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Published: July 17th 2009
Hello all,
Sorry we have been unable to write up a new blog in the past couple of days but we have been away from the internet 😞
However! Much has happened since our last post but we won't be able to put up photos just yet as our camera is charging. We'll upload them next time...
When we last left off we had gone to the beach and since, we have returned back to the capital Phnom Penh.
The day before yesterday we went to go see a waterfall (this was when we were still back in Sihanoukville). It was quite extraordinary as it had been raining non-stop for about a couple of days so the water was really high! There was a rickety old bridge that crossed from one side of the river to the other, where we saw a cow crossing it! He just wandered along looking a bit lost haha. This rickity bridge also had NO SAFETY RAILS so nothing to stop us plunging into the tumultuous waters... But we survived! We also had a crazy guide for this trip who was hilarious and took us on a precarious path down the side of the waterfall so we could swim and have a shower in it! It was definitely a "power shower" as you could hardly stand up under it! This guide was then happy as larry as he splashed about in the plunge pool and was clearly having a great time! We took some good photos too.
We also went to the top of a tall hill where the buddhist pagoda was and the view would have been wonderful if the weather had been a little clearer! But what was the highlight of the day were all the MONKEYS who lived at the Pagoda, and they came up so close to us and one even tried to grab Alex's towel... They were certainly very cheeky. We took an absolutely amazing photo of a tiny baby monkey being held by it's mum but I'm afraid y'all have to wait for that....
So that was the end of Sihanoukville - it's a shame it was not sunny while we were there but that gives us an excuse to come back 😉
We also went to an awesome restaurant which served the most delicious food for 4 bucks or so, it was called HOLY COW and Alex got a t-shirt of it!
In Phnom Penh we went to this famous bar/restaurant where journalists used to meet (and still do actually), it was very classy but we got 2 for one cocktails so it was all good! The view from the roofttop terrace looks out upon the dramatic merging of the Tonle Sap river and the Mekong.
Alex: I would like to just quickly explain what the journeys are like when we are travelling between destinations: thoroughly unpleasant.
The majority of our bus trips are on a private bus but some of them (mostly the long ones) are done on public buses. The driving technique that they use when overtaking is to honk the horn so as to notify bikes, cars etc that they are overtaking. The only problem is that the horn is the loudest noise known to man. I think people on a separate continent knew we were overtaking. They also play Cambodian music on the television which looks like it was filmed in the 70s with a 2p budget. This is the second loudest noise known to man. I would like to point out that 'Cambodian music' consists of about 2 songs which they play over and over and over again. So it was a bit like sitting in front of a fog horn on an uncomfortable seat whilst listening to the endless droning of a cat being swung round a room for 5 hours. Happy days. Then when you get off the aforementioned hell bus you are then harassed by the world and his wife for a tuk-tuk or 10 postcards for 1 dollar.
Soooo.... we're now here in Phnom Penh and are about to go to the Killing fields and S-21 which should be quite interesting. We have also volunteered to teach English at our guide's school. I plan to teach them the importance of money..hehe..I think Kelly is going to go through Chaucer..
In case you were wondering what on earth the title of this blog actually means... Our guide taught it to us - it's a Khmer (Cambodian) expression which is pretty much universal, always makes people laugh and can be used in any situation.. it basically means "really good" and you can say it to a hot guy/girl, or to the chef if the food's really good... Anything really!
Tomorrow we are going to Ho Chi Minh city so we'll update you all with photos from this part of the trip and also what Vietnam is like.
The first part of our trip is over and now the new chapter begins...
Lots of Love
K&A
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Dad
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Rick Stein was there.....
Hi guys, still sounds fantastic. I guess Alex never rode the tube enough in London rush hour to make a comparision with the Cambodian buses - hot, sweaty, dirty, rickety, over-full with an underlying perception of menace and personal danger.............. Switched the tv on last night and where was Rick Stein? - by the floating village in Cambodia cooking some fish! So saw some excellent footage that reinforces your ever discriptive blogs. Enjoy stage 2 and Vietnam - the history interests me so you'll be grilled (figuratively) on return! Love Dad/Russ xxxx