It's a holiday in...

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Greets from Cambodia.
We arrived in Phnomh Penh yesterday after having stayed the night in Koh Kong town which the guide boojks and Gary (new friend + part-time resident at Suchanaree resort in Koh Mak where i had my birthday) describe as a bit 'wild west'. And nail, on head, hit. we even saw a mini street fight, wooooooooh, no guns tho. Getting there from Trat(Thailand) was pretty straight forward, but with the obligatory hassle on crossing the border. We're with Linds and Sarn btw, like-minded and very cool travel companions. So we start off at the Cambodia -side border crossing by unwittingly buyinh g a yellow 'health' form eventho we all have travel insurance - so much easier to give them the 40 bahts(80p?) than argue the toss and delay ourselves. Then the visa scam from the officials themselves - after some wrangling from me and Linds (even pretending to call the 'Government', and asking for recepits, name, etc, what the Rough Guide suggested - although the pathetic 'calling the government' was my idea) we haggled them down to 25 dollars instead of the 30 they were demanding. it was already dark and we didn't fancy spending the night there...And all the while a guy with the most amicable face and manners was trying to get us to buy a box of marlboro lights. As we left the border crossing i half expected to be beset by a bunch of banditos, but what we saw next was a shed load of fairy lights, covering every shrub and tree for a good few meters around a casino - not what we expected at all.

That's our entry to Cambodia.
Now we're in Phnom Penh. haven't seen much yet, but liking the vibe so far. Staying very central, quite close to the Tonle Sap (or Mekong, not quite sure yet which river it is). We'll be back here again after Siem Reap(for Angkor temples) and after Mondulkiri (North East), so we'll probably try staying in other areas.
Plan thgis time is to visit Choeng Eck(killing fields) and a couple of museums(genocide museum + national museum) before setting off to the rest of Cambodia, just to set our selves up in the 'right' mindset.

I wont go into how hot it is here or the tiny ants swarming around the leccy socket next to my head as i type, nor the sticky keybords which seem to be behaving ok.
Koh Mak, the Thai island we've just left behind was just perfect, relaxing, can't ask for more kind of beach resort. I'd love to put photos up of how perfect it was, but i need to go eating + exploring now...

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Photos

Koh Mak bleach
i forgot I had 'beach' setting on my camera. hence the whitey effect.

Cocomak
Probably the most photographed coconut tree on the island(?)

Mr. Lawlence
Actually his name is Eric. Gary made him. Don't be surprised if we send out this photo again on the day.

Don-chan
Gary let us plant a coconut tree each - This one's ours. Linds and Sarn 's one is called Iain (Wright?)

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[saffia]

Year Zero
Do you want a history lesson on the Vietnam War yet?