CarMike2177

A few hours after our early afternoon departure from Capestang, we made a stop at the beautiful village of Le Somail to fill up outr water tanks. I went for a wander, took photos of the stunnning ivy covered hotel/restaurant and sniffed out a little wine seller where I purchased a couple bottles of rose to chill for dinner. Once our tanks were full (that's the water, we weren't 'tanked up' … yet!) we moved on and motored up to Ventenac, the fabled village du vin terry and Kath had told us about. I saw the chateau on approach and kicked myself for buying wine just 2 hours ago … I hadn't realised how close we were!! However, when we pulled up and tied our boat to some trees, we wandered over to find the chateau ... read more

We returned to our floaty boaty home aboard Ozzy 2 in Lattes marina on may 19th. By the end of the week she was motoring once again … it felt good to be back on the water in our floaty boaty home! We set out on a bright sunny day, passing a family of storks, some swooping buzzards, ducks, the much missed flamingoes, camargue horses and other birds and beasties. It was Spring in the south of France and all was rosy! After waiting for the lifting bridge at Frontignan to open, we motored through and moored up on the town quay in lovely sunshine. It seemed that a celebration was going on in town so we wandered off to have a look and soon found ourselves in the midst of the Fete D'Ete – a ... read more

Sihanoukville, right down south, was the French playground in the early 1900's. Today it's kind of like a Cambodian Skegness. Shops and street vendors selling bracelets, plastic models of Angkor Wat, fruit, pedicures, beads and other assorted tat are everywhere. On every beach we visited we didn't rest long before someone came up offered to de-fuzz us ('I do your hair leg?'), de-rough us ('I do you feet skin? It baaad, lady, let me get rid it) , braid us ('You wan caawn row, lady?) sell us bracelets ('Because you are friend for me, yes? You no buy now? Maybe laaaterrrr') and massages and we soon uttered 'No thanks' before they'd even finished. Here, as in Siem Reap, there were signs up everywhere discouraging you from buying from the beach vendors, especially children who were meant ... read more

Despite reading up on Pol Pot's regime and studying the harrowing and horrifying 'Voices from S-21' I was totally unprepared for the deep, soul penetrating horror, shock and sadness I experienced on entering the killing fields and S-21 prison. Nothing could have prepared either Mike or myself for the macabre and disturbing sight of bones and fabric of clothing still rising from the ground, thousands of skulls piled high, signs marking out the 'killing tree' and other similar atrocities and bloodstains still on the floors. For the entire day Mike and I hardly spoke. Several times I had to leave an exhibition or video room because what I was seeing or reading utterly overwhelmed me and sent sadness flooding to my very core. And I didn't even experience what the Cambodian people did. I just looked ... read more

On arriving in Cambodia the economic difference in comparison to Thailand was striking. The Thai side of the border is ordered, clean, policed and barricaded to prevent touts and hawkers coming in (although the tuk-tuk driver who took us there tried to fob us off with over-priced visas at his friends shop before the border, but we started walking off without paying him and he soon changed his tune - beware folks, read up on prices before you go because they will try to rip you off!). The Cambodian side is crowded, chaotic, swarming with touts and hawkers and littered with buildings peeling in the heat. However, we were guided through by a government volunteer, who also works as a tuk tuk driver, who advised us on what to expect to pay for a visa, told ... read more