Blogs from Cambodia, Asia - page 788

Breakfast at the hotel. Nam picked us up and we went out to the Roluos Group of temples, including Bakong, Preah Ko, and Lolei. It was a half-day of sightseeing, so we were back in town by lunchtime. Ate at Kama Sutra. Walked around for a while and stopped at Figo for drinks. We originally wanted to eat dinner at Figo but they weren’t serving food that day. The owner, and American guy, showed us the menu and the food sounded so good—too bad we were leaving the day…He recommended Pissa Italiana, which was excellent. We sat at a sidewalk table and there was a traditional Khmer group playing across the street, which made for a nice ambiance. ... read more

As I'm sure you had noticed, during quite a sobering stay in Phnom Penh and as a result of too much past drinking, I was becoming quite good at staying off the booze. Unfortunately due to the bad weather here at Sihanoukville, I have no choice but to get absolutely twatted every day again! We caught a bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville at around 12.15. It was only a 5 or 6 hour journey. The first thing that struck me was the amount that the scenery changed as we went further south. In the north it was very flat and I must admit that a lot of the scenery would not look have looked out of place in the Suffolk countryside (strange but true!). As we continued south the scenery became a lot more mountainous ... read more

Breakfast at the hotel. We called Nam, the tuk-tuk driver who drove us to our hotel the night before. He had said if we needed a driver while we were in Siem Reap to call him. Before we could enter any of the temple complexes, we had to buy passes. US$40 (each) for a three-day pass (at least they put your photo on it and laminate it)! We visited the Angkor Thom complex first, including Bayon, Baphuon, the Terraces of the Elephants and the Leper King, and Phimeanakas. Then we saw Ta Keo and Ta Phrom. Nam took us to No. 4 restaurant at Ta Phrom, which his family runs. All the stalls looked the same, so you just end up eating wherever your driver takes you, which is probably owned by his family or friends…After ... read more

Cambodia is a country that has been rediscovered by Westerners after the heinous acts committed over the centuries and in particular 1975-1979. For those of you who have read the books or seen the movie "The Killing Fields", I doubt that many foreigners understand or let alone know what happened to the people of this country. After arriving and settling into our guesthouse ($3USD a night!) we decided that we would visit S-21 and The Killing fields of Phnom Phen. S-21 is a former high school that during the years 1975- 79 (the years the Khmer Rouge had control of the country,) was transformed into a prison that over 17,000 people went through. Only 7 people came out alive. It was a place of torture and death. We wandered around the buildings- looking at before and ... read more

With a brief exploration of the Siem Reap markets completed, and a few token items in the shopping bags, Jo S, Becs and Malibu (Ross) headed back to the guest house to await the arrival of the stragglers. Upon return, it was discovered that they were already there, and so it began ... The girls checked their e-mails for confirmation of Pove and Dani's arrival date, which had unfortunately been set back by 2 days. We decided that this would probably work out better as Whits would not then be left in this beggar ridden town on her own for too long. So, we decided to fill the next couple of days with some R&R. However, with our final opportunity to meet up with Kate and Claire before Melbourne, a big night was on the cards! ... read more