in the water, scarred that the slightest slip would send me into the water and over the edge. The kids in our party,much like in Hong Kong began pushing past me to the safety of the waterfall.Id
be a liar if it didnt cross my mind to trip one up and watch as he was washed into oblivion!!!!
Cath and Suz had found a great vantage point and despite there efforts I told them I was fine where I was and I can see it from their photos.The day was finished with a bum numbing ride down the mountain and ended up in one of the local bars...
From Kampot it was a two hour taxi to the Vietnam border at Chau Doc,but that is another story altogether......Big love from S.E Asia.......
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Tony P
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Go on tubby!
Always like to keep myself updated as to your whereabouts mate! You seem to have forgot that you owe Gorton's catering a tenner, and after a hostile takeover from dutchy i'm now dictating.......I mean democraticaly holding the purse strings! Sounds like your havin a good un and your not goin hungry judging by the piccies. Have another pie for me and keep in touch G. P.S. Tim and Cathy have had a little boy, Jack. He,s already got junior in training for poker million 2025!