One thing about Asia, unless you stay at the most exclusive resorts I guess, is a hard bed is just a given and somewhat expected. The degree of firmness the mattress can have is still a wide range, from let’s say a pile of bricks to the point it will actually give when you sit on it. So far this trip, while they still hurt my back, they have been better than expected. I only bring this up because I woke up this morning feeling better than usual and realized I had actually slept well, and without thinking about it, realized this was the best bed I have had on any visit to Asia. Now I know what you are thinking, it must be a slow day for news, but when you can actually stand up ... read more

It was announced this morning that the former king, and father of the current king, His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk passed away in Beijing of an apparent heart attack. The 90 year old was credited with gaining Cambodia’s independence from France in 1953. Now I know where Sihanoukville got its name. Now what other blogger keeps you up on world news. Sooner or later I am going to learn to get a prescription for some kind of sedative before I get on the roads in this country. Even though now that I think about it, I don’t think you need a prescription to get anything in this country. My car picked me up this morning for the 3 hour drive to Kampot and this time I got a younger guy wearing these sunglasses from Top Gun, ... read more

Sometimes you find that special spot, time to just put the camera down, and say it’s all about ME! The last 2 days have been about laying around the pool reading, going to the beach, an afternoon nap. The first week of my trip has been go here and go there, and it was time to slow down, and I needed a day to recoup from the bus trip. I had read mixed reviews on Sihanoukville, and the beaches, but I always try to keep an open mind and form my own opinion. Well, as far as I am concerned the beaches are just beautiful. The high season runs November to March, so I realize I am in the slow season, case in point, I am the only person in my hotel for 2 days now. ... read more

Well, after waking up at 4 to the prayers, I opened my window to check the neighborhood out that early and realized this was not buddist chanting, this was definitely middle eastern in nature. Luckily David shed some light and found out there is a Muslim neighborhood close by, so that is where the prayers are coming from. This goes on for a good hour. Today was one of my favorite days in a city, Market Day! I love to spend a good hour roaming the market checking out all the fruits and vegetables, the meats, and maybe sit and have a bowl of soup. Right after arriving, the bottom fell out again and it rained very hard for about 20 minutes and made a big mess of everything in the area. Luckily that was the ... read more

There are some days on my journeys that are good, some days are great, and there are days like today, where I wish I could have piled all of you into the tuk tuk with me and hit the road. Its not easy to put into words or pictures the experiences, sights, sounds, smells, but you know I give it my best. My tuk tuk driver is David, and his English is good enough, but as we were starting out today he made the fatal mistake of telling me that if I see anything interesting, just tell him and he will stop. I think I added an hour onto the day, but he was a good sport about it. When you are going along and you see food for sale on the side of the road ... read more