Blogs from West, Cambodia, Asia - page 5

Bright and early start we are given back packs by the centre to take with us, containing hammocks for tonight, a blanket and a water proof, interesting?! Warned that there could be leaches along the route so trousers tucked into the socks, packed breakfast (in hand woven packs) in hand and off we went. It turned out we had booked the csamed trip as the French Canadian family that had rescued us the day before so really nice to have the time to get to know Denise, Gaitan and Fannie. Our main guide, come camp cook is called Bo. The first leg of the journey was a 2 hour journey on a motor boat through the eery early morning mist laying thickly over the river felt like something out of one of the Jurassic park movies ... read more

Koh Kong Koh Kong was an excellent first visit in Cambodia as it is "true" Cambodia and not a common tourist destination. As possibly my first encounter with an uncommonly traveled town in South East Asia, I soon discovered a need to get some vocabulary lessons after having to pass up eating at one particular street vender as we couldn't portray the message that we would like some of her food and how much does it cost? Eventually our miming skills must have improved as a little further down the line the theatrical wonder that was "I would like some of your food and how much is it?" was more successful, although over time pen and paper were incorporated to write numbers. Getting back to the hostel (Paddys Guest House) we utilized an English speaking Cambodian ... read more

Stepping over the border into Cambodia was a culture shock; we arrived in the late afternoon. The guards standing on the Cambodian side of the border didn’t have the meatiness of many Thais – in addition the obligatory street dogs were on this side scrawny and mangy. Having been warned about the dodgy activities and scams at border crossings we remained vigilant but got caught for 30 baht each for an amusing ‘health check’. We were heading to Koh Kong which until only a few years ago was considered a Wild West town. Without knowing the background visually you could see why it had that reputation – tumbleweed blowing down the wide main streets wouldn’t have been out of place. We’d opted for an Australian owned guesthouse in the centre of the town. The owner had ... read more

The Irish Mob So I set off from Phnom Penh for Kampot and was happily minding my own business sat on a coach when for some reason a game of musical chairs took place. The net result of which was a pretty Irish girl sitting next to me called Cathy. Over the next five or so hours we got talking and at the rest stops I met her four other travel companions; Declan, Stu, Niall and Neil. When we arrived at Kampot I was pretty set on staying at Bodhi Villa guest house which numerous others had raved about. But Cathy persuaded me to join them at 'The magic sponge' instead. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I made on my trip. The Magic Sponge We were met at the bus stop by ... read more

So after spending my last few days with Chloe on Koh Chang, Thailand - the details of which I'm not going to bore you with as apart from one great day snorkelling the rest of the time was spent hiding from the pouring rain. Although hang on, our last night together we decided to splurge with the last of our Baht and we went to Monkeys for dinner, good decision! We had THE best meal, starting with cocktails followed my mains of chicken breast served on creamy mash with delightful veggies, inc asparagus that was sauteed' to perfection! Anyway enough of my obsession with food.....so on wed Chloe and I caught the ferry back to the mainland and that is where we parted ways after 44 days of travelling together. Although it was sad to see ... read more