This morning, after breakfast, we walked to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda complex which is pretty much just around the corner from our accommodation. Although the roofs and ornate gilding are described as being classic Khmer, the buildings bear a striking resemblance to the Royal Palace in Bangkok. As it is still the official residence of King Sihamoni, much of the compound is out-of-bounds to tourists. Even so there is plenty to see by the time you explore the palace and the pagoda and the grounds and courtyards that are accessible to visitors. From the Royal Palace we walked around the corner to the National Museum of Cambodia. The building that houses the museum was built in 1917-20, but to a traditional design so it looks much older. It has a very pleasing symmetry about ... read more

After a good night’s sleep and a leisurely breakfast we took the shuttle bus back to the airport. The airport is only about 400 metres from the airport ‘as the crow flies’, but there isn’t really a path to walk from one to the other. By the time that the shuttle negotiates the roads between the airport and the hotel I am sure it must cover about 1½ kilometres!! We talked to an English couple on the shuttle bus who are just about doing our trip in reverse. They were off to Laos before Cambodia, where we were headed to Cambodia first and Laos second. The most notable thing that occurred on our flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh was that the guy across the aisle from Bernie managed to spray his little UHT milk container ... read more

With less than two hours stopover in Hong Kong we headed for the Qantas lounge anyway. By the time that you are processed as a transit passenger it doesn’t leave very much time at all before you are re-boarding the plane! For the last couple of days in London I kept thinking there was something that I wanted to check on the internet. Somewhere over Russia I remembered that the project that I had been working on at the office before going on holiday was supposed to ‘go live’ on 30 June. Gosh, I must have been having a great holiday to forget that??! My excuse is that I also had to remember to vote on my new Agency Agreement. I remembered to do that and then must have had a brain fade!! So, I logged ... read more

Over the last couple of days we have discussed with Marilyn and Jim where we might go on our last day in England. With the weather so lovely it was a toss-up between the Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Wisley, at Woking and National Trust Property, Cliveden, at Taplow. In the end it was decided that we should head to Cliveden as it would involve less travelling time. So, when Jim returned from his appointment with the dentist, we headed off along the M40 turning off at Wooburn Green towards Maidenhead and Taplow. Cliveden has extensive gardens overlooking the River Thames. In the early part of the 20th century it was the home of Waldorf and Nancy Astor who hosted lavish parties for London’s rich and famous. In the early 60s it was rather infamously associated with ... read more

This morning we headed down to Reading to catch up with Janet and Phil who are currently staying in an apartment there. Reading is a very picturesque town with the Thames River, the Kennett River and the Kennett and Avon Canal running around and/or through it. We went out to lunch with Janet and Phil to a very nice restaurant on the canal. After lunch we enjoyed a stroll around Reading where Janet and Phil were able to share the local knowledge that they have acquired over the last week or so that they have been in town. We headed back to London at about 4.30pm as we had told Marilyn that we would be home for tea by 7.00pm. It was just as well that we allowed as much time as we did for the ... read more